Weekend Roundup, Part 1

As excavations get underway at Kiriath Jearim, Haaretz (premium) reports on a 9-foot-wall discovered there and Finkelstein’s belief that the site held a temple that competed with Jerusalem.

The “ancient coin” the 9-year-old girl found last week is in fact a modern souvenir.

The bones of people killed at Khirbet el-Maqatir during the First Jewish Revolt were recently reburied in Ofra. Leen Ritmeyer posts more information and images.

Leen Ritmeyer shares a photo of a Temple Mount model made of Legos.

Wayne Stiles explains the significance of the Gezer boundary stones.

John DeLancey explains Hezekiah’s Tunnel, with help from a couple of videos including one narrated by Ronnie Reich.

Bill Schlegel has created a 5-minute video about Bethsaida in which he uses aerial footage to explain the two candidates and identify which site is most likely Bethsaida.

Lois Tverberg shares her experience and photos from the el-Araj dig this summer.

G. M. Grena has created a video tutorial on how to identify a LMLK seal impression. (Is his computer running Windows 95?)

R. T. France identifies seven differences between Galilee and Judea in the time of Jesus.

Israel’s Good Name describes his experience as a square supervisor at the Gath excavations.

Accordance has a big sale that includes a couple of collections from Carta, including the Carta Super Combo and the Carta Select Combo.

HT: Mike Harney, Agade

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A Babylonian tablet contains a completely accurate trigonometric table more than 1,000 years before Pythagoras lived.

A donation to the Israel Museum has more than doubled the total number of gold coins on display in Israel.

James Davila has been doing a series on the Jordanian lead codices: Part 1 (the materials test); Part 2 (the inscriptions); Part 3 (the Abgar-Selaman epitaph).

Though most tour groups don’t make it to Eilat on the Red Sea, Wayne Stiles explains why it is important in the Bible.

David M. Weinberg argues that the Israeli government should fund the Temple Mount Sifting Project so that it can continue.

Carta has published some great new books (and maps) recently. I plan to recommend some of them here when I get a chance, but you can take a look at the latest offerings now.

Texas International Bible Institute has created a series of 360º videos on-site at various locations in Israel. You can start here and select from the list on the side.

Eisenbrauns has announced a forthcoming festschrift entitled Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein (Nov 2017).

Eric Cline is on The Book and the Spade discussing his latest book, Three Stones Make a Wall.

The 20th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest will be held this year in Boston.


The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions is reviewed positively here (but it’s expensive; I don’t think I’ve seen a Kindle book for $408 before).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A first-century AD tomb in Irbid, Jordan, will open to the public next month. The unique tomb contains oil paintings, transcriptions, and drawings.

A Hellenistic temple and network of water tunnels has been uncovered at Gadara.

An analysis of a water pipe from Pompeii suggest that the Romans probably experienced daily problems with vomiting and diarrhea, as well as liver and kidney damage. The problem wasn’t lead, but the acutely toxic antimony. Cf. 1 Timothy 5:23.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review has a number of articles of interest, including the capital city of Samaria, Hebrew on Herod’s time, and NT figures known outside the Bible.

The William Kelly Simpson Memorial Colloquium will be held at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History on October 7.

The Israel Exploration Society is having a clearance sale for all final reports of the Masada excavations. Each of the 8 volumes is reduced to $30 plus shipping.

Among the resources for Accordance on sale now is the three-volume Archaeology of the Land of the Bible series (by Mazar, Stern, Meyers, and Chancey).

GTI Study Tours is a unique travel agency that I’ve heard rave reviews about. They are offering a highly-discounted “Pastors and Christian Educators” Study Tour of Turkey in February with Mark Strauss.

HT: Agade, Chris McKinny, Joseph Lauer

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Weekend Roundup

The Preliminary Report for the 2017 excavation season at Tel Kabri has been posted.

ABR has provided a brief overview of discoveries at Shiloh this year.

ABR has posted Rodger C. Young’s article on “How Lunar and Solar Eclipses Shed Light on Biblical Events.”

Remove the tarps and launch the drone and this is what the excavations of Gath look like after this year’s digging was completed.

Israel’s Good Name reports on a university field trip to Tel Aroma and Mount Gerizim, including his encounters with birds and boars.

A team from Biblical Illustrator has made multiple trips to the Middle East to take photographs for their magazine.

The British Museum has uploaded a 3D model of the Rosetta Stone.

The IAA arrested five antiquities dealers in Jerusalem on charges related to selling $22 million of antiquities to Steve Green.

The Met has turned over to authorities a bull’s head that may have been looted from Lebanon.

Authorities seized an ancient Greek krater from the Met on suspicions it was looted from Italy.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the significance of Tisha B’Av.

Amnon Ben-Tor, who has been excavating at Hazor since 1957, is interviewed on the LandMinds Podcast.

Insights from Archaeology by David A. Fiensy has just been released by Fortress Press. The publisher’s site includes a free article from the book.

HT: Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

In the final season of the Tel Gezer Project, archaeologists have found evidence of Merneptah’s fiery destruction of the city, including the skeletons of an adult and child. The capture of Gezer is mentioned in the famous Merneptah Stele, along with the slaughter of Israel.
Norma Franklin explains why the winery they discovered at Jezreel fits the time and place of Naboth’s vineyard.

The IAA has posted a 3-minute video on the “Siloam street” and drainage channel that is being excavated between the Pool of Siloam and the Temple Mount.

Gabriel Barkay is interviewed on the World Affairs Report (28 min, mp3).

Did Jeremiah bury his loin cloth at the Euphrates or at Ein Perat? Ferrell Jenkins provides photos of both and some evidence for the latter.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos and reflects on his time in Jerusalem during the Six Day War.

Photorientalist exhibits photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries, including a number of exhibitions that tell a story, such as “Palestine’s Nativity Trail.” They are accepting submissions.

One of your considerations in choosing a summer excavation to join is the field school. Year after year, the Tell es-Safi team has one of the best schedules of lectures and field trips.

The PEF’s refusal to accept papers which discuss Jewish excavations in Jerusalem ultimately led to its cancellation of the conference on “Anglo-German Exploration of the Holy Land 1865-1915.”

The Book and the Spade reposts a Dead Sea Scrolls Documentary, produced for the 50th anniversary of the discovery and including audio from Albright, Yadin, Trever, DeVaux, and others.

J. C. McKeown writes about famous doctors in the ancient world on the Oxford University Press blog.

Gary Rendsburg has recently posted his 1998 interview of Cyrus Gordon on YouTube.

A new program at Leiden University seeks “to show the great potential video games have for archaeology in terms of public outreach, heritage preservation, and education, but also for actual research.”

Eisenbrauns has a big sale going in July, with 60 titles at 60-80% off. Here are a few recommendations:

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, AWOL, John DeLancey

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A new study suggests that the Philistines brought their pigs with them when they sailed to the coast of Israel.

The second issue of the Tel Aviv University Archaeology Newsletter has reports on projects at
Masada, Kiriath Jearim, Timna Valley, City of David, and more.

David Hendin reports on the most significant numismatic discoveries in Israel in recent years.

Wayne Stiles looks at lessons to be learned from sieges in the Bible.

Charlie Trimm explains how soldiers relieved themselves while in battle.

Lexham Geographic Commentary: The Gospels is now available as a standalone purchase in Logos.

The Acts through Revelation volume is in pre-order status.

A new database identifies 20,000 archaeological sites at severe risk of destruction.

Access the Collections is a new feature of the Oriental Institute website to encourage visitors to explore their photographic and document archives.

Recently released:

Hazor VII: The 1990–2012 Excavations: The Bronze Age, edited by Amnon Ben-Tor et al.

Socoh of the Judean Shephelah: The 2010 Survey, by Michael G. Hasel, Yosef Garfinkel, and Shifra
Weiss (Eisenbrauns)

Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shephelah, edited by Silvia Schroer and Stefan Münger (Academic Press Fribourg)

The Twice-Told Tale: Parallels in the Bible, collated by Abba Bendavid (Carta)

  • A collation of parallel Bible texts showing the duplications, differences, and silences

We’ll have more stories in part 3 of the roundup tomorrow.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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