Question: I teach Sunday School to teens and plan on teaching adult Bible studies as well. Do you know of any comprehensive multimedia teaching materials that would cover all the books of the Bible, allowing me to read line by line from Genesis to Revelation and explain the spiritual meaning while also being able to simultaneously project photos, maps, charts, etc. relating to these scriptures to add depth to the teaching/preaching? –P.K.


Answer: A really good resource that does just this is Glo. I selected nearly 1,300 photos from my collections that were most relevant to each book of the Bible. Digital Immersion added hundreds of videos, charts, and graphics, all organized by biblical book and chapter. The software is very impressive, and remarkably inexpensive (~$60).

Readers who have other suggestions are welcome to post a comment.

Question: I was wondering if you know of any websites that sell maps of Israel (4 x 3 feet or so) for decorative wall mounting? I found some information about Palestinian Exploration Fund linen maps selling for $200-400, dating back to 1800s but that’s about it. I prefer a vintage look over a modern National Geographic look. If you have any leads, could you pass them on? Thanks! –J.K.


Answer: I don’t know of anywhere to purchase printed maps like these, but perhaps you could find some high-res ones online that you could enlarge and print. Because any created before 1923 are no longer under copyright restriction (in the U.S.), many are available online. I would recommend that you begin with the following sources:

http://www.jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/maps/pal/html/

http://jewishhistory.huji.ac.il/links/maps.htm

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/index.html

Another possibility is the collection of Survey of Western Palestine maps that we produced. These are very high resolution on the CD (~7500×6500 pixels) and in my archive I have even higher-resolution images available by request.

Readers who have other suggestions are welcome to comment below.

Earlier this year Eisenbrauns published a collection of essays in honor of David Ussishkin, The Fire Signals of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin.

The book gets its name from Lachish Letter #4 in which the writer is looking for some indication that Lachish has not fallen to the Babylonians. David Ussishkin was a long-time professor at Tel Aviv University and his noteworthy excavations include the Silwan tombs in Jerusalem (1968-71), Lachish (1973-94), Tel Jezreel (1990-96), and Megiddo (1992-present).

The book includes 25 essays; the ten that I would read first are these:


Close Yet Apart: Diverse Cultural Dynamics at Iron Age Beth-Shemesh and Lachish, by Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman


Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On: The Possible Destruction by Earthquake of Stratum VIA at Megiddo, by Eric H. Cline


Tel Azekah: A New Look at the Site and Its “Judean” Fortress, by Yehuda Dagan


Why Did Nebuchadnezzar II Destroy Ashkelon in Kislev 604 
B.C.E., by Alexander Fantalkin


The Evolution of the 8th-Century B.C.E. Jerusalem Temple, by André Lemaire


Comparative Aspects of the Aramean Siege System at Tell Eṣ-Ṣāfi/Gath, by Aren M. Maeir and Shira Gur-Arieh


The Shephelah according to the Amarna Letters, by Nadav Naʾaman


The Persian Period City Wall of Jerusalem, by Margreet Steiner


The Waters of Shiloah (Isaiah 8:5–8), by H. G. M. Williamson


On the Toponymy of the Jezreel Valley and Adjacent Plains, by Ran Zadok

The book is now available from Eisenbrauns, and you can get more details, including a complete listing of the contents, here (pdf). The cover photo is one that I provided from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection, volume 3.