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“In a ceremonial nod to Purim, the Israel Antiquities Authority has disclosed to the public a ceramic jar fragment bearing a human face and dating back to the Persian period (4th-5th centuries BCE) that was discovered in 2019” in Jerusalem.

A high school student found an oil lamp at Mezad Tzafir that is nearly identical to one discovered by Nelson Glueck ninety years ago at the same location.

Archaeologists discovered a mastaba in an Old Kingdom necropolis at Dahshur.

“Archaeologists in Pompeii have unearthed an ancient building site that sheds light on construction techniques used by the Romans to make iconic structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.”

“The only surviving funerary relief of the ancient Greek world depicting twin babies in the same arms was unveiled at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and will be exhibited only for a few weeks.”

The British Museum went to court Tuesday against a former curator alleged to have stolen hundreds of artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online.”

Kazuyuki Hayashi, a professor at Bethel Seminary, has been a supervisor at the Tel Shimron excavation since 2017.

Juan Tebes has been studying pilgrimage routes in the Levant and Hijaz.

Conflicting Jewish traditions place the tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Iran and Israel.

David Moster cut open an old pair of tefillin (phylacteries) to see what Scriptures are inside.

David Hendin, an expert in biblical coins, was interviewed on the Ancient Coin Hour.

Thomas Levy has been honored with a two-volume festschrift featuring research by more than 140 friends and colleagues. (It is a bit pricey, but chapters are available individually.)

The latest issue of Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is online. One of the articles presents three architectural models from the museum’s collection.

Available for pre-order on Logos: Pondering the Spade: Discussing Important Convergences between Archaeology and Old Testament Studies, by David B. Schreiner

Webinar on April 4: “How did the dead die in Ancient Judah? Death as a social process in Iron Age tombs,” by Matthew Suriano

Webinar on April 18: “Amorites, Their Origins, and Their Legacy,” by Aaron Burke

Sara Japhet, longtime professor at Hebrew University, died this week.

“‘Art of Intimidation: Journey to Ancient Assyria’ is the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East augmented-reality Snapchat lens that brings to life the large casts of sculpted panels from the famed royal palaces of ancient Nineveh and Nimrud.” A video shows how it works.

For the Purim holiday, The Times of Israel profiles a 78-year-old baker who runs the last-of-its-kind Iraqi pastry shop in Israel.

A video of colorized footage from around the world in 1896 includes Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, West Jerusalem, and train station (start at 2:38).

Leen Ritmeyer explains how the tomb of Jesus was sealed.

Bible Archaeology Report proposes the top ten finds related to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

HT: Agade, Paul Mitchell, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica

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Excavation results have been published for a salvage dig at Zanoah, a site located near Beth Shemesh and mentioned in Joshua 15:34 and Nehemiah 3:13 and 11:30.

Jerusalem Post: “A scroll unearthed in the Judean Desert is shedding light on the ancient practices of astrology and mysticism in a discovery that has intrigued historians and archaeologists alike.”

Haaretz: “Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a Canaanite temple built to greet the rising sun atop the mound of Azekah.”

“Archaeologists have discovered about 8,600-year-old bread at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in central Turkey.”

“The Pompeii Archaeological Park is launching a 100-million-euro project aimed at regenerating the archaeological and urban landscape of the ancient Roman city. As well as reimagining the way visitors interact with the site, the project will carry out the largest archaeological campaign at Pompeii in more than 70 years.”

Jason Borges shares highlights from his recent trip through Caria, including stops at Magnesia, Bodrum (Halicarnassus), Tlos, and Oenoanda.

A professor at Columbia University is leading the Mapping Mesopotamian Monuments project.

Haaretz (subscription): Roman routes are an “unexploited tourist opportunity” in Israel.

In conjunction with the “Legion” exhibit now at the British Museum, Mary Beard writes about the role of women in Roman military life.

“The Louvre’s Department of Near Eastern Antiquities is hosting ten major works from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art is currently closed for renovation.” Now through September 2025.

Webinar on April 18: “Amorites, Their Origins, and Their Legacy,” by Aaron Burke ($7-13)

Aren Maeir shares three of his more popular lectures now on YouTube.

New release: 1 & 2 Kings: A Visual Commentary, by Martin O’Kane (Sheffield Phoenix, $47.50 with code “scholar”). “With its over one hundred and seventy-five full-colour images, from Christian mediaeval manuscripts and Persian and Ottoman miniature paintings to contemporary Jewish art, the volume shows why stories from 1&2 Kings feature so prominently in the artistic and cultural worlds the three religions have helped to shape.”

The Lexham Geographic Commentary set is now on sale for Logos Bible Software at 55% off. For $108, you get three volumes that have already been released and three that are forthcoming.

Bible Mapper Atlas has posted a collection of map links for Holy Week, including two for Sun/Mon, two for Tues/Wed, and two for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser

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“Researchers say that a small vial of deep red paste found in Iran’s Jiroft region is likely an ancient tube of lipstick.”

“A scarab, a scroll and an ancient tomb are this month’s top reports in biblical archaeology.”

Biblical Archaeology Review has posted their annual roundup of excavation opportunities. They also offer scholarships.

New from Lingua Deo Gloria: A Child’s Biblical Hebrew book. Available on Amazon in print and as a free pdf on the publisher’s website. A Child’s Koine Greek book has just been announced.

The Narmer Catalog is a comprehensive database, gathering in one convenient location all available information about archaeological objects with inscriptions related to Narmer, the first king of Ancient Egypt, and his regional predecessors from Dynasty 0.”

New article: “Gold and Silver: Relative Values in the Ancient Past,” by James Ross and Leigh Bettenay, in Cambridge Archaeological Journal (open access)

New release: Archaeology and the Bible: 50 Fascinating Finds That Bring the Bible to Life, by Tom Meyer. The author was interviewed this week on CBN News.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson

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The oldest gold artifact discovered in Jerusalem attests to Phoenician presence in the city in the time of King Solomon. Writing for Haaretz, Ariel David disagrees.

“The discovery of numerous plants in two temples unearthed at [Gath] unraveled unprecedented insights into Philistine cultic rituals and beliefs – the food ingredients in their temple, the timing of ceremonies, and plants for temple decoration.”

A new multi-level sunken entrance pavilion opens this month for the Tower of David Museum.

Abigail Leavitt provides a report on the short excavation season at Fazael (Phasael) in the Jordan Valley.

Israel’s Good Name reports on his visit to the Lod Mosaic Center.

Shmuel Browns has posted a few drone photos taken around Israel.

Carl Rasmussen’s video series “Encountering the Holy Land” for Logos Bible Software is on sale ($18).

Course registration is now open for Spring online courses at the Jerusalem Seminary, including Biblical Feasts, Biblical Hebrew, Israel Matters, and Jewish Life: Then and Now. Scholarships and discounts are available.

I will be speaking next month in Jerusalem University College’s Culture Counts online series on “The Psalms of David and Solomon.” Registration is free and includes access to the recording.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Gordon Franz, Steven Anderson

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Şanlıurfa Archeology and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum complex, the largest museum in Turkey, has reopened after last year’s flood disaster.

A new study claims that the King Prism of Sennacherib was sold illegally to the British Museum.

A 12-year-old student build a small-scale version of Archimedes’s “death ray,” and he concluded that it would have worked.

The Greek Reporter explores the connection of the Greek alphabet to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The “Digital Coin Cabinet of the University of Trier” includes 500 coins, mostly from the Roman era, available for free use in teaching and publications.

Oxford “is offering a free, online semi-intensive course in Phoenician, which will take place on 8-13 April 2024.”

The new electronic Babylonian Library is the topic of discussion in the latest episode of Thin End of the Wedge.

Sargon II is the subject of the latest archaeological biography by Bryan Windle.

New release: Was There a Cult of El in Ancient Canaan? Essays on Ugaritic Religion and Language, by David Toshio Tsumura (Mohr Siebeck, €129).

Now on Academia: Tom Lee’s PhD dissertation “Nabonidus: The King of Babylon (556-539),” completed in 1990 under W.G. Lambert

Open access: On the Way in Upper Mesopotamia. Travels, Routes and Environment as a Basis for the Reconstruction of Historical Geography, edited by Adelheid Otto and Nele Ziegler (Gladbeck, 2023)

Jan Assmann died this week.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken

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Archaeologists believe they have uncovered the 1st-century villa where Pliny the Elder watched Mount Vesuvius erupt.

“Archaeologists conducting extensive excavations in the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, now known as Tello in southeastern Iraq, have unearthed twin temples built on top of each other.”

Egypt’s “project of the century”—a reinstallation of the granite cladding on one of the pyramids of Giza—has been cancelled.

Turkey will be expanding its “Night Museums” project with the goal of setting new records in tourism every year.

“Archaeologists working in Saqqara recently unearthed three funerary masks at least 1,800 years old.”

A new study claims that “ancient Romans used the poisonous nightshade Black henbane as a hallucinogenic drug.”

New release: Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice, edited by Jen Thum, Carl Walsh, Lissette M. Jiménez, Lisa Saladino Haney (Routledge, $40-$170)

Hybrid lecture on May 23: “From Ground to Page: Wrapping up the University of Michigan/University of Minnesota Excavations at Kedesh,” by Andrea M. Berlin

Revelation Media is creating an animated Bible project comprised of seven-minute episodes that will eventually cover the entire Bible.

Carmen Joy Imes writes about some connections to the Old Testament that she observed during a recent tour of Egypt with James Hoffmeier.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

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