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
Last night I was talking with a friend about how to choose a good summer excavation for his college students. I suggested three main criteria: (1) a site with historic significance and well-preserved remains; (2) an excavation group that fits the character of his own; (3) a program with evening lectures and weekend trips.
These three factors are all present in this report of Harding University’s successful summer excavations at Beth Shemesh. From the Christian Chronicle:
For more than a decade, Dale Manor, professor of archaeology and Bible at Harding University, has taken history buffs and aspiring archaeologists on summer excavation trips to Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel.
The groups that Manor usually takes on the four-week digs consist mostly of archaeology students and faculty from secular universities.
“I had never been on a project where the majority of the people were even religious,” Manor said.
But that changed this past summer.
All 14 participants in Manor’s most recent trip were members of Churches of Christ.
“Through the years, a number of folks had indicated interest in coming to excavate, and I pressed them into making a decision,” Manor said of his fellow Christians.
Beth-Shemesh, about 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem, is where the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant to Israel, as recorded in I Samuel 6. It’s also the site of some of Samson’s activities during the time of the Judges.
Manor said excavations at Beth-Shemesh since 1990 have uncovered an underground water reservoir and the largest iron workshop found in the Middle East, both dating around the 10th Century B.C.
The story continues here.
The Israel Antiquities Authority and Jewish National Fund are sponsoring a series of lectures described in this flyer (HT: Joe Lauer). Givat Yeshiahu is in the Shephelah, not far from Khirbet Qeiyafa. From the flyer:
The Israel Antiquities Authority and JNF invites the community at large and local residents to a series of lectures in English on a variety of archeological themes focusing on our regional heritage – past and future.
Oct 13 New Discoveries from Excavations in the Jerusalem Region, by Jon Seligman, Jerusalem Regional Archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority
Oct 27 Tel Kaifa – the Ayelah [Elah] Fortress, by Professor Yossi Garfinkel, Hebrew University
Nov 3 Stories of plunder: treasures and forgeries, by Shai Bartura, chief investigator for illegal sale and theft of antiquities
The lectures will be held on Wednesday evenings at 20:00 at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Center near Givat Yeshiahu in the Ayelah [Elah] Valley.
Cost of individual lectures:20 NIS
For further information and registration call: 02-9921136 or 1-800-350-550.
Leen Ritmeyer has just released a digital version of “Jerusalem in the time of Christ,” a CD with 85 images (cost with shipping is £18).
Some Muslims are upset that Israel would dare build an elevator in the Jewish Quarter to allow handicapped access to the Western Wall.
Start making plans now for excavating next year at Tel Burna in the Shephelah. If you prefer to avoid the heat, you might opt for the spring session.
G. M. Grena is recommending an old film that shows the step-by-step process of traditional pottery-making.
Jesus.org is a new website that provides all kinds of information about the Savior of the world. I was particularly impressed to see an entire section of the site featuring articles from the best teacher I’ve ever known. Doug Bookman has 40 articles in the “Harmony of the Gospels – Life of Jesus” section.
The renewed campus of the Israel Museum was inaugurated yesterday, as reported in articles in the Jerusalem Post and Arutz-7. I don’t like the idea that the amount of display space has doubled but fewer items are on display.
A report at Device Magazine has some additional details about the cuneiform fragments found at Hazor. They date to the 18th-17th centuries and include the words “master,” “slave,” and possibly “tooth.” It is not clear whether the tablet was written at Hazor or brought to the site from somewhere else. The article (and a similar one at Arutz-7) includes photos.
The current excavations of Megiddo are profiled in this Jerusalem Post article. The team had the privilege recently of hosting Lord and Lady Allenby.
The Galilean synagogue discovered this summer at Horvat Kur is the subject of a brief article published by the university excavating the site.
The Second Qumran Institute Symposium will be held October 21-22, 2010 at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The subject is “The Jewish War agaist Rome (66-70/74): Interdisciplinary Perspectives.” Nearly all of the lectures are in English and most sound quite interesting.
Chris McKinny has posted some aerial photos of Tel Burna and labeled some of the observable features on the surface. What a dream to have a site without later periods “in the way.” Chris’s wife
Mindy has some nice photos of the recent excavation of Burna.
The excavations of a temple at Tel Tayinat in Turkey are profiled by the Ottawa Citizen.
A Brazilian mega-church is building a $200 million replica of Solomon’s temple, although unlike the original, this will seat 10,000 people.
HT: Paleojudaica and Joe Lauer
A couple of fragments of a cuneiform tablet were found recently at the excavations of Hazor. Details released thus far are limited, but the tablet is from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1500 BC) and has parallels to the Law Code of Hammurabi. The excavators’ notice of the discovery is online here. I have heard that the find was made on the surface, and that publication won’t take long.
Roman period tombs have been discovered in Petra with skeletal remains and ancient artifacts.
A small basalt statue dating from about 4000 BC has been found in Jordan near the border of Saudi Arabia.
Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written an “Archaeology in Israel Update,” including summaries of the medieval aqueduct in Jerusalem, graves in Ashkelon, MB artifacts near Jokneam, MB tombs in Nazareth, and the 18th anniversary of the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.
New excavations begin today at Shiloh and the team is looking for volunteers (article in Hebrew).
If you prefer to “experience” excavations without getting dirty, take a look at the live video feed from Gath (during working hours only).
HT: Roi Brit