Philistines Archives - Page 3 of 19

Weekend Roundup

Ruth Schuster has a photo essay of finds from the summer’s excavations of the temple at Motza (Moza) near Jerusalem.

A new study suggests that the site of Qumran was not a permanent settlement but a place where the Essenes came on pilgrimage once a year (Haaretz premium).

Brent Nongbri has a note about some little-known Dead Sea Scrolls fragments in the Vatican Museums.

Aren Maeir has posted his short summary of the Philistines, written for the Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel: Samuel.

Ukrainian travel photographer Alexander Ladanivskyy has captured some unique photos of the Great Pyramid of Giza using a drone.

Madeleine Muzdakis writes about the remarkably well-preserved statue of Ka’aper, with its beautiful rock-crystal and copper eyes.

“Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, an exhibition of Ancient Egyptian artifacts opens at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on November 20.”

Appian Media has released a teaser trailer for Trial & Triumph, a feature-length documentary on the seven churches of Revelation.

Phys.org has an article about the underwater archaeological park at Baiae, near Naples, Italy, where villas of the Roman emperors are now submerged under 15 feet of water.

A New York City antiquities dealer has been charged with selling antiquities that he mass-produced.

Philip Zhakevich looks at the ancient evidence for writing and scribes in ancient Israel. For more, see Zhakevich’s recent Scribal Tools in Ancient Israel: A Study of Biblical Hebrew Terms for Writing Materials and Implements. (60% off at Amazon now; my guess is that that price is very temporary.)

The fall issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on a Canaanite temple at Lachish and a Byzantine church near Beth Shemesh. An article on the importance of public scholarship is based on a recorded Zoom conversation with Eric Cline, Melissa Cradic, and Jodi Magness, available online here.

You can catch up on the top three reports in biblical archaeology for the month of August with Bryan Windle’s overview.

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Dead Sea Scrolls, Egypt, Italy, Judah, Philistines, Shephelah, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working at a construction site in a Tel Aviv suburb discovered a mosaic-floored winepress, a chandelier chain, and a hand-signed Byzantine gold coin.

The “Shema, servant of Jeroboam” seal impression announced last year is a fake. Yuval Goren claimed the seal was authentic after “years of strict laboratory testing,” but the object is in fact a common tourist replica.

A new study reveals that olive oil production in Philistia and the Judean Shephelah began earlier than thought and was significant in Judah after Sennacherib’s invasion. The journal article is available for purchase here.

“A large Roman-era sarcophagus dating to the 2nd or 3rd century CE excavated illegally at an unknown location in Israel has been returned to the Israel Antiquities Authority.”

In the OnScript Biblical World podcast, Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the excavations of Tel Burna, including destructions by Shishak, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar.

Leen Ritmeyer’s latest post surveys Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Hellenistic period.

A lecture that Nancy Lapp gave in 2019 at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is online. Entitled “Adventures and Discoveries from Half a Century of Life as an Archaeologist,” Nancy focuses mostly on her explorations with her husband Paul in the 1950s and 1960s, including driving from England to Shechem and on to India.

New release: Tel Reḥov, A Bronze and Iron Age City in the Beth-Shean Valley, Volume IV, Pottery Studies, Inscriptions and Figurative Art, by Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen (Qedem 62) (The Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020). To order, contact the IES.

Now available: The Road Taken: An Archaeologist’s Journey to the Land of the Bible, by Seymour (Sy) Gitin. Save 30% with code NR21.

Navot Rom has a unique job, working the night shift as an archaeological inspector in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Tell es-Safi team was doing more than digging this year, answering the “Jerusalema Challenge” with an impressive video showing off the team’s dancing skills.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, G. M. Grena, Ted Weis, Explorator, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working in the City of David believe that they have found evidence of the 8th-century BC earthquake that occurred in the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5).

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the place where the Aramean king Hazael breached the walls of the Philistine city of Gath.

Israel will not renew the contract for Elad to run the Davidson Archaeological Park south of the Temple Mount (Haaretz premium).

Ruth Schuster gives the case for identifying el-Araj as the New Testament site of Bethsaida.

Haim Silberstein lists “10 of the best underground attractions in Israel.”

Bruce Chilton writes about “Herod, His Progeny, and the Cutting Edge of Power.”

The current issue of Adventist Review has a number of articles related to biblical archaeology.

This week on The Book and the Spade: “Wet Sifting or Not, An Archaeological Dilemma” with Jimmy Hardin.

Online conference on Sept 30: Jerusalem and Other Chosen Places

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Andy Cook, Roger Schmidgall, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Philistines, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists believe that they have greater clarity about the roads in the southern Judean desert leading to Edom following the examination of a site near Nahal Gorer. The underlying journal article is available to PEQ subscribers.

Haaretz follows up on the Jerubaal inscription discovery with a report fashioned as a back-and-forth between David Vanderhooft and Christopher Rollston, with the former suggesting the inscription may have been Zerbaal or Ezerbaal, and the latter sticking with his original interpretation of Jerubaal.

Excavations are underway at el-Araj (Bethsaida?), and updates are posted daily on their website.

The 25th and final summer season of excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath has concluded. They have had a remarkable run.

Haaretz surveys the debate between Erez Ben-Yosef and Israel Finkelstein on the effect of “architectural bias” in drawing conclusions about Israel’s United Monarchy.

Naama Yahalom-Mack writes about the history of iron in ancient Israel.

Naama Barak writes about the mystery of the 1,400 dog burials at Ashkelon during the Persian period.

Bryan Windle identifies the top three reports in biblical archaeology for the month of July.

Construction has begun on a new reception center at the traditional Shepherds’ Field site near Bethlehem.

A music historian plans to restore a 12th-century organ discovered beneath the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The instrument is the oldest known example of a pipe organ.

Shea Sumlin is on the GTI podcast talking about what it was like to be one of the first tour groups to be back in Israel.

Joseph L. Rife reviews A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective, by Joseph Patrich.

2nd edition released: The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, by Jodi Magness.

One of the books on sale at Logos right now is the Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology, by Randall Price with H. Wayne House ($9).

John DeLancey’s new Institute of Biblical Israel is launching a new course on biblical archaeology tomorrow.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Explorator, Mark Hoffman, Roger Schmidgall, Paleojudaica

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Judah, Negev, Philistines, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A new study indicates that Egypt was using copper mined at Timna during the reigns of David and Solomon, suggesting an important trade route was in use at the time.

A journalist proposed that Sennacherib’s failure to capture Jerusalem was owing to Tirhakah’s intervention on behalf of Judah. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures commissioned eight scholars to evaluate it, with six scholars affirming the theory. Alice Ogden Bellis summarizes the discussion.

The City of David YouTube channel has released a Tisha B’Av special in which they look at newly discovered evidence of the destructions of Jerusalem in 586 BC and AD 70 (25 min).

Zachi Dvira is the guest on the “Times Will Tell” podcast, talking about the history of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Nadav Shragai discusses some of the stories and controversies of the 49 cisterns under the Temple Mount.

“Was a well-preserved set of game pieces and other childhood items buried [at Tel Kedesh] by a young woman before she got married?”

The team excavating Tell es-Safi/Gath has concluded their third week.

In a new episode on the Biblical World podcast, Mary Buck and Chris McKinny discuss the topography of ancient Jerusalem and the possible identification of the Millo with the Spring Tower.

From the maker of “Ushpizin,” and now playing in theaters in Israel, “Legend of Destruction” is a 90-minute film that “tells the story of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 CE, from the perspective of Ben Batiach, a good-hearted scholar who turns zealot, leading to the Roman siege on the city and the destruction of the Second Temple.”

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

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Negev, Philistines, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

Two discoveries were announced this week that will both likely make the “top 10” list for 2021: a Jerubbaal inscription and a city wall of Jerusalem. Those will summarized at greater length here tomorrow and Monday.

Archaeologists have discovered remains of an uneaten pig in a house in the City of David dating to about 700 BC. The underlying journal article is here.

Two coins from the First and Second Jewish Revolts were discovered in an archaeological survey in eastern Benjamin. The survey report was published in the Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin.

Week 2 has concluded at the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavations, and Aren Maeir is faithful as always to post updates and photos. The most recent is here.

Eve Harow interviewed Aren Maeir on the Rejuvenation podcast.

Gordon Govier reviews the discoveries and developments in biblical archaeology this summer on The Book and the Spade podcast.

Once again, Bryan Windle has a post that you could adapt for a lecture or lesson, with his Top 10 Discoveries Related to Abraham.

“In ‘Legend of Destruction,’ Gidi Dar’s new film about the destruction of the Second Temple, artists David Polonsky and Michael Faust faced a serious challenge: make an animation movie composed entirely of still paintings. It took them eight years to complete” (Haaretz premium).

Glenn Schwartz believes that “the world’s first fully developed alphabetic writing arrived on the scene some 500 years earlier than what archaeologists have long believed.” Christopher Rollston offers his reflections.

New release: Ramat Raḥel VI: The Renewed Excavations by the Tel Aviv–Heidelberg Expedition (2005–2010). The Babylonian-Persian Pit, by Oded Lipschits, Liora Freud, Manfred Oeming, and Yuval Gadot. Save 30% with code NR21.

Excavation of the second Khufu Boat has concluded, and final restoration work is now being done at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

David Ian Lightbody writes about the origin of the cartouche in Old Kingdom Egypt.

Italian authorities have recovered 782 ancient artifacts stolen by a Belgian art collector.

“The Colosseum Archaeological Park reopens the House of the Vestal Virgins to the public fully on 6 July following an extensive restoration that began in 2013.”

The Museum with No Frontiers has launched a new website.

Here are some recent episodes on Digging for Truth:

Temple Mount Revisionism: A Response (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Pharaoh Shishak, with Bryan Windle
King David’s Fortified City of Khirbet Qeiyafa, with Michael Hasel

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Steven Anderson, Charles Savelle, Roger Schmidgall, Explorator

Tagged 10th Century, Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, Philistines, Samaria, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup