Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archeologists in Egypt have uncovered a vast underground tunnel near the city of Alexandria, and hope it may lead them to the long-lost tomb of Egypt’s last pharaoh and possibly its most famous ruler, Queen Cleopatra VII.”

Archaeologists discovered “an extremely rare and incalculably valuable Roman glass vessel” in a “remarkable state of preservation” in the ancient Roman city of Augustodunum (modern Autun, France).

“Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered more than two dozen beautifully preserved bronze statues dating back to ancient Roman times in thermal baths in Tuscany.”

The Temple of Apollo in Side, Turkey, will be restored as an archaeological museum.

Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of stories from the month of October, including a report of a well-preserved Byzantine shops and dining area in Ephesus.

The International Herodotus Workshop was held recently in the city of Bodrum, ancient Halicarnassus, the historian’s hometown.

Ádám Németh’s Virtual Reconstructions includes 3D artwork of ancient buildings in Ephesus, including the Celsus Library, Terrace Houses, Trajan’s nymphaeum, theater, agora, and Temple of Artemis.

Digital Maps of the Ancient World: “The aim is to map out all the different aspects of Roman cities so that it can be used as a teaching aid or a guide for those interested in the site.”

“A giant cardboard imitation of the Trojan Horse, which won Greeks the war of Troy in antiquity, broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest cardboard sculpture in U.K.”

“An American man has returned 19 antiquities to the four countries they came from after reading reports in the Guardian about the repatriation of looted antiquities.”

The Immersive King Tut exhibit is at, or coming to, a dozen US cities.

“Tutankhamun: His Tomb and his Treasures” will open at the Columbus Science Museum on March 18.

On The Book and the Spade, Charles Aling and Gordon Govier discuss King Tut’s Tomb on the 100th anniversary of its discovery.

Leon Mauldin shares a recent photo he took of the Merneptah Stele in the Egyptian Museum.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Jared Clark, Wayne Stiles, A.D. Riddle, Explorator

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The University of Pennsylvania, in partnership with an Iraqi team, has announced the discovery of seven very fine wall reliefs from the time of King Sennacherib in Nineveh. The team is also actively reconstructing the ancient city’s Mashki Gate, which was destroyed by militants a few years ago.

“An ancient Christian monastery possibly dating as far back as the years before Islam spread across the Arabian Peninsula has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.”

Archaeological work is underway near the Church of St. Peter in Antioch on the Orontes.

The fourth of five excavation seasons at Amphipolis has concluded, and this story summarizes the latest discoveries.

“An intact skeleton of a woman lying next to a stunning necklace and other important artifacts from the Early Minoan era (circa 2,600 BC), were unearthed recently at the archaeological site of Sisi on Crete.”

“Archivists have uncovered a long-lost historical relic hidden underneath a Christian manuscript: the earliest known map of the stars.”

“We, a group of Egyptologists, IT scholars and enthusiasts, have started an initiative to promote the digitization of Egyptian texts as open, re-usable data. Inspired by the great ORACC, we call ourselves ORAEC, Open Richly Annotated Egyptian Corpus.”

Brent Nongbri reviews the new exhibition at the Cheater Beatty Library called “First Fragments: Biblical Papyrus from Roman Egypt.” It looks worth adding Ireland to your travel list for 2023.

John DeLancey has posted a 360 Interactive Video in the Colosseum in Rome. It provides a great perspective of this ancient slaughterhouse.

The Greek Reporter lists the top 20 archaeological sites in the country. It is a good list.

Ferrell Jenkins posts a photo of the Appian Way south of Rome.

Robert Miller died last month.

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

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Egyptian archaeologists do not often find a complete sarcophagus in its original tomb, but they did recently while National Geographic cameras were rolling. The tomb of Ramses II’s treasurer was discovered at Saqqara at the bottom of a 25-foot shaft that was filled with sand.

“Hieroglyphics: Unlocking Ancient Egypt” is a new exhibition at the British Museum.

“The mode of writing used in Ancient South Arabia, the legendary realm of the Queen of Sheba, was especially unique. The Sabaeans and their neighbours did not write on common materials such as leather or papyrus but rather on something surprisingly simple: branches of fresh wood just cut off the tree.”

Zoom lecture on Oct 11: “The Jordan Museum: More Than 10,000 Years of Human Resilience and Innovation,” by Ihab Amarin.

Excavation work on the Sardis synagogue is complete after 60 years, and all major finds will be displayed in the Manisa Museum.

Archaeologists discovered a Roman-era gymnasium north of Konya (biblical Iconium). The Laodicea mentioned in the article is not the same one mentioned in the New Testament.

Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of stories for September.

A statue of Hercules from the 2nd century AD has been discovered in excavations at Philippi.

Mercenaries were an important part of Greek armies in the 5th century BC, a fact ancient Greek historians fail to mention.

“Archaeologists are using Apple’s iPad Pro to gather data, analyze objects, create a database and come to conclusions about the ancient site of Pompeii.”

“Entertainment among the Romans” is a new exhibition at the Lugdunum Museum in Lyon, France.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists have uncovered the granite sarcophagus of a high-ranking official from the reign of Ramesses II at Saqqara.”

“Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a nearly 1,000-year-old cache of gold and silver coins behind a temple in Esna, a city located along the Nile River.”

Egyptian authorities are struggling with looting taking place in the area of ancient Memphis.

Writing for Archaeology magazine, Jason Urbanus explains how King Tutankhamun’s family forever changed the land of the Nile.

Newest episode on This Week in the Ancient Near East: “Sticky Fingers in the Valley of the Kings, or Howard Carter and the Case of King Tut’s Tomb.”

Michael Homan died last week.

Sarah C. Schaefer reflects on why Gustave Doré’s biblical illustrations are well-known but his name is not.

A new exhibit, High Tech Romans, is running at the Landesmuseum in Mainz, Germany, through January 15.

All 44 presentations from this year’s IBC Conference on “John: His Life, Legacy & Last Words” is now available as a digital download for $99.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

What scholars once believed was an ancient synagogue near Khirbet Midras is actually a Roman temple. Haaretz has the story for subscribers.

A silver quarter-shekel from Year 4 of the First Jewish Revolt that was looted from the Elah Valley has now been returned to Israel. The coin is so rare that there are none in any of Israel’s museums.

With the announcement pending of the most beautiful mosaic floor ever discovered in the Gaza Strip, scholars are calling for greater protection of the area’s antiquities.

Bible History Daily’s latest OnSite video is of the Herodium. Nathan Steinmeyer has packed a lot of information and images into just over two minutes.

Chandler Collins has posted the first “Jerusalem Tracker,” with links to recent articles, books, lectures, and developments related to Jerusalem. This is like a roundup on steroids, all focused on one important city. (You can support his work here.)

The Museum of the Bible and DIVE (Digital Interactive Virtual Experiences) are hosting a virtual tour of Masada on October 19. Registration costs $20.

A new exhibition entitled “Arteology: The Power of the Ancients in Contemporary Forms” has opened near the Davidson Center in Jerusalem.

New release: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Codices: Selected Papers from the Conference “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Codices” in Berlin, 20–22 July 2018 (hardback $167; pdf free).

Martin Heide and Joris Peters write about “Camels in the Biblical World of the Ancient Near East.” Their evidence for their use over the millennia observes the use of domesticated camels in the time of Abraham.

In the latest episode of BiblicalWorld, “Chris McKinny and Mark Janzen discuss the early vs. late date for the date of the exodus, date of the conquest, the emergence of Israel in the land of Canaan, settlement patterns in Canaan, and biblical chronology.”

“The Kerem Tunnel, the first bicycle tunnel in Israel, has been inaugurated as part of the Jerusalem Ring Path, a 42-kilometer cycling route that surrounds the capital city.”

We have a good deal right now for the brand-new Photo Companion to Hebrews (only $39 for 1,950 photos). Or you can pick up all of the General Epistles for only $49 (4,800 photos).

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

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery, the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC has an immersive exhibit, “Beyond King Tut.” The University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries is running an exhibit, “Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archives.” They have created a 1.5-minute fly-through video of a 3-D model. Some of the original photos of the tomb’s opening have been digitally colorized. You can view some very high-resolution photographs that were taken in the creation of a facsimile of the funerary chamber in order to reduce the number of tourists.

Zahi Hawass has written a history of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Zahi Hawass wants the Rosetta Stone to be donated to the Arab Republic of Egypt. (Is this news?)

Friends of ASOR webinar on Sept 15: “The Good Kings: The Modern Obsession with Ancient Egyptian Kingship,” featuring Prof. Kara Cooney and moderated by Prof. Sarah Parcak.

A new exhibition on “Byblos. The World’s Most Ancient Port” will be held at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities from October 14 to March 12.

The British Museum Blog: “Discover how a collaborative international partnership helped restore eight ancient glass vessels after their destruction in the 2020 Beirut explosion.”

The BBC Travel series Ancient Engineering Marvels explores the Ziggurat of Ur, noting that tourism is slowly returning to Iraq.

“A marble statue of the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele created 2,350 years ago has been discovered in the ancient city of Antandrus.”

Ahmet Denker has spent 12 years working on a virtual reconstruction of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

“Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia are working together on an underwater archaeological expedition, researching the Skerki Bank region off the Sicily and Tunisian coasts.”

The BBC looks at the challenge of understanding what is (and what isn’t) ancient children’s toys.

A digital artist has created a photograph of what he thinks Alexander the Great looked like.

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

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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