New Exhibits – BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Two statues believed to be dating back to 2,000 years were unearthed during excavation works in the ancient Roman city of Blaundus in western Turkey.”

Five marble statue heads from the Hellenistic and Roman periods were discovered in excavations at Cnidus (Knidos).

“A 4,000-year-old mound and an architectural structure inside it have been unearthed after the water level of Atatürk Dam receded 15 meters in the southeastern province of Adıyaman.”

“The Temple of Venus and Roma, located in the Roman Forum opposite the Colosseum, has undergone a €2.5 million restoration sponsored by the luxury fashion house Fendi.”

Biblical Archaeology Review has posted its annual list of dig opportunities for 2022. The Biblical Archaeology Society is offering dig scholarships of $2,000.

The first-ever Spring Bible and Archaeology Fest will be held on April 2 and 3.

“Left in ruins by jihadists, Iraq’s once-celebrated Mosul museum and its 2,500-year-old treasures are being given a second life.”

Austen Henry Layard, renowned as the excavator of Nimrud, used his archaeological fame to catapult him into a career of politics and diplomacy.

The National Library of Israel has a new section on its website to share manuscripts from St. Catherine’s Monastery and related materials.

The final reports for the Tall Zirā‘a / Gadara Region Project have now been published. The volumes are also available in pdf format for free.

New exhibition at New York University: Pompeii in Color: The Life of Roman Painting (Jan 26 to May 29).

BBC Radio episode on the Hittites: “Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the empire based in the Land of Hatti during the Late Bronze Age, in modern Turkey, and the discoveries there over the last century.”

Carl Rasmussen begins a series on anchor stocks discovered at Malta and their possible relationship to Paul’s shipwreck.

Lectures from La Sierra University’s recent Archaeology Discovery Weekend are now online, including these two by Mark Wilson:

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, New Exhibits, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have found a second synagogue at Magdala, making the site the first to have two known synagogues in the first century AD. A 2-min video (in Hebrew) shows some of the excavation.

A police stop of a vehicle driving the wrong way on a one-way street in Jerusalem led to the discovery of some interesting archaeological artifacts from the Roman period.

A “new Sanhedrin Trail exhibition at the Yigal Allon Center on Kibbutz Ginosar includes 150 rare ancient artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority.”

The exhibition catalog for the Tel Rehov exhibit at the Eretz Israel Museum is online at Amihai Mazar’s Academia page.

Katharina Schmidt, currently the Director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Amman has been appointed as Director of the W. F. Albright Institute in Jerusalem.

A new English translation of the Jerusalem Talmud has been released online.

David Moster made a video about what makes the Tanakh different from the Old Testament.

Moshe Gilad recommends a visit to Gezer, including a walk down the new staircase into the ancient water system.

A fire broke out at the Crusader castle of Belvoir (Kochav Hayarden), temporarily trapping about 30 construction workers.

“Bible & Archaeology shares news and stories that inform and entertain, promoting the study of the Bible, archaeology, and ancient civilizations, while celebrating their many diverse cultures and histories.”

Cyndi Parker is on the Biblical World podcast speaking with Lynn Cohick about “what it means to understand Jesus in his own cultural, political, social, and religious contexts.”

Baruch Levine died on Thursday.

The latest free maps from Bible Mapper:

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, New Exhibits, Sad News, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Remains discovered at Herculaneum have led an archaeologist to compare the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to the WWII bomb at Hiroshima.

A large Roman villa complex with a mosaic depicting scenes from The Iliad has been uncovered in Britain.

Two Late Bronze tombs excavated in Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus have revealed more than 500 objects, including gold jewelry and gemstones.

“A 1,600-year-old steelyard weight has been discovered during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis” in northern Turkey.

Carl Rasmussen recently visited Sardis and photographed some of the changes being made to the site.

Underwater archaeology is thriving in Turkey, with 10 underwater excavations carried out this year alone.

The Greek Reporter has a story on Veria (Berea in the New Testament) which is also known as “Little Jerusalem.”

The latest episode on the Greece Declassified podcast considers whether the Hittites were an influence on Homer.

Now online: The Karkemish 3D Visualization Project

A new exhibition entitled “Child-friendly: Growing up in ancient Rome” opened recently in Florence, Italy.

Carolyn Wilke has written “a brief scientific history of glass” for Smithsonian Magazine.

Owen Jarus explains why the Egyptians stopped building pyramids.

Gil Davis provides a short history of the rise of silver coinage.

The world’s largest brick-built arch, the sixth-century Arch of Ctesiphon in Iraq, is now being restored.

The Nineveh Medical Encyclopaedia “represents the world’s first standardised, structured and systematised handbook on therapeutic medicine.”

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Ted Weis

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A fragment of an ancient Canaanite deity has been discovered in the temple at Moza, providing some explanation for why high places in Judah were condemned by the biblical writers.

A fortress in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem is being renovated. This fortress is believed to have protected the city during the time of Judah’s kings.

After a $12 million renovation project, a beautiful mosaic is about to open to the public at Hisham’s Palace in Jericho.

The debate continues as to whether Herod’s Galilean temple was located at Caesarea Philippi or at Omrit, and a permanent exhibit including a large column from Omrit is now on display at Tel Hai College.

Eight antiquities thieves digging for buried gold were nabbed in the act.

“Hear, O Israel: The Magic of the Shema” is a new exhibit at the Israel Museum open through April 2022.

Hicham Aboutaam shares his six favorite pieces in the Israel Museum.

An online course on Joshua’s Altar Site begins on Sunday with the 5-lesson study featuring Shay Bar, Scott Stripling, Ralph Hawkins, Zvi Koenigsberg, and Aaron Lipkin.

The Urim and the Thummim are the subject on the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast, with Doug Bookman joining host Mary Buck to share his research.

Bryan Windle’s top three reports in biblical archaeology this month are all likely to end up in the year’s top 10 list.

This week we released Paul’s Epistles in our Photo Companion to the Bible series. The sale price ends soon.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Daniel Wright, Paleojudaica, Ted Weis

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Judah, Museums, New Exhibits, Photo Resources, Samaria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered 400 rock-cut chamber tombs that date to 1,800 years ago and make up part of one of the largest rock-cut chamber tomb necropolises in the world.”

There is controversy over a renovation plan for the Bodrum Museum which would relocate the famous shipwrecks of the Museum of Underwater Archaeology in order to convert the space into a mosque.

The ancient city of Dolichiste was a thriving Lycian trading hub until it was partially submerged in the Byzantine period.

The tombs of gladiators in Ephesus shed light on our knowledge of the ancient warriors.

An Italian archaeologist who has been excavating in Turkey for 30 years is ready to retire.

“During the excavation of the now-famous northwest corner of Rameses III’s fortress from the first half of the 12th century BCE, archaeologists unexpectedly came across two more fortress walls covering each other.”

New exhibit at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis: “Writing in Three Dimensions: Myth and Metaphor in Ancient Egypt,” through November 29.

Personal letters provide insight into the lives of ancient Egyptians.

Archaeologists have made what they are calling a “sensational” new find with the discovery of a skeleton a step away from the sea at Herculaneum.

A Lebanese official has been caught with antiquities looted from Syrian museums in his office.

“Escape to the past and explore true crime in antiquity during a free week-long online experience of the Getty Villa Museum’s annual College Night.”

Leon Mauldin has recently returned from a tour of Greece and Turkey, and he shares photos of Assos and Corinth.

Thomas Parker, director of several archaeological projects in Jordan, passed away suddenly last month.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica, Explorator, BibleX

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Museums, New Exhibits, Sad News, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

We have more stories this weekend than perhaps ever before for a single week (nearly 50), so expect a third installment of the roundup on Monday.

The first-ever ancient depiction of the balm of Gilead was discovered on an amethyst seal found by volunteers sifting soil from near the Temple Mount. There’s a 3-minute video here.

Excavations at el-Araj (Bethsaida?) have wrapped up for the season, and the archaeologists discovered a large apse and two partial inscriptions in the mosaic floor of what they believe is the Church of the Apostles.

A diver found a Crusader-era sword in perfect condition off the coast of northern Israel. There is a short video here.

Not only the Crusader sword but much more has been discovered because of a once-in-a-century storm that occurred in December 2010.

Archaeologists discovered a hoard of silver coins from the Hasmonean era in Modiin.

Daniel Master is a guest on the Book and the Spade to discuss the recent excavations at Tel Shimron.

An organization is calling on the Israeli government to excavate and open to tourists the site of ancient Gibeah of Saul, more recently home to King Hussein’s unfinished palace.

“Members of the Samaritan faith gathered at sunrise on Wednesday to mark Sukkot, a month after Jews celebrated the festival.” The short story includes a brief video.

NY Times: “Rameh, a Palestinian town [in Galilee] surrounded by olive groves, has long had a reputation for producing especially good oil.”

Megan Sauter writes about the importance of three purple textile fragments from the time of David recently discovered in the Central Timna Valley Project.

Andrew Califf writes about seven lesser-known archaeological sites in Israel (Haaretz paywall).

The Museum of the Bible is offering virtual tours of Masada and Megiddo on November 10 and 17, “using advanced images combined with an online interactive classroom to create a rich, immersive experience.”

“A new exhibition by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the Yigal Allon Center in Kibbutz Ginossar offers a glimpse of the centuries when Jewish sages managed to rebuild a community in the Galilee.”

Kyle Keimer and Chris McKinny discuss Cabul in the days of Solomon in the latest episode of OnScript’s Biblical World.

When children volunteering at the Temple Mount Sifting Project stole some of the artifacts, the director used the opportunity to instruct them on the community’s responsibility.

On sale for Kindle: A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem, by Ben Witherington ($3.99)

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica, Explorator, BibleX

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Museums, Negev, New Exhibits, Temple Mount, Tourism