The Archaeology in Israel Update—May 2012 reviews the major stories, including the Qeiyafa shrines, Megiddo jewelry, Bethlehem bulla, forgery trial, and more.

A summary of the recent survey of Abel Beth Maacah indicates a long history of occupation.

Ferrell Jenkins asks and answers the question of whether Paul docked in Perga or Attalia on his first missionary journey.

In a new article, Reinhard Achenbach argues that the Qeiyafa Ostracon is written in Hebrew and should be translated “Give rights to slaves and to widows! Give rights to orphans and foreigners!

Protect the rights of the poor and protect the rights of minors!”

Israeli Archaeological Activity in the West Bank 1967-2007: A Sourcebook is now available as a free pdf. We noted the searchable online map version in 2009. An introduction to the study can be found at the UCLA Newsroom.

The Past is Yet to Come… is a short video introducing the Israel Antiquities Authority and the significance of its work.

A large satellite photographic map of Israel is now available from Our Rabbi Jesus, with free shipping through Monday.

HT: G. M. Grena, Charles Savelle, A.D. Riddle

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Many volumes in the Loeb Classical Library are now in the public domain and available for free download in pdf files. Loebolus has made these conveniently available, including a zip file with all 245 volumes. The list there is organized by volume number, but we find organization by author easier to navigate. Below we have listed the available volumes of works most relevant to our studies. These are not necessarily the best editions to read. For instance, for Josephus’s Jewish War, we recommend the Penguin edition. But for study and access to the original language, the Loeb Classical Library is best.

Herodotusjosephus-jewish-war

Caesar

Strabo

Josephus

Pausanias

Suetonius

Dio Cassius

Apostolic Fathers

Eusebius

Many other volumes are available, including works by Homer, Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pliny, Plutarch, and Augustine. Some of these volumes have been updated and these editions are not in the public domain.

HT: Jack Sasson

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Gary Byers has posted a summary of Week One for the excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?).

Lawyer Hershel Shanks reflects on the James Ossuary trial verdict and on-going antics of the Israel Antiquities Authority in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

Wayne Stiles suggests 7 Israel Museum “must-sees.”

The Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel has condemned vandalism of the Hammat Tiberias synagogue by religious Jews (Hebrew).

The Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project intends to “capture traces of pigments . . . and the geometric detail of the relief.”

Locust swarms are moving through north Africa.

For a limited time, free Kindle books are available for:

HT: Bible X, Bill Soper, Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

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Before my recent travels, I teased that upon my return there would be a major announcement here. I believe I used a superlative to describe its significance. If you were hoping for some amazing archaeological discovery, or some conclusive evidence against an alleged archaeological discovery, that’s not what I was hinting at. Surely I would not be the only one with such knowledge, in any case.

This new photo collection is “the most important announcement in the history of this blog” because it is the foremost achievement in our many years of research, teaching, and photography. We have been working on this particular project longer than we have been blogging.

The Revised and Expanded edition of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands is superior to anything we have ever created. While the previous edition of the Pictorial Library (published in 2003) was well received, this new edition has been the focus of our labors (outside the classroom) for the last nine years—more than double the time we spent developing all previous editions of the collection.

Length of time does not make a project great, and users will have to decide whether the collection is as valuable as we believe, but the scope and depth of the Pictorial Library is remarkable. We do not know of any collection that covers as much ground as this one. We believe that the quality of the photos is high. The winning combination is the availability of high-quality photos of biblical sites, scenes, and objects for pennies per photo.

Furthermore, we believe that “pennies for photo” is the best possible price. Paying $50-$100 per photo is impossible for most Bible teachers and students. Getting photos for free often comes with a catch, a condition, or a hassle. Our photo collection comes with broad rights and no hassles.

You can see what’s new here, read about the contents of all 18 volumes here, check out the free photos here, find answers about the discount for upgraders here, and place an order here. If you believe that this is a valuable collection, we’d be delighted if you’d tell your friends, teachers, students, and co-laborers in the ministry.

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In excavations beginning at Abel Beth Maacah this summer, Robert Mullins expects to find a very large citadel at the northern end of the site and possibly an Assyrian siege ramp.

Now online: A lecture by Sy Gitin on “Ekron of the Philistines: From Sea Peoples to Olive Oil Industrialists.”

A 3D model of the Giza pyramids and necropolis was unveiled this week at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

An investigation into the eBay sale of stones from the Western Wall determined that the seller was offering only gravel.

A medieval “monk’s mill” near Sepphoris was vandalized last week.

Can the Dead Sea be saved? A $4 million project, financed by the EU, is being launched this weekend to draw up a plan to make the area a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

What is ORBIS? “The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity. The model is based on a simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. It broadly reflects conditions around 200 CE but also covers a few sites and roads created in late antiquity.” Very impressive.

If you like to be the very first to know, here’s your chance.

HT: Wayne Stiles, Luke Chandler, BibleX, Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Dead Sea shoreline with salt crystals, tb022806387

Dead Sea shoreline
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If I subscribed to magazines without regard for the cost, Eretz would be high on my list. At $89 a year (six issues), I will be content to read it in the library when time permits, but I was pleased recently to see several affordable books that collect many articles published over the years.


Pilgrims Companion: Galilee (170 pages; $14.50)


ERETZ the Book: A Selection of Articles 1985-2005 (336 pages; $32.00)image


ERETZ Guide and Handbook to Israel (400 pages; $49.90)


ERETZ Guide and Handbook to Jerusalem (352 pages; $49.90)


Hiking In Israel: 36 of Israel’s Best Hiking Routes (202 pages; $24.90)


ERETZ Guide to Parks and Sites of Israel (322 pages; $39.90)


Pilgrims’ Companion: The Land of Abraham (64 pages; $3.95)


ERETZ Guide to Museums and Historic Sites in Israel (56 pages; $3.95)

More details about each are given here and here on the magazine’s website.

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