Resources Archives - Page 73 of 146

Interactive Map – The Allotments of the Southern Tribes

by Chris McKinny

The tribal town lists and boundary descriptions in the book of Joshua (chapters 13-21) are the most significant textual sources for the geography of the ancient Israel/Judah since they contain the vast majority of place names mentioned in the entire canon. In a soon-to-be submitted (and hopefully accepted) dissertation, I deal with the specific identifications of all of the towns and topographic markers mentioned in Joshua 15 (Judah); 18:12-28 (Benjamin); 19:1-10 (Simeon); and 19:40-46 (Dan) within the framework of a larger argument about the date and purpose of the town lists of Judah (Josh 15:21-62) and Benjamin (Josh 19:21-28). Over the course of the project, I compiled a digital archaeological database/atlas of all of the sites mentioned and discussed in the dissertation (embedded below). This project is called the “Interactive Map: A Historical Geography of the Administrative Divisions of Judah: The Town Lists of Judah and Benjamin in Joshua 15:21-62 and 18:21-28” (click to open in a separate window). The entire map is searchable and each entry (click on each button to expand) includes the biblical place name (in English, Hebrew and Greek), the identified ruin with an archaeological breakdown from the Middle Bronze until the Byzantine period including the Iron II size in dunams, and a bibliography of the archaeological data. The bibliography for the archaeological data contained in the database/atlas can be accessed here.

Satellite Bible Atlas users may also be interested in a more traditional map of the town lists/administrative division that I have prepared using the SBA‘s base map. A PDF of the map can be accessed here. I have added a JPEG version of the map below.

Tagged Historical Geography, Jerusalem, Judah, Negev, Resources, Shephelah

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A mosaic found in Antioch on the Orontes from the 3rd century BC reads “Be cheerful, enjoy your life.”

The Washington Post has more on the discovery of a waystation built during the early years of Queen Hatshepsut.

A scholar believes he has found the oldest depictions of demons in ancient Egypt.
Atlanta Jewish Times has a story on Jodi Magness’s on-going work at the Galilean village of Huqoq.

New book: Hazor: Canaanite Metropolis, Israelite City, by Amnon Ben-Tor. Available from the Israel Exploration Society.

The Hazor Expedition needs more volunteers this summer. Get all the details here.

A recent donation to the Yale Babylonian Collection includes 360 cylinder seals from the third and fourth millennia BC.

ISIS has destroyed two gates of Nineveh, but most of what they bulldozed is modern reconstruction work.

Most of the 200 objects displayed on the ground floor of the Palmyra Museum were destroyed, including the famous Lion of Allat.

The US Senate has voted to ban all imports of antiquities from Syria in order to discourage looting.

Archaeologists are trying to solve the mystery of why 150 people were buried with shackles near the port of Athens.

An article by Philippe Bohstrom in Haaretz (premium) traces the history of writing materials from clay tablets to wax tablets.

Construction workers in Spain discovered a trove of 1,300 pounds of Roman coins dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries.

A replica of Noah’s Ark will sail from the Netherlands to Brazil before coming to the United States.

Another reason to visit Jordan: Jordanian Food: 25 of the Best Dishes You Should Eat

Wayne Stiles explains why the Judean wilderness is a perfect place to escape.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Greece, Jordan, Judah, Mesopotamia, Resources, Syria, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of a 13th dynasty scarab in a gold ring at Tel Dor.

Excavations begin this summer at el-Araj, a candidate for the site of Bethsaida. Nyack College is participating and inviting others to join them.

The Temple Institute held a public practice reenactment of the Passover sacrifice last week. A few dozen photos have been posted.

Two Israeli Jews were arrested for trying to carry a goat up to the Temple Mount to make a Passover sacrifice.

A senior Egyptian archaeologist has claimed that the Pharaoh of the exodus was not Egyptian.

Paleojudaica provides some analysis.

The 8th-century citadel at Ashdod Yam was vandalized recently by youths who shared photos on social media. The teens who caused the damage have now apologized.

What’s there to see in Ashdod? Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am lead readers on a tour of the sites.

Wayne Stiles shows you what you’ll see if you walk down the Kidron Valley.

For an CT article, Gordon Govier asks evangelical scholars to weigh in on the recent study that literacy in ancient Israel was more widespread than previously believed.

The full text is online for Lawrence Schiffman’s recent lecture entitled, “In the Valley of David and Goliath: Digging Up Evidence on the United Monarchy.”

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary eBooks are on sale now for $4.99 each.

Now free online in pdf format: John J. Bimson, Redating the Exodus and Conquest, 2nd ed. Sheffield: The Almond Press, 1981.

A bidding war has resulted in sale of 1,000 historic photographs of the Holy Land to sell for nearly $1.5 million. Note to the loser: we can provide you with more than 1,000 images for half price!
Seth Rodriquez, a long-time contributor to this blog, has been invited to teach a course in biblical backgrounds at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe and he would appreciate your prayer and financial support.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Resources, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

The oldest known glass production factory in Israel has been discovered on Mount Carmel. High-res photos are available here.

A new study by Tel Aviv University points to widespread literacy in Israel in 600 BC. Christopher Rollston offers a summary and reflections. An op-ed at the Jerusalem Post is entitled “Holy Shards.”

The academic article is available to subscribers here.

Three Palestinians were arrested attempting to smuggle a statue of Herod’s wife Mariamne. A photo of the statue is here.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project will soon be announcing the discovery of a pendant with the cartouche of Pharaoh Thutmose III.

The Big Picture returns to Palmyra.

Dubai’s plans for the world’s tallest skyscraper are inspired by the hanging gardens of Babylon.

Wayne Stiles goes to Ein Harod to learn how to move from fear to faith.

Yale’s “Old Babylonian Period Mathematical Text” is one of the university’s most-reproduced cultural artifacts.

The Iraqi government is turning Saddam Hussein’s palace in Basra into an archaeological museum.

With Passover around the corner, Haaretz looks at indirect evidence of Israelite presence in Egypt before the exodus.

A Passover sacrifice event will be held on Monday on the Mount of Olives.

Luke Chandler notes that the official website for the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavations has been updated.

The summer excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir is on and applications are being accepted until April 30.

Ferrell Jenkins and Leon Mauldin are traveling around Israel and sharing photos from their trip.

Filip Vukosavovic has resigned his position as Chief Curator at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.

Now free online: The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today, by Kenneth A. Kitchen.

Many people liked the photo we shared this week on Facebook and Twitter of the Mount of Olives
before the churches were built.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Syria, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working at Magdala have discovered a bronze incense shovel and a bronze jug. The press release includes a 1.5-minute video.

Archaeologists believe that they have unearthed a Byzantine church in Gaza. But as quickly as it was discovered, it was destroyed. (This does not serve well those who wish to turn land over to Palestinian control.)

The shrine over the traditional tomb of Jesus will be dismantled and rebuilt in the coming months.

Maybe one of these days they’ll get around to moving the ladder.

Archaeologist Ram Buchnik believes that the Romans influenced ancient Jewish ritual slaughter.

Israel21c has a roundup of recent discoveries made in Israel by hikers, including more details on the discovery of the gold coin.

Shmuel Browns shares some beautiful photos of sinkholes at the Dead Sea.

A New York Times reporter has visited Palmyra and published a photo essay. Note Paleojudaica’s warning before you click the link. Daily Mail has a look inside the Palmyra Museum and it’s not pretty.

“What’s new in ancient Cyprus?” is the subject of a forthcoming study day at The British Museum.

A new Cambridge research project, Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems, “is to focus on exploring how writing developed during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE in the ancient

Mediterranean and Near East, and will investigate how different writing systems and the cultures that used them were related to each other.”

A new DVD presentation by Bryant Wood has been released entitled “The Pharaohs of the Bondage: The Israelite Slavery in Egypt.”

Tent Work in Palestine, by Claude R. Conder, is available as a free pdf download at the Biblical Archaeology Blog.

Who was the real life archaeologist behind the character of Indiana Jones?

Egyptian officials are unhappy after finding a star of David engraved on an ancient temple in Aswan.

Luxor Museum will allow photography of its exhibits, for a time, for a fee.

Wayne Stiles explains how Jesus’s healing of the lame man at the Pools of Bethesda shows how God’s kindness motivates repentance.

Eli Ofir has recently launched Holy Land Portraits, a collection of beautiful, high-quality prints of sites in Israel drawn as if in biblical times.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Six statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet have been discovered at the Temple of Amenhotep near Luxor.

Monumental piers have been discovered in the ongoing excavations of Corinth’s harbor of Lechaion.

“The Museum of Lost Objects traces the stories of 10 antiquities or ancient sites that have been destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria.”

Bradley Schaefer provides an astronomical perspective on Good Friday and Easter on The Book and the Spade radio program.

National Geographic reports on new American and Iraqi excavations of Abraham’s hometown of Ur.

This story about the recently discovered mosaic featuring 16 animals and an inscription from Isaiah 65 includes photos.

New book: The Onomasticon of Iudaea, Palaestina, and Arabia in Greek and Latin Sources Volume I: Introduction, Sources and Major Texts, by Leah Di Segni and Yoram Tsafrir, with Judith Green with 20% the $65 price this month with the promotional code 630-16.

Another new book: The Economy of the Roman World, by Jean Andreau, Corina Kesler, Ellen
Bauerle, and David Potter. Use the code above for 20% off $50 through March 31.

HT: Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources