A Roman sarcophagus was discovered in Hungary, “untouched by looters and sealed for centuries … with its stone lid still fixed in place, secured by metal clamps and molten lead.”

Five theatrical mask reliefs have been discovered during excavations in the theater area of Kastabala, an ancient city in Osmaniye, southern Türkiye.”

Excavations at Ugarit have resumed after a 14-year hiatus.

Remember the Jordan Lead Codices? A new scientific analysis provides some answers about their dating. (James Davila gives some background.)

“A stunning replica of an ancient trireme will be displayed as the centerpiece of the new Greek Underwater Archaeology Museum” in Piraeus, opening next year.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition opens at The Museum of the Bible this weekend. “The exhibition will feature biblical texts and scrolls from the community at Qumran, as well as hundreds of artifacts that reveal details about life and Judaism during the Second Temple period.”

“More than 40 precious artifacts from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are currently on display at the Frick in New York City.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art just launched a virtual reality tour of the 1st-century BC Egyptian Temple of Dendur.

New release: Assur 2024: Continuing the Excavations in the New Town and Other Research across the Site, edited by Karen Radner and Andrea Squitieri. Exploring Assur 2. (PeWe-Verlag; 59 €; open-access)

New release: Excavating Ancient Egypt: Fifty Years of Archaeological Memories, by Jeffrey Spencer (Archaeopress; £16-£32)

In the latest episode on the Biblical World podcast, Mary Buck explains the importance of the Achaemenid Empire, including figures like Cyrus and Darius.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Explorator

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Archaeologists excavating Colossae found 60 Hellenistic-era tombs.

New details on Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, have been gleaned from ongoing deciphering of the carbonized papyri from Herculaneum.

A new study provides insights into the origins of the Karnak Temple.

“Research shows that women might be represented in Mycenaean iconography instead of men, changing the interpretation of Mycenaean society.”

The ancient site of Persepolis is threatened as “the surrounding ground is dropping by several inches to over a foot each year.”

For the first time in 20 years, the Parthenon in Athens is not obstructed by scaffolding. For one month.

“For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, visitors to Rome’s world-renowned Colosseum will have the opportunity to walk through a hidden imperial passage that once allowed Roman emperors to reach the ancient amphitheater unseen.”

A Roman gravestone of a sailor has turned up in an overgrown backyard in New Orleans.

More volumes are available in open-access for the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period and Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Empire series.

Mohr Siebeck has made some books available as open-access.

The Lawrence T. Geraty and Douglas R. Clark Center for Near Eastern Archaeology (CNEA) at La Sierra University is hosting its 17th annual Archaeology Discovery Weekend on November 15-16, with both in-person and online registration options available (all free).

The ICR Discovery Center is hosting a Biblical Archaeology Conference on November 8, with presentations by Titus Kennedy and Randall Price ($15/$30).

The Friends of ASOR are hosting a tour next spring: “From Carthage to Djerba: The Archaeology of Tunisia.”

Mary and Carl Rasmussen are leading a “not for credit” study tour of Turkey and Greece next April and May.

Phillip J. Long reviews Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide, by David A. deSilva, positively, recommending that it be required reading before visiting the sites.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Explorator

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“Archaeologists have discovered ancient mosaics and detailed floor decorations during ongoing excavations in the ancient Greek city of Olympos (Greek: Ὄλυμπος) in modern-day Antalya, Turkey.”

“Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a rare Greco-Roman library in the ancient Greek city of Stratonikeia (Greek: Στρατoνικεια) in southwest Turkey, revealing new insights into the architectural and cultural legacy of one of antiquity’s largest marble cities.” By library, they mean the building, not the books/scrolls.

Jason Borges “describes the Roman road section from Antioch to Lystra, for people seeking to travel the route and explore extant remains along the Via Sebaste extension.” The article gives 11 features on the route and notes that excavations began at Lystra this year and the tell is fenced off.

Owen Jarus asks how Rameses II died and what happened when he did.

New release: The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire, by Rhyne King (University of California Press, 334 pages, $95; Amazon)

To be released on July 8: Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations, by Sam Kean (Little, Brown and Company, 464 pages, $33)

Historie & Civilisations has produced a 50-minute documentary about “Gerasa: Rome’s Forgotten City in the Jordanian Hills.”

Bryan Windle has written and illustrated an archaeological biography for Darius the Persian (the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12:22).

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

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Four rare bronze discs shaped like lion heads have been uncovered in a 1,900-year-old grave in central Israel.” The underlying journal article is here.

A nearly two-mile-long tunnel in the aqueduct system feeding Solomon’s Pools is longer than any other known in the Roman empire. The underlying journal article by David Deming provides much more information about the aqueducts and water supply of ancient Jerusalem.

Archaeologists working at Tel Dan have discovered evidence for ritual bathing in a temple reconstructed after the Seleucid conquest.

The Jerusalem Post has a story about Shiloh’s excavation team being evacuated when the war began. The Appalachian News-Express has a similar story about one of the participants.

Gordon Govier interviews Scott Stripling about the Shiloh excavations and the beginning of the war.

“Iranian cyber activists hacked the X/Twitter account of the Israel Antiquities Authority early on Sunday morning.”

Writing for The Times of Israel, archaeologist Aren Maeir considers the history of military confrontations between Persia and the West and suggests that “history has always been and will always be deceptive and fickle, and it is wise to exercise extreme caution before pretending to explain to the public what was and what will be.”

The Jerusalem Post runs a piece on the Cyrus Cylinder and its significance for Persian-Jewish relations.

Online lecture on July 17: “Reminiscences of the Masada Dig, 1963-5: Yigael Yadin and the British Connection,” by Tessa Rajak

New release: Bring Them into the Land: Studies in Honor of R. Steven Notley, edited by Jeffrey P. Arroyo Garcia, Daniel Machiela, Chad Pierce and Benjamin Wold (Wipf & Stock, 550 pages, $68; Kindle: $10)

One of the most potentially valuable tools I’ve used in AI recently is NotebookLM, and the NY Times explores how it can be used by historians.

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

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A limestone capital from ca. AD 600 discovered in the Jerusalem area is decorated with menorahs.

Greek authorities dismantled a smuggling ring on the island of Crete.

The Sassoon Codex, the oldest and most complete Hebrew Bible, will be going on display in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Bryan Windle discusses archaeological discoveries related to Darius the Great on Digging for Truth.

Bible Archaeology Report highlights the top three stories from the month of April.

The first volume of Archaeology of Western Anatolia is now online.

New release: The World of Middle Kingdom Egypt (2000- 1550 BCE). Contributions on Archaeology, Art, Religion, and Written Sources – Vol. III, edited by Gianluca Miniaci and Wolfram Grajetzki (Golden House, free pdf)

New release: Triumph and Betrayal: Assyria’s Path to Empire, 935–745 BC, by Alexander Johannes Edmonds (DeGruyter Brill; $189; open access)

Available for pre-order from Logos: Jesus and the Remains of His Day: Studies in Jesus and the Evidence of Material Culture, by Craig A. Evans

Zoom lecture on May 14: “The Queens of Nimrud’s Northwest Palace: Beauty, Power, and Presence in the Neo-Assyrian World, c. 865–705 BCE,” by Amy Gansell

The BAS Summer Seminar this year will focus on “Fakes, Mistakes, and Media Misrepresentations in Biblical Archaeology,” with Eric Cline, Jennie Ebeling, Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, and Chris Rollston. You can attend the conference in DC or register to watch online.

Mary Buck is hosting a new series about the Second Temple period on the Biblical World podcast.

BibleStock has released a new coaching video, this one focused on how to use a lesson from Psalm 121 for Mother’s Day.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz

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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

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