Resources Archives - Page 109 of 145

Book Deal Today: Carta’s New Century Handbook

This one won’t wait for tomorrow’s roundup because it’s a “Deal of the Day” at Eisenbrauns. I’ve mentioned before (many times) the incomparable value of The Sacred Bridge, by Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Notley (2005). This work sells for $135, but if you do not need the original languages printed in the text (Hebrew, Greek, Egyptian, Akkadian), you can save half by purchasing the Carta’s New Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible for $70.

If you don’t mind bent corners and you make up your mind before noon today (and before they sell out), you can save more than half again and get the book for $25. I wonder if there is a book published in the last 10 years in the field of biblical studies that has more packed into 280 pages than this one.

Eisenbrauns also has a non-bent-corner edition for less than Amazon at $50.

You can see the publisher’s information sheet, including the table of contents, in this pdf file. My previous assessment of “The Sacred Abridgement” can be found here.

Tagged Resources

New Book: Verse by Verse Trip through the Holy Land

More than once I’ve been asked to put together a book with my photos. Even if I had the time, I could not do better than others have done. The most recent work features 200 photos from my collection in A Verse by Verse Trip through the Holy Land. Written by Rob and Lisa Laizure, this new book takes the reader on a tour of 27 sites in Israel, guiding them with interesting facts, large doses of Scripture passages, and 1-3 photos on nearly every page. The reader is taken as far north as Caesarea Philippi and as far south as En Gedi, from Capernaum to Bethlehem. Jerusalem is given extra attention.

The book is available from www.ConnectingTheDotsMinistries.com for $25. Those leading a tour can purchase larger quantities at a discount.

Tagged Resources

Weekend Roundup

Ancient Israel: Highlights from the Collections of the Oriental Institute University of Chicago is a new 127-page publication written by Gabrielle Vera Novacek and illustrated with 66 beautiful photographs and diagrams. The book is available for pre-order from Amazon or as a free download (pdf).

Six lectures in Hebrew are now online from the 12th Studies of Ancient Jerusalem conference held in September in the City of David. The speakers included Israel Finkelstein, Ronny Reich, Gabriel Barkay, Asher Grossberg, Eli Shukron, and Yosef Garfinkel.

“Libya’s famed ancient Roman sites, including the sprawling seaside ruins of Leptis Magna, were spared damage by NATO during the recent airstrikes, says a London-based Libyan archaeologist.”

Muslims continue to bury their dead next to the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, according to the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities.

The head of the Supreme Committee of the Grand Egyptian Museum was fired this week.

“Ultra-Orthodox young men curse and spit at Christian clergymen in the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City as a matter of routine.” Last week a judge ruled in favor of an Armenian seminary student who fought back.

HT: Daniel Wright, Jack Sasson, ANE-2, AWOL

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

In follow-ups to yesterday’s story, Nadav Shragai writes that the Mughrabi Bridge must be built. The city engineer is threatening to destroy the temporary bridge. The Muslim Waqf says that they are sovereign over all.

A preliminary report from excavations at Gezer from 2006-2009 is now online. Elsewhere excavator Sam Wolff writes that they are a season or two away from floor levels associated with the (Solomonic) six-chambered gate.

Jerusalem plans to develop an extensive archaeological site 30 feet (10 m) below the plaza at Jaffa Gate in order to share with the public a 220-foot (70-m) aqueduct, a Byzantine bathhouse, and other remains.

Haaretz’s Week’s End has an interesting article on the Cairo Geniza and ambitious plans to digitize all 350,000 fragments.

A couple of Tel Aviv archaeologists would like to move some of historic Jerusalem from the City of
David to the Rephaim Valley. Lipschits and Na’aman have proposed that the King’s Garden was located not where the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys meet but on one end of Emek Refaim Street in west Jerusalem.

The Oriental Institute in Chicago will run an exhibit entitled “Picturing the Past: Imaging and Imagining the Ancient Middle East” from February 6 to September 2, 2012.

A Biblical Chronology from Abraham to Paul is a new book by Andrew E. Steinmann. Justin Taylor has links to his OT and NT Chronologies as well as a 48-page excerpt from his book. It seems to agree with standard conservative views except that Jesus was born in 1 BC. [Note: be prepared for sticker shock. Perhaps you can ask your library to purchase a copy.]

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun a list of Archaeological Excavations in 2012.

A photograph of McDonalds at Masada has prompted the site archaeologist to write an article in Haaretz. The photogapher [sic] has rejected the charges.

Thousands of people pass by the place where the ark of the covenant rested every day. Wayne Stiles explains the significance of Kiriath Jearim (and, unlike most, he gets the chronology right!).

The Big Picture celebrates Sukkot.

Israel’s prime minister and education minister are urging everyone to vote for the Dead Sea as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The Dead Sea is one of 28 finalists. Voting ends on November 11.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

The Dead Sea at sunrise

Tagged Dead Sea, Holidays, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Technology

New Book: Archaeology in the Israel Museum

When teaching a group in Israel, one never lacks for books to recommend. The major exception to this is a resource for the Israel Museum. The archaeology wing is a natural place to conclude one’s studies in Israel, viewing many of the artifacts that we have talked about during the course. But a tour of several hours only provides just a taste and students are always disappointed when I inform them that there is no book surveying the collection. A brief and limited work was published in 1984 but this has been difficult to find.

A book review in the latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review reveals that this significant gap has now been closed. Chronicles of the Land: Archaeology in The Israel Museum Jerusalem is a 352-page work that takes the reader on a tour of the most important discoveries on display in the newly reopened archaeology wing. Steven Fine’s review (pages 64-65) is enthusiastic: “This is more than just a coffee-table book to be schlepped home by excited tourists….Scholars from many fields will find much here than enhances their work….Chronicles of the Land marks an event to be celebrated by all readers of BAR, by scholars and by all who delight in marvelous museums.”

With 326 full-color illustrations, the book is not inexpensive ($58). Since the book is published by the Israel Museum, I was not expecting to find it available outside of the gift shop. But I see that Amazon has a few copies, discounted to $48. For those not on a student budget, this is a happy day.

Tagged Museums, Resources

Wednesday Roundup

Writing on the Malta Independent Online, Mark Gatt reviews Robert Cornuke’s The Lost Shipwreck of Paul and concludes that it is “fraught with mistakes and manipulated facts.”

Alan R. Millard will speak on “Are there Anachronisms in the Books of Samuel?” at Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School on Monday, Nov. 14. For details, see this flyer (pdf).

The International Women’s Club English Lecture Series at Tel Aviv University has some interesting topics slated for the coming months. The semester theme is “From Copper to Bronze: the
Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages.”

The Israel Exploration Journal is among a new group of journals available in JSTOR.

A Swiss architect is trying to save the mosaics of Hisham’s Palace near Jericho.

Work has resumed in the project to lower the ground water threatening five Egyptian temples in Luxor.

Wayne Stiles’ weekly column explains how Scripture uses water imagery to teach valuable lessons.

Eisenbrauns has conference discounts posted online for the benefit of all. Among the deals are two books by Eilat Mazar and one by Ronny Reich. Amnon Ben-Tor’s Back to Masada is 20% off.

Logos Bible Software is taking bids for Austen Henry Layard’s Nineveh and Its Remains (2 vols). Projected price is currently $20.

El Al is quietly cutting their luggage limit on international flights to one bag.

HT: A.D. Riddle, Jack Sasson, Gordon Franz

Tagged Lectures, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup