An Israeli government grant of $17 million is intended to expand excavations and strengthen tourist infrastructure in and around the City of David.

Lazarus’s tomb in Bethany is the first site to benefit from Virtual Reality glasses in a new “Accessible Palestine” initiative.

ABR’s first week at Shiloh is in the books, and you can read a summary of the discoveries from the 11 squares here.

At Neot Kedumim, “Israel’s foremost food archaeologist” Tova Dickstein is working to understand the biblical diet. If you sign up for one of her biblical cooking workshops, you’ll be learning more about Ezekiel’s “bread” and less about hummus and falafel.

A man has been arrested for illegally excavating near the traditional site of Akeldema.

Eilat Mazar is interviewed on the Land of Israel Network (one hour).

Mordecai Aviam is on The Book and the Spade, talking with Gordon Govier about his dream of “Finding Bethsaida.”

In the month of May, Wayne Stiles looked at the geographical and practical significance of the story of Ruth, the Burnt House in Jerusalem, the Levitical cities, the Jabbok River, and the Plains of Moab.

Ferrell Jenkins has written a series on the Arabah (introduction, northern end, Tamar, Keturah, Ezion Geber, and copper mining) and a shorter series on the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park (#1, #2, and #3).

Israel’s Good Name stays on the move: Gamla II, Tel Gezer, and Jerusalem’s Binyanei HaUma Archaeological Dig.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle, Pat McCarthy

A symposium is being held this week in Jerusalem on “The Dead Sea Scrolls at Seventy: Clear a Path in the Wilderness.” The full program is here. The poster is here.

Brad Gray investigates the geographical connection between the leper healings of Naaman and the 10 lepers in the latest episode of The Teaching Series.

Ten students were killed by a flash flood when hiking in Nahal Tzafit this week.

The Druze celebrated their annual pilgrimage to Jethro’s tomb in Galilee last week.

Ferrell Jenkins has written about “the Great Rift” in preparation for a series of articles about the Aravah. His post includes several beautiful photos.

Episode Five of Digging for Truth focuses on the recent excavations of Shiloh.

The site and synagogue of Umm el-Qanatir in the Golan Heights are the subject of an article in Front Page Magazine.

Timna and its copper mines are described by the BBC.

Lyndelle Webster is profiled on the Azekah Expedition blog, and she recounts how her volunteer work changed her life direction.

Israel’s Good Name shares his experience and photos from his visit to Ein Hemed.

Wayne Stiles explains the geographical and theological significance of Kadesh Barnea.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Paleojudaica

The tomb of Hathor’s priestess Hetpet has been discovered on the Giza plateau.

“More than 120 images of ancient Egyptian boats have been discovered adorning the inside of a building in Abydos” from the time of pharaoh Senwosret III.

Excavations of the ancient city of Hadrianapolis have revealed a 5th-century church that is decorated with images of the Gihon, Pishon, Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers.

Archaeologists have been working to discover evidence of Nabatean seafaring, including the location of their chief port, Leuke Kome.

The Awwam Temple is one of many historic sites at danger in Yemen.

Kurdistan is attracting tourists with its ancient fortresses, historic monasteries, and beautiful landscapes.

The “Khirbet el-Maqatir—A Journey through Biblical History” exhibit will open at Southwest Baptist University on February 24.

A 1920 article in National Geographic on the Samaritan Passover, with many photos now in the
American Colony collection, is posted online.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Paleojudaica

A colorful mosaic with a lengthy Greek inscription has been uncovered in Caesarea. The badly damaged mosaic features three men and dates to about AD 200.

Israeli security forces may have destroyed ancient ruins as early as the Middle Bronze Age in demolition work in Gush Etzion.

Biblical Archaeology Review is teasing “a major new discovery connected to an important biblical figure” in its upcoming double issue.

Israel has begun construction on a permanent pavilion for mixed prayer at the Western Wall near
Robinson’s Arch.

An Israeli family had be rescued while hiking in the Nahal Darga in the Judean wilderness.

Wayne Stiles explores the two times that Dothan appears in the Bible.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from the Herodium display in the Israel Museum.

Leen Ritmeyer refutes the claims of some who argue that the Temple Mount is actually the Antonia Fortress.

Israel’s Good Name went on a hiking trip in and around the Wadi Qelt.

John A. Beck, author of The Holy Land for Christian Travelers and many other works, has just launched a new website. You can check out his resources and sign up for his quarterly newsletter.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

A team has been excavating the so-called “Cave 12” at Qumran and a statement of their latest work will be released soon.

One of the last unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls has been deciphered using high-tech imagery to put together a puzzle of 60 tiny scroll fragments.

The Times of Israel has more on the depiction of the birth of Athena on the potsherd from et-Tell.

Moshe Gilad, in a lengthy and well-illustrated article at Haaretz, asks why Qasr el-Yahud, the traditional place of Jesus’s baptism, is still mined and booby-trapped seven years after the site opened to tourists.

A conference on the Archaeology of the Dead Sea Region will be held next month at the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz in preparation for an exhibition on “Life at the Dead Sea” in the fall of 2019.

In a journal article for NEASB, Brian Peterson considers whether a ram’s head discovered at Khirbet el-Maqatir provides evidence for the Israelite conquest of Ai.

New images of mosaics discovered at the Huqoq synagogue will be displayed for the first time in a lecture at the University of Chester in the UK.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of reliefs that illustrate the “dogs eating the crumbs” that fall from the table.

Leen Ritmeyer discusses the importance of the Trumpeting Stone discovered below the Temple
Mount and shares some photos from its original discovery.

Wayne Stiles explains why the Lord took his people to Mount Sinai before the Promised Land.

Kenneth Seeskin explains why the Hebrew Bible is so easy/difficult to interpret.

The Caspari Center is running a course on “Discovering Jesus in His Jewish Context” in April and May of this year.

Les and Kathy Bruce of Biblical Byways are leading a tour to Turkey and Greece in May and June.

Elisha Qimron has been awarded the Israel Prize for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The ESV Archaeology Study Bible is coming in March, and you can read about the editors and their approach.

Appian Media has released a trailer for their next big project: Searching for a King. Filming will begin this summer.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle

A 4th century BC vase discovered at et-Tell (Bethsaida?) has a depiction of an image copied from the Parthenon in Athens.

Haaretz (premium): “A team of Israeli scientists and archaeologists has embarked on a massive four-year project to accurately radiocarbon-date the complex layers of ancient Jerusalem.”

A stele from the reign of Ramses II has been discovered at San al-Hagar.

Roman funeral mummy portraits from Egypt, dating to the first three centuries AD, are on exhibit at Northwestern University’s Block Museum. There’s a 3-minute video here.

ASOR Blog: “What were the types of musicians and instruments in Ancient Egypt, how were they used, and where did they come from?”

How do scholars reconstruct the rules for ancient board games?

David Z. Moster of 929 Chapters has launched a new YouTube channel with a video on “How to 
Study the Bible with Ancient Near Eastern Texts.”

The Spring 2018 issue of DigSight includes reports on the Fourth Expedition to Lachish, ecology on ancient seals, and more.

Scott Stripling reports on Week Two of the winter’s work processing material from Khirbet el-Maqatir.

Leon Mauldin writes of the possible connection between the apostle Paul and Gush Halav in Galilee.

Ferrell Jenkins shares photos that illustrate a king making a footstool of his enemies.

Wayne Stiles is leading a tour to Israel this October.

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