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Best of 2009: Books, Software, Photo CDs

This list isn’t comprehensive, but these are works I noted as I reviewed the posts for this year on the BiblePlaces Blog. Feel free to suggest other valuable works in the comments below.

Books of the Year:

Barry Beitzel, The New Moody Atlas of the Bible – The long-awaited second edition is now available.

Hanan Eshel’s three field guides on Masada, Ein Gedi, and Qumran – There is nothing better for a quick but careful review of these important sites near the Dead Sea.

John Walton, ed., Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament – The bar has forever been raised for illustrated works on the Old Testament. Purge all of those references in
your books and syllabi to ANEP.

Anne Spangler and Lois Tverberg, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus – This is a great little book for those who want to see background information applied to Scripture, and in a very readable style.

James Martin, John Beck, and David Hansen, A Visual Guide to Bible Events – If you believe that there’s a reason for everything, you’ll love this book which shows you in story after story why the geography matters. Along the way, you’ll enjoy beautiful and instructive photographs and maps.

Best Bible Software of the Year:

Bible Mapper 4 – The best software for making your own maps is now better. Bonus: you can use these maps without restriction.

Glo – Interactive Bible software that puts the Bible together with videos, reconstructions, photographs, and more in an impressive and immersive experience. (And now only $50 at Amazon.)

Logos 4 – The whole program has been re-engineered to take advantage of the latest in computing technology. I haven’t installed it yet, but word on the street is that the program is significantly better than the previous version.

BibleWorks 8 – The best software for exegesis of Scripture now includes the best Hebrew and Greek grammars.

Best Photo CDs of the Year:

The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection: Vol. 2: Jerusalem – Not less than 700 images hand-picked from thousands of photographs taken by a group of resident photographers from 1898 to 1946.

The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection: Vol. 6: Traditional Life and Customs – These are photographs that you thought you’d never see.

I’m more than a little biased on this last category, but I’m happy to welcome any challengers in the comments below.

Tagged Analysis, Resources

Field Guides by Hanan Eshel

I’ve been looking forward to these books by Hanan Eshel for some time. It’s risky to say without having read them, but I predict they’ll be the best books on their respective subjects. (I have spent a day with Eshel at Qumran, benefitting from his immense knowledge.) They are available from Eisenbrauns for $22.50 each. Here are direct links:

Ein Gedi: A Carta Field Guide

Masada: A Carta Field Guide

Qumran: A Carta Field Guide

This brief review was published in Haaretz.

Call of the desert

By Aya Horesh

Qumran: Scrolls, Caves, History (Qumran: Megilot, Me’arot, Historia), by Hanan Eshel

Masada: An Epic Story (Metzada: Alilot Gvura), by Hanan Eshel

Ein Gedi: Oasis and Refuge (Ein Gedi: Neveh Midbar U’mistor), by Hanan Eshel

Each of the three volumes is available from Carta Publishing in both Hebrew and English editions.

Each has 144 pages and costs NIS 84 or $25

Many travelers find it hard to deal with tour guides, who tend to think their sense of humor and cloying affability will encourage people to give bigger tips at the end of the trip. Tour guides’ explanations, too, frequently leave something to be desired. At the same time, it is fairly difficult to find travel literature of a high caliber, because why should prominent academics waste their time on writing that does not promote their scientific renown?

The three field guides that Hanan Eshel has written on Qumran, Masada and Ein Gedi are therefore a welcome contribution. Eshel, of Bar-Ilan University’s Land of Israel studies and archaeology department, is one of the most important archeologists and scholars of the Qumran scrolls. He has spent years conducting research along the west coast of the Dead Sea and has earned a worldwide reputation. His familiarity with the area, particularly with the Dead Sea Scrolls, has led to numerous books and articles that have earned him a prestigious place among scholars of ancient Israel.

Each of these three books, which Carta has published in both Hebrew and English editions, follows an identical two-part format: The introduction provides an overview of the site, describes the archaeological findings discovered there and explains their significance; that is then followed by a field guide that travelers are meant to take with them as they tour the site. This division is especially helpful for those who wish to forgo a hike in the blazing Dead Sea heat and prefer to learn about these sites in the cool confines of their air-conditioned homes. The introductions are succinct and precise, provide a good sense of each place and its importance, and are accompanied by spectacular photographs and maps.

The review continues here.

HT: Joe Lauer

UPDATE: If somebody buys the Masada book before me, let me know if the cover image is credited
to me. It sure looks familiar, but they wouldn’t possibly have used it without asking for permission…

UPDATE #2: James at Eisenbrauns notes in the comments that you can get an additional 20% discount through the end of the month using the Carta order form on this page. Thanks, James!

Tagged Dead Sea, Resources

New CD: Traditional Life and Customs

I haven’t seen anything of real interest come across my radar screen for the blog in the last couple of days, and with limited time this week, I’m going to satisfy myself today with a notice of our new CD.

Subscribers to the BiblePlaces Newsletter learned yesterday of the Traditional Life and Customs CD, the latest volume in the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Of 25+ CDs that I’ve made in the past decade, this is one of my absolute favorites.

Here’s a survey of what is included on the CD.

Agricultural Life: Plowing, Sowing, Water, Vineyards, Locust Plague, Grain Harvest and Olive Harvest (185 photos total)

Biblical Stories: Christmas, Ruth, and Psalm 23 (75 photos total)

Home Life: Food Preparation, Women at Work, and Weddings (100 photos total)

Religious Life: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Samaritan (110 photos total)

Work Life: Clothes Making, Fishing, Pottery Making, Shepherds, Trades, and Travel (150 photos total)

Quotations: We have scoured the reports of travelers in the 19th century for the most interesting and helpful descriptions of these scenes. Even if you didn’t have the photos, your understanding and appreciation for traditional ways would be greatly increased!

I anticipate featuring some of the photos and quotations on the blog in the next month. It’s a wonderful set of images, with something for everyone (including a couple of photos my wife printed and hung in the laundry area; there’s nothing like seeing how they used to do it to remind you that we have things much easier).

You might consider it as a Christmas gift. It’s certainly unique and not what they get every year.

Images can be printed, used as desktop wallpaper, and much more. The cost is $20. Shipping in the U.S. is free and takes about 4 days. You can see more details here.

Tagged American Colony Photos, Resources

Weekend Roundup (2)

In my haste to post the Weekend Roundup this morning, I neglected a few things I had intended to mention.

Ferrell Jenkins is back in Israel on a study and photographic tour. He has already posted some good photos from Samaria, Shechem, Qeiyafa, and Jerusalem.

This month you can view the Ezra and Nehemiah commentary for free from the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

National Geographic has just released The Letter and the Scroll: What Archaeology Tells Us About the Bible. I’m pleased to have a number of photos in the book, but I haven’t yet seen it. A friend
suggests that its approach is rather mainstream, trying not “to push too many buttons.” He is very impressed with the photographs and illustrations and thinks they will be helpful in teaching.

Tagged Resources

Weekend Roundup

Last week I noted an article on the Nahal Yehudiyeh. The author, Shmuel Browns, has a website with an expanded version of the article, plus many other interesting articles and beautiful photos. I particularly like his shot of the Dead Sea sinkholes.

A team of archaeologists has created an online map of Israeli excavations in the West Bank. The project won an award last week from ASOR. You can search sites by period, type, or keyword.

Greece is planning to restore the theater of Dionysius at the foot of the acropolis. This theater was first built in the late 6th century BC.

Google is planning to make a virtual copy of the collections of the National Museum of Iraq, to be online early next year. This is good news, since the three official “re-openings” never included entrance to the public and only 8 of the 26 galleries have been restored.

The most famous place in Israel for hummus is Abu Ghosh. Now the owner of the Abu Ghosh
Restaurant is planning to break the record by making a four-ton vat. Come hungry.

HT: Explorator

Theater of Dionysius, Athens

Tagged Dead Sea, Greece, Resources

Photos from Israel in 1948

About a year ago, Life Magazine made its archive of 10 million photos available online. Ben Atlas has sifted through the collection and pulled out images related to Israel in 1948, particularly the War of Independence.

LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 1

LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 2

LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 3

This is a fantastic collection that proves the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

You can search the archive yourself with Google if you add “+source:life” to your search. So, for instance, you might try these searches:

Jerusalem in 1940s (176 images)

Palestine in 1940s (200 images)

Israel in 1940s (200 images)

The story of the birth of modern Israel is one of the most remarkable tales of the 20th century. There are many books on the subject, but one I have enjoyed several times is O Jerusalem, a classic which is also available in audiobook format (22 CDs for $20 from Amazon). I listened to the book this summer and profited greatly.

HT: David Reagan

Tagged Resources