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“A farmer in eastern Turkey discovered a rare, largely intact late Roman mosaic while planting a cherry orchard. Spanning almost 1,000 square feet, the mosaic is thought by archaeologists to be the largest example of its kind unearthed in the country.”

Archaeologists working in Pompeii uncovered “one of the largest private thermal complexes” found in the city to date.

“In Libya’s ancient city of Ptolemais on the Mediterranean coast, Polish archaeologists have uncovered a dwelling equipped with an advanced drinking water collection system, and a mysterious mask.”

“The 4,100-year-old tomb of a doctor who ‘treated the pharaoh himself’ has been discovered at the site of Saqqara in Egypt.”

The Yale Ancient Pharmacology Program is working at a site outside Rome “to unlock the chemical signature of what might be in the amphorae by conducting organic residue analysis.”

The Egyptian government denies that it is planning to sell the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The Damascus Museum has reopened, one month after Assad left town.

“Jordan: Dawn of Christianity” is a one-month long special exhibit to be hosted by the Vatican beginning on January 31.

Bryan Windle has written an archaeological biography for Evil-Merodach, the Babylonian king best known for releasing Jehoiachin from prison and giving him a place of honor at the king’s table.

Glenn J. Corbett writes about the $12 million project to renovate the mausoleum of Augustus, slated to reopen next year.

The LA Times has a play-by-play account of how the Getty Villa was spared from the Palisade fire.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Andy Cook, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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A research team using magnetometry has identified five monumental buildings within the city walls of Dur-Sharrukin, the Assyrian capital of Sargon II. To avoid attracting unwanted attention, they chose not to use a drone and instead each team member walked 13 miles every day for seven days.

A Phoenician shipwreck dating to 600 BC has been discovered off the coast of Spain.

“Archaeologists in Turkey uncovered a limestone sarcophagus in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Demre, Antalya, which they believe could be linked to Saint Nicholas himself, known worldwide as Santa Claus.”

More than 100 ancient artifacts were discovered in a hidden basement area during eviction proceedings in Athens.

Michael Denis Higgins believes that the Colossus of Rhodes was ultimately destroyed not in 226 BC but in AD 142, after several reconstructions.

“The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the Ohio State University and the Digital Lab for Ancient Textual Objects is excited to announce the launch of the Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia 2.0.” They have also released a video tutorial.

“Plauen is commemorating the biblical scholar and theologian Konstantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874) with an exhibition to mark the 150th anniversary of his death.”

New release: Egyptian Things: Translating Egypt to Early Imperial Rome, by Edward William Kelting (University of California Press, open access)

ASOR has posted a recap of its annual meeting.

The collapse of the Syrian government has led to concerns about Jewish archaeological heritage in the country.

Rami Chris Robbins explains the Jewish connection to Rome’s Colosseum.

Carl Rasmussen reports on his recent visit to an impressive Roman thermal spa in northern Turkey.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Alexander Schick, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis

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Philippe Bohström provides a primer on the Nuzi Tablets and their parallels to the Bible.

The painting on an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus lid depicts 12 high priestess each representing an hour of the day surrounding a woman who looks uncannily like Marge Simpson.

“An amateur brewer in Utah gathered rare figs and a strain of yeast from 850 B.C. to make a sour, fruity concoction inspired by ancient Egyptian recipes.”

Bryan Windle has written an illustrated archaeological biography for the Assyrian king Esarhaddon.

In a new book, Courtney Friesen looks at the relationship of Christians and Jews to the ancient theater.

Some former students and colleagues have written obituaries for Alan Millard.

Gabriel Barkay celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday. Many friends and colleagues honored him with a festschrift entitled Gabriel: Tell This Man the Meaning of His Vision: Studies in Archaeology, Epigraphy, Iconography and the Biblical World in Honor of Gabriel Barkay on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday. Robert Deutsch has posted one of the articles, including the book’s table of contents, on his Academia page.

Carl Rasmussen is leading a tour in October to all the important places in Turkey most tours don’t go to, and at a very reasonable price. I’d like to be on this one…

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

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“A new room with painted blue walls, a very rare colour in Pompeian spaces, has emerged in Pompeii during recent excavations in the central area of the ancient city.”

A new study considers how an expansion in the floodplain near Luxor around 2000 BC affected Egyptian history.

Erica Scarpa has written a very helpful primer of the Ebla archives.

Hybrid lecture on June 11: “Political Ecology of the Levant during the Iron Age,” by Canan Çakirlar

Zoom lecture on June 19: “The Trojan War: The Epic in Art,” by Renee Gondek ($10)

A free “study day” at the British Museum on July 20 will feature a number of speakers addressing various aspects of the library of Ashurbanipal.

“A collection of exceptional sculptures from Egypt’s 26th Dynasty (664–526 BCE) is currently on view at the Getty Villa of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.”

Jews are much less interested in the location of Mount Sinai than Christians.

Carl Rasmussen shares his experience and some photos of local Turkish cuisine.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Wayne Stiles, Arne Halbakken

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“Excavations at a Byzantine-era church in the northern Negev desert have revealed 1,500-year-old wall etchings of ships, likely left by Christian pilgrims who had arrived by sea to the Holy Land.”

The Times of Israel has a follow-up article on the major carbon-14 study of Jerusalem that was recently published.

John Drummond pulls together the archaeological evidence for the reign of Solomon.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Solomon’s royal complex at Gezer, the large Moabite site of Kh. Balu’a, and the dawn of the Iron Age in Israel.

Israel21c identifies the top seven archaeological sites in Israel related to Jewish history as the Western Wall, Masada, Caesarea, Tiberias, Megiddo, En Gedi, and the City of David.

The Qumran Digital Project Lexicon has a new website.

Archaeologists have identified the original sarcophagus of Ramesses II from a fragment discovered in 2009 at Abydos.

The “Hazael and His World: Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Tel Dan Inscription” conference will be held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on June 5 and 6.

The 100th issue of Syria: Archéologie, Art et Histoire has been released (open-access).

Online lecture on June 2 in the BAS Scholars Series: “Paul on Cyprus: Crossing the Divide,” by Thomas Davis.

Paul’s hometown of Tarsus is not on the itinerary of most tourists to Turkey, but it has much to offer. Jason Borges identifies ten sites within the city and five sites in the vicinity that are worth seeing.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is giving away hundreds of books related to the Old Testament.

In light of a recent conference celebrating William Dever, Glenn Corbett reflects on the future of biblical archaeology.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz

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“A team of Israeli physicists and archaeologists is now attempting to track the movement of subatomic particles called muons to map a complex array of ancient tunnels, cisterns and other underground voids beneath Jerusalem.”

Ancient rock engravings at Timna Park are now being studied using 3-D micromorphological characteristics of the incisions.

A new study questions the view that there were Jewish gladiators in the Roman empire. The underlying journal article is here.

Noam Aharon has created a map of the kingdom of Ugarit, c. 1300 BC. Bibliographic references are here. Permission is granted for non-commercial use.

“A bronze head of Emperor Septimius Severus on display at a Copenhagen museum has become a bone of contention between the Danish museum and Turkey, which claims it was looted during an archaeological dig in the 1960s and wants it back.”

Turkish Archaeological News rounds up the top stories for the month of June.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the possibility that Paul visited Adramyttium.

“A new virtual reality (VR) app which takes users on a journey back in time to Ancient Greece where they are able to experience first-hand what it was like to consult with the Greek god Zeus at the Oracle of Dodona has been developed by a team of academics led by the University of Bristol.”

Timothy P. Harrison has been appointed director of the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa (ISAC; formerly Oriental Institute).

Open access from Brill: Ancient Egypt, New Technology: The Present and Future of Computer Visualization, Virtual Reality and Other Digital Humanities in Egyptology, edited by Rita Lucarelli, Joshua A. Roberson, and Steve Vinson (free pdf; hardback $174)

Free download on Academia: Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, by Michael Roaf

Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn, one of the first to engage with the archaeological research of Bethsaida, died last week.

Aren Maeir is guest on the What Matters Now podcast, discussing archaeology in the shadow of Indiana Jones. The link includes a transcript.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains why archaeologists love Indiana Jones.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Alexander Schick

I’m thankful that the Tabernacle Model in Timna Park is still going strong after nearly 25 years, though one could wish that the Park authorities could park their RVs somewhere else.

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