Shephelah Archives - Page 57 of 68

Byzantine Church Revealed at Khirbet Midras

A large public building that was turned into a church was recently excavated at Khirbet Midras in the Shephelah. The area was populated in the Second Temple period and is well known for a beautiful rolling stone tomb (since destroyed by vandals).

The archaeologists are suggesting that the church commemorated the burial place of the prophet Zechariah. Given that the sources for this appear to date nearly 1,000 years after Zechariah’s death (c. 500 BC), it may be best to regard this as a dubious Byzantine tradition. Some of the overstated wording of the IAA press release suggests that this claim is going to be the basis for reconstruction and promotion of the site. From the press release:

A public building of impressive beauty dating to the Byzantine period, in which there are several construction phases, was exposed in the excavation. In the last two construction phases the building was used as a splendid church. However, based on the results of the excavation and as evidenced by the artifacts, it seems that this church is built inside a large public compound from the Second Temple period and the Bar Kokhba uprising which was used in the first construction phases of the compound.
The church, in its last phases, was built as a basilica, at the front of which is a large flagstone courtyard from which worshippers passed into an entry corridor. Through a shaped opening one enters into the nave where there were eight breathtaking marble columns that bore magnificent capitals which were specially imported from Turkey. At the end of the nave is a raised bema and on either side of the nave are two wide aisles. All of the floors in the building were adorned with spectacular mosaic floors decorated with faunal and floral patterns and geometric designs that are extraordinarily well preserved. Located behind the bema are two rooms, one paved with a marble floor and the other that led to an underground tomb devoid of any finds. Branching out beneath the entire building is a subterranean hiding complex in which there are rooms, water installations, traps and store rooms. This complex belongs to the large building from the Second Temple period which the Byzantine church was built into. Among the artifacts discovered in the hiding complex are coins from the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba uprising (132-135 CE), stone vessels, lamps and various pottery vessels that are characteristic of the Jewish population from the settlement at that time.
As previously mentioned, researchers who visited the site are of the opinion that this place is the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah. Ancient Christian sources identified the burial place of the prophet Zechariah in the village of Zechariah, and noted that his place of burial was discovered in 415 CE. The researchers believe that in light of an analysis of the Christian sources, including the Madaba Map, the church at Horbat Midras is a memorial church meant to mark the tomb of the prophet Zechariah. This subject will be examined and studied in the near future.

The full story and the two photos posted below are available at the IAA website (also at the MFA website).

Byzantine church at Khirbet Midras.
Photos courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Shephelah

New Book: Daughter of Lachish

I enjoy historical fiction, but I seem to be unable to combine my interest in the biblical world with a good story because worthwhile books are just not being written. I was happy to hear that Tim Frank has just published a book set in the late 8th century of Judah. Daughter of Lachish tells the story of a girl who survived the siege of Sennacherib and tries to rebuild her life in its aftermath. From the bookjacket:

The mighty Assyrian army has invaded the tiny kingdom of Judah to crush the rebellion against the great king Sennacherib. After a long siege, the Assyrians capture the fortified city of Lachish. They show no mercy to the vanquished people. But one girl is able to escape-Rivkah. She hides in the hills and finds refuge in the company of other survivors. In a devastated land they seek to rebuild their lives. The words of the prophet Micah-spoken to the people over many years-speak to Rivkah anew, allowing her to see the events in a new light.

Drawing on extensive scholarly research, Daughter of Lachish brings to life the world of Ancient Judah. It melds archaeology and biblical studies to tell a story of the people who first heard the words of the Psalms and Prophets. It is a story of one girl, her search for a place in the world, and her quest to make sense of loss and joy. Through her eyes we experience the daily tasks, the seasons of the agricultural year, the bonds that hold together a household and a village, and the tensions that threaten to tear them apart.

Tim Frank brings extensive knowledge of the ancient world to his writing, serving as a supervisor at the Lahav Research Project (Tell Halif), excavating at Tel Burna (near Lachish), and presently working in the Middle Eastern collection at the Cobb Institute of Archaeology. Judith McKinlay praises Frank’s abilities as a storyteller:

I could not stop reading this story. This is a biblical world engagingly alive, with its carefully researched details of the Assyrian war machine devastating life in eighth-century Judah and its strong characters determined to survive. I felt for Rivkah, survivor of Lachish. With biblical passages interwoven, most significantly the prophecies of Micah, met in person in the latter part of the novel, it is also a tale true to the biblical faith.
—Judith McKinlay, University of Otago

Full details and ordering information are here. The book costs more than your average mass-market work of fiction and that’s because this isn’t a book for the “mass market.” For a great education that takes me on a delightful journey, I’m happy to pay a little more, with hopes that we’ll see more such works in the future.

Tagged Resources, Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

The latest issue of DigSight from the Institute of Archaeology at Southern Adventist University reports on a recent survey of Socoh (Kh. Shuweikeh) near Khirbet Qeiyafa as well as summaries of recent related lectures.

The New York Times has a good article about the current drilling project in the center of the Dead Sea.

Reports from recent excavations at Jericho by the University of Rome are now available online.

A rabbi has recently forbidden visits to the Western Wall on Shabbat because the security cameras violate Jewish law.

Stephen Carlson has posted his NTS article, “The Accommodations of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem: Κατάλυμα in Luke 2.7” (pdf). He also links to Mark Goodacre’s podcast on the same subject, “Was Jesus Born in a Stable?” For my brief thoughts on the issue, see this post from several years ago. One correction to that post: the 2005 TNIV translates the word as “guest room.”

Studies of minerals at Timna Valley in southern Israel indicate that “slag left over from Iron Age copper smelting shows the Earth’s magnetic field was stronger and more variable than scientists ever imagined.”

The Second International Conference of the Jeselsohn Epigraphic Center of Jewish History is entitled “Epigraphy and Daily Life – From the Bible to the Talmud” and dedicated to the memory of Professor Hanan Eshel. Leen Ritmeyer has listed the schedule and Aren Maeir posts a link to the
program (pdf).

Zvi Ben-Dor Benite has some interesting thoughts on the “ten lost tribes” at The Bible and Interpretation.

The Explorations in Antiquity Center in Georgia (USA) is building a Roman theater and forum.

Their newsletter is available here (pdf).

The best photographs of the Roman statue found in the sea at Ashkelon are in this article at the Daily Mail.

HT: Jay Baggett and Steve Ulrich

Tagged Dead Sea, Lectures, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Oil Exploration in the Valley of Elah

Matthew Kalman at AOLNews writes:

A baron from the prominent Rothschild family is teaming up with media mogul Rupert Murdoch in an attempt to break Israel’s foreign oil dependency by mining vast amounts of oil shale in the unspoiled Elah Valley, where the Bible says David fought Goliath.
But their business plan has morphed into a family battle all its own because of some unexpected opposition from Lord Jacob Rothschild’s second cousin, a celebrated eco-campaigner.
[…]
Oil shale mining involves heating the ground to transform buried, tar-like organic compounds into oil, and then extracting it. But the process is criticized for being an inefficient way of getting energy, because it takes so much energy to heat up the ground and create the oil, and then drill for it. Al Gore has described the practice as “utter insanity.”
Such technology is economical only when the price of oil is very high, as is the case right now. And Lord Rothschild has said he believes oil shale mining “could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world.”

The article continues here.

You can see photos and read more about the biblical significance of the Elah Valley here. Or you can enjoy a virtual flyover of the valley at LandoftheBible.com.

HT: Jay Baggett

Tagged Shephelah, Technology

National Geographic: Archaeological Views on David’s Kingdom

The cover story of the current issue (December 2010) of National Geographic is entitled “Kings of Controversy,” and it considers the archaeological debate over the kingdom of David and Solomon.

The story is interesting and well-written, and it gives a good presentation of the debate from a mainstream perspective.

On one side is Israel Finkelstein, somehow considered the “establishment, a Goliath fending off upstart assaults on his chronological order.” On the other side, those launching the “upstart assaults” are such novice scholars as Amihai Mazar, Thomas Levy, Eilat Mazar, and Yosef Garfinkel. The writer got his Davids and Goliaths mixed up, for it is actually Finkelstein’s theory which is the late-comer and the minority position among scholars today.

If you’re at all interested in what archaeologists are saying today about this contested issue, the article is worth your time. The photo gallery is viewable at a separate link.

Tagged Jerusalem, Shephelah

Summer 2010 Discoveries at Qeiyafa

During the summer, I noted Luke Chandler’s tantalizing comment about the discoveries at Khirbet Qeiyafa. He has now posted twice about the finds, including details and photos of a stable building for mules (?) and the discovery of several weapons. All of these are dated by the archaeologist to the early Iron IIa period, the time of David.

HT: Ferrell Jenkins

Tagged Discoveries, Shephelah