Rossella Tercatin writes about the exhibition, “The Girl Who Wrote,” that will open at the Israel Museum when the war restrictions are lifted.

With the museums in Israel currently closed, visitors can take advantage of online offerings, including activities for children.

The Times of Israel writes about the Purim holiday in light of current events.

Bryan Windle concludes his series on Jericho, arguing that it was City V, not City IV, that Joshua conquered.

Katharina Schmidt gives an update on the archaeological excavations at the Amman Citadel in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Archaeologists working in Luxor’s West Bank have found a cache of painted coffins with a collection of rare papyri that dates to Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period.

A tour guide in Egypt was arrested for drawing a stick figure into the wall of an ancient pyramid.

A 14-minute video shows how Pompeii looked before its destruction.

Bryan Windle discusses the top ten archaeological discoveries related to Esther on Digging for Truth.

“This past month, the most significant news stories from the world of biblical archaeology all involved stones: a stone seal, a stone vessel workshop, and limestone blocks related to a biblical Pharaoh.”

Zoom lecture on March 9: “Sensing the Synagogue,” by Karen B. Stern ($10). You can get a preview in this BAS article.

New release: Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt, Volume 2, edited by Marie Svoboda and Caroline R. Cartwright (Getty Museum; open-access, including pdf)

The eBook of Bringing Heaven Here is on sale through Sunday for $3.99 (Kindle, B&N, Apple, Google, Kobo).

Jodi Magness has written a retrospective piece about her career as an archaeologist.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Archaeologists have discovered a luxurious pleasure barge from the Ptolemaic era in the harbor of Alexandria.

A 20-year renovation project of the Colossi of Memnon has been completed. These two giant alabaster statutes in Luxor depict Amenhotep III.

“Italian authorities said on Friday they had arrested 34 ‘tomb raiders’ suspected of looting treasures from archaeological sites in Sicily and the neighboring region of Calabria.”

The NY Times writes about the contribution of Itiner-e, the new dataset of all roads in the Roman empire (gift link).

A rainstorm turned waters draining into the Persian Gulf blood red.

BAS Dig Scholarship winners share their experiences excavating at el-Araj (Bethsaida), Azekah, Antiochia ad Cragum, Iklaina, Sanisera, and Keros.

A three-month exhibition entitled “Nefertari: Reviving the Beauty of the Most Beautiful: The Tomb and Its Story” is on display at the (old) Egyptian Museum.

New release: Persia’s Greek Campaigns: Kingship, War, and Spectacle on the Achaemenid Frontier, by John O. Hyland (Oxford University Press, $140; Amazon)

All nine volumes of Die Bibel in der Kunst | Bible in the Arts are available online. Some of the articles are in English.

“The Guardian of Amphipolis” is a 15-minute documentary about the kid who discovered the famous tomb of Amphipolis and spent his life protecting archaeological treasures in the area.

On Digging for Truth, Bryan Windle examines the evidence for the claim that the Christmas holiday has pagan roots. If you prefer a text version, you can find that here.

HT: Agade, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator

“Iraq has uncovered the largest winged bull in Assyrian history, measuring about 6 meters tall” in the royal hall of Ashurbanipal’s palace.

After fear that the world’s oldest synagogue paintings may have been destroyed in Syria’s civil war, scholar Jill Joshowitz was thrilled to see the 3rd-century Dura-Europos paintings well-preserved in the National Museum of Damascus.

Archaeologists have discovered a “waiting bench” outside the entrance to the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii.

“Egyptians reacted with outrage this week after officials said that a 3,000-year-old bracelet that had belonged to an ancient pharaoh [Amenemope] was stolen from Cairo’s famed Egyptian Museum and then melted down for gold.”

“The ancient theater in Myra, one of the six most important cities of the Lycian League, is set to regain its original appearance through the reconstruction of its stage building with original stones.”

The ancient Egyptians did not use booby traps in the Giza pyramids.

Jason Borges has published an article on “The City of Philomelium and the Occasion of the Martyrdom of Polycarp.”

Registration is now open for the “Year in Review in 2025 in Biblical Archaeology” with Glenn Corbett and Chris McKinny, on December 2 ($10).

The Tel Dan Inscription is on display at the Museum of the Bible until November 3. No entrance fee is required to see this exhibit or the Megiddo Mosaic. In November, a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit will open (for a double charge).

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

Archaeologists excavating 15 miles east of Tel Aviv uncovered “the largest [ancient] Samaritan site outside of the Samaritan homeland,” including colorful mosaics, two ritual baths, and lots of coins and oil lamps.

“Israeli archaeologists discovered rare preserved lamp wicks believed to be some 4,000 years old during excavations for a new neighborhood in Yehud, in central Israel.”

A ceramic bearing reed impressions is the “find of the month” for the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

The Times of Israel has more about the effects of the wildfire that burned the excavation site at el-Araj, likely the New Testament site of Bethsaida.

John DeLancey writes and shares photos from his time volunteering at the Tel Eter excavation.

Megiddo: A City Unearthed, A Past Imagined marks 100 years since ISAC’s first major archaeological expedition (1925–1939), which revealed layers of palatial complexes, fortifications, and elite material culture.”

Correction: Eric Cline’s upcoming lecture will be on Sept 9, not Sept 8.

Zoom lecture on Sept 18: “Excavations of Crusader Akko,” by Danny Syon, sponsored by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society.

The latest issue of Tel Aviv has been released, and it includes open-access articles about Tel Azekah, Manasseh’s wall in Jerusalem, and Late Roman mansion in the Givati Parking Lot excavations in Jerusalem.

“The top three reports in biblical archaeology from August 2025 included reports of gold, silver, and a monumental structure in Jerusalem.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz

Researchers have uncovered graffiti from the Middle Ages in the traditional Upper Room in Jerusalem.

Bryan Windle has written an archaeological biography for Caiaphas the high priest.

Leen Ritmeyer shares photos of the cave of Gethsemane where Jesus may have spent the night with his disciples.

Jeffrey P. Arroyo García wonders whether Jesus was hung from the cross, not nailed.

On a double episode on Digging for Truth, Dr. Jonathan Moore discusses the anatomy of crucifixion and especially how their feet were positioned on the cross.

Biblical Backgrounds has announced the “Gospel Companion,” a 44-page book with unique 3D maps and interactive map marking illustrating the Way of the Cross. They also have released new wall maps.

The latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East looks at the recent excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Ynetnews suggests five excursions in Israel that recall the twelve tribes’ departure from Egypt.

A royal purple dye was being produced at Tel Shiqmona at industrial levels during the time of the Israel’s monarchy, according to a new study.

A new article “examines how vassal kingdoms, elite consumption, and imported luxury goods shaped Iron Age Lachish and Jerusalem.” And I’m not sure what’s going on at The Jerusalem Post, when the headline on the article, now more than a week old, misspells Jerusalem.

The NY Times runs a story on the recently deciphered Bar Kochba-era papyrus that documents a “tax-evasion scheme involved the falsification of documents and the illicit sale and manumission, or freeing, of slaves — all to avoid paying duties in the far-flung Roman provinces of Judea and Arabia.”

Jacob Sivak addresses two frequently asked questions about Roman-era synagogues: how were Jews able to thrive under Roman oppression, and why were the synagogues decorated with pagan iconography?

“Hezekiah” is a new documentary miniseries, and its first episode premieres this weekend.

In Jerusalem in Brief, Chandler Collins writes about two pools that have been filled in and two books of interest.

Archaeologists have discovered a quarry that may have supplied the construction of Darius’s palace in Susa.

Reconstruction of the 87-foot tall Roman lighthouse at Patara has been completed. AI was used to identify the original locations of the 2,500 stones.

Construction will begin next year on an Alexander the Great theme park at Amphipolis in northern Greece.

Italian authorities levied $22 million in fines on ticketing agencies for buying up tickets for the Colosseum to resell to tourists.

A new study suggests that the gears of the Antikythera Mechanism jammed frequently, making the device not very useful.

Aaron Burke writes about avoiding the ethnicity trap in a new article entitled “The Amorites: Rethinking Approaches to Corporate Identity in Antiquity.”

A new exhibition opened this week at the ISAC Museum: “Staging the East: Orientalist Photography in Chicago Collections”

Members of the American Oriental Society have voted to change the society’s name to “American Society for Premodern Asia” (ASPA).

John Van Seters, a biblical scholar known for his minimalist approach, died last week.

HT: Agade, Keith Keyser, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

“A three-year-old Israeli girl has found a scarab-shaped Canaanite amulet dating back some 3,800 years at the site of Tel Azeka near Bet Shemesh.”

The Times of Israel runs an illustrated story about the exhibition “Rescued Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History” that opened this week in Paris.

Western Wall authorities have carried out their semi-annual removal of prayer notes, and they have announced that due to high demand, the priestly blessing will be held twice during Passover this year.

New release: Reconfiguring the Land of Israel: A Rabbinic Project (Brill, 2024; $175; free download)

New release: The Victorians and the Holy Land: Adventurers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in the Lands of the Bible, by Allan Chapman (Eerdmans, $35)

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on May 14: “Rethinking the Early Christian Book in the Eastern Mediterranean,” by Timothy B. Sailors

The Local Reporter runs a short profile of Jodi Magness.

Ferrell Jenkins explains how we know that Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken