New Exhibits Archives - Page 21 of 29

Weekend Roundup

Excavations in Hebron have already revealed an Iron Age house, artifacts from the 10th century, and Second Temple period items.

Nadav Shragai writes in Israel HaYom on recent Temple Mount discoveries that have not been publicized.

Plans are underway for a new museum at Petra.

The Rapid City Journal recounts how a collection of cuneiform tablets came to be in the collection of Black Hills State University in South Dakota.

National Geographic presents “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology,” a new exhibition coming to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted several entries recently in his Visualizing Isaiah series: a skirt of sackcloth, trusting in horses and chariots, and a booth in a vineyard.

Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo has welcomed a new male lion to replace the one who died last year.

ASOR has a roundup of stories from around the world.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Museums, New Exhibits, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Khirbet el-Maqatir Exhibit Coming to Houston

I would like to see this:

Khirbet el-Maqatir: History of a Biblical Site will be a year-long exhibit of 42 artifacts from excavations in Israel at Khirbet el-Maqatir, thought to be the site of ancient Ai from Joshua 7-8. The Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria has approved the loan of these artifacts for exhibit at the Houston Baptist University’s Dunham Bible Museum from January 21-December 19, 2014. In conjunction with the exhibit, a symposium will be held on February 8th, focusing on the role of archaeology in understanding ancient history and biblical studies as well, including critical reflection on the excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir and what light they shed on the ancient, biblical world. Starting from Genesis 12-13 and moving toward Maqatir’s magnificent monastery, 4,000 years of history will be on display. Special attention will be given to the Late Bronze Age fortress (Ai of Joshua 7-8) and the Early Roman/New Testament village (perhaps Ephraim of John 11:54).

I don’t believe that these artifacts have been on public display before. Khirbet el-Maqatir has been excavated under the direction of Bryant Wood since 1995.

The website also announces a conference to be held in conjunction with the exhibit. Speakers include Bryant Wood, Eugene Merrill, and Leen Ritmeyer. All of the details are here.

Khirbet el-Maqatir (left) and valley of Joshua’s ambush
Photo from Samaria and the Center

Tagged Exodus-Conquest, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Samaria

Wednesday Roundup

There are many Biblical archaeology programs scheduled for the Washington DC area.

Haaretz provides a review of the significance of Magdala and the recent excavations.

Paleojudaica links to the latest “bad-news articles on the Middle East for the last couple of weeks.”

St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai has closed due to the security situation in Egypt.

Shmuel Browns provides the latest Israel Roundup.

Aren Maeir announces that a new exhibit is opening at Bar-Ilan University entitled “The Rise and Fall of Philistine Gath (Tel Zafit).”

Some Palestinians are claiming that the golden treasure recently announced by Eilat Mazar is a fake.

Wayne Stiles provides a very good overview of the Garden of Gethsemane.

St. Catherine’s Monastery, circa 1915

Photo from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Philistines, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Tom Powers has created a map identifying visible remnants of the ancient aqueducts in Bethlehem.

“Thessaloniki’s Pompeii” will be preserved.

Israel Knohl speculates that a second Gabriel Stone may exist. The display of the first Gabriel Stone at the Israel Museum has produced a number of articles.

The Lowell Thomas Travelogues are now featured in an exhibit at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

A new exhibit open until July: Mapping the Holy Land: Cartographic Treasures from the Trevor and Susan Chinn Collection in the Israel Museum.

A video of Aren Maeir’s recent lecture on Gath at William Jessup University is now available along with his PowerPoint presentation.

“Issa is the Name, Basketball is the Game” – If you’ve seen the signs in the Old City and wondered what the story was, this article explains it all.

HT: Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Issa is the Name, Basketball is the Game, sign in Old City, tb010310723

“Issa is the Name” sign in the Old City
Photo from “Signs of the Holy Land”

Tagged Greece, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Weekend Roundup

Roads of Arabia Exhibition: Update

(Post by A.D. Riddle)

Aryn Baker wrote a piece for Time Magazine entitled “Saudi Arabia to Tourists: We Are Just Not That Into You” in which she describes how Saudi Arabia has put out a “do not disturb” sign for foreign tourists. Thus, it would seem, there are few opportunities for people to gain access to the archaeological finds from this country. That is what makes the “Roads of Arabia” exhibition so significant. “Roads of Arabia” showed in several European museums before coming to the United States. The exhibition just finished up at the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and is now headed to Pittsburgh. The exhibition has a website with hi-resolution photographs of exhibition highlights, including this pedestal or altar discovered at Tayma (biblical Tema [Job 6:19]).

Here is the schedule for upcoming shows of the exhibition:

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Pittsburgh, PA

June 15 – Nov 4, 2013

The Museum of Fine Arts

Houston, TX

Dec 22, 2013 – Mar 9, 2014

Asian Art Museum

San Francisco, CA

Oct 17, 2014 – Jan 18, 2015

Previous posts about the exhibition can be found here and here.

Tagged Arabia, Museums, New Exhibits

King Herod Roundup

Several articles this week are related to King Herod and the new exhibit at the Israel Museum. With a lengthy list for tomorrow’s roundup, I thought a separate post might be worthwhile.

Herodium, home of the most reviled monarch in Judea – Miriam Feinberg Vamosh writes about Herod’s fortress in a free article in Haaretz.

A King on Exhibition: Herod is Ready for His Close-Up – Karl Vick gives some background on the new exhibit in Time. There are errors.

In Search of Herod’s Tomb – This article by the Herodium’s excavator, Ehud Netzer, was published posthumously in Biblical Archaeology Review.

Herod the Great—The King’s Final Journey – Suzanne F. Singer describes the museum exhibit in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. A slideshow is included.

Over the years, I’ve written about sites important to King Herod, including Masada, Herodium, Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Philippi, and Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. See also King Herod: Ten
Things You Didn’t Know.

HT: Jack Sasson

Jerusalem model Herod's Palace from southwest, tb020101208

Model of Herod’s Jerusalem palace, now on display at the Israel Museum. Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.

Tagged Herod's Tomb, Museums, New Exhibits