Leen Ritmeyer is scheduled to lecture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on November 15 and 16 on:

  • The History and Archaeology of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
  • The History and Archaeology of Herodian Jerusalem

At the ASOR meeting in New Orleans, Ritmeyer’s lecture is entitled:

  • The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount – Deciphering its Story

Joe Lauer notes that the Jerusalem Post Magazine this week has a story on the interesting character of Shlomo Moussaieff.  He’s done more in his life than sell expensive jewels and collect rare antiquities.  I’ve been eyeing this book for the last year, and so I was delighted to see that Eisenbrauns has Colin Hemer’s The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History for 60% off ($24, plus $5 shipping) this weekend only.  A few months ago I read with great appreciation D. A. Carson’s remembrance of Hemer, now available online here: “Colin John Hemer: In Memoriam” (pdf).  BibleX points to a good sale at Oxford, including:

  • Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition – James K. Hoffmeier for 50% off = $17.50
  • A Guide to Biblical Sites in Turkey and Greece – Clyde E. Fant, Mitchell G. Reddish for 65% off = $10.50
  • The Oxford Companion to the Bible – Michael D. Coogan for 65% off = $28.00
  • The Holy Land: An Archaeological Guide, 5th edition – Jerome Murphy-O’Connor for 30% off = $26.50 (but $25 at Amazon, or $10 on the Kindle).
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If, like me, you’re a fan of Bible Mapper, you’ll be pleased to know that version 4 has just been released. 

Bible Mapper is still the best program for making custom maps of the Middle East, and now it includes 35 pre-made Bible maps that get you off to a quick start.  You can see some of these in the gallery

There are a number of other improvements as well that may not sound so impressive, but really make the program more enjoyable to use.  This includes:

  • Select Object engine that uses the cursor is much faster at any zoom level and is more forgiving about how close you have to click on an object to select it (e.g., routes and rivers are easier to select)
  • A basic blank map template is included that contains essentially all the basic styles that you need to create a professional-quality map (journey path styles, political label styles, river label styles, etc.)

You can read more of the improvements on the website.  If you have any need for maps, I encourage you to check it out.  As before, use of the maps you create is virtually unrestricted.

Samsons Exploits bible mapper sample “Samson’s Exploits” – one of the new maps in Bible Mapper 4.0
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The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary is out, according to a couple of friends who have received their 5-volume sets in the mail.  The editor, John Walton, hams it up in this 1.5-minute promo video.  If you prefer a more serious approach, take a look at this 2.5-minute descriptive video.  I see that an electronic version will be produced for Logos, but unfortunately Zondervan’s pricing strategy on electronic volumes does not seem to include discounting.  This month you can read the Judges commentary, written by Daniel I. Block, for free.  I commented on this set before here, but I didn’t note that hundreds of the 2,000 photos came from the BiblePlaces.com archive.

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You know that the year is drawing to a close when you see calendars for 2010 on store racks.  I just received yesterday the 2010 Holy Land Calendar produced by Lamb and Lion Ministries, which exclusively features photographs from BiblePlaces.com.  The calendar notes all the major American holidays, and its inclusion of the Jewish holy days makes it a great way to keep track of important events not on many American calendars. You can purchase this beautiful calendar online, and if you order 10 (for Christmas gifts), they will give you two for free.

Lion_and_Lamb_calendar_2010_cover

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Hundreds of Crusader-era marble pieces were discovered in Acco recently.  You can read the press release, the JPost report or the Arutz-7 account, story here, or download high-res photos here.

The house in Luxor of Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen, has been opened as a museum.

The NY Times has an interesting and humorous article on Raphael Golb, arrested for impersonation and identity theft in an attempt to stem the tide that rejected his father’s conclusions about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Golb is delighted that the articles he wrote under the name of “Charles Gadda” have been read by so many.  I wonder how happy he is that so many are reading about his desperate attempts to stay out of jail.

BibleWorks has a sale for new customers now, offering $30 off the purchase of BibleWorks 8 and one module.  For more, see here.

Logos Bible Software released a major new version this week.  So far, everything I’ve heard is
positive.  I don’t use anything with an “i” in it, but if I did, I’d be real happy about the ability to have my entire library on my phone at no extra cost.

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Glo is reviewed in Newsweek.  I’d like to say more about this Bible software some time.  In some ways, it’s better than being on-site.

David Padfield has reviewed unfavorably the BAS Photo Archives Complete Set.

Arutz-7 Radio has posted a couple of interviews (mp3) this week that may be of interest to readers here.  The first half of part one is an interview with Bernie and Fran Alpert, founders of Archaeological Seminars, which for decades has run the “dig for a day” program.  They say that one million people have come through their programs, the main one of which is digging for a few hours in Hellenistic caves at Bet Guvrin.

Part two is a 50-minute interview with Eilat Mazar concerning her initial interest in archaeology, some of her previous excavations, and now her work in the City of David.  She gives some reasons for why she believes the large stone structure must date to the time of David.  I found myself nodding off in the middle, but it was worthwhile to listen to the end. 

The real Snake Path is not at Masada, but in San Diego.

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