A stone weight from the first century with the name of the high priest has been discovered in Jerusalem. Ynet has more photos and a video in Hebrew.

Israel’s largest archaeological garden was opened this week on a military base in Tel Aviv.

Archaeologists working at Petra have discovered two statues of Aphrodite.

“Excavations in the volcanic desert of Jordan have uncovered three surprisingly advanced fortified settlements with artificially irrigated terraced gardens, dating to 6,000 years ago.”

Someone is claiming to have discovered one of the stones from the high priest’s breastplate.

“Excavations at Tatarlı Mound in the southern province of Adana’s Ceyhan district have unearthed an impression seal from a monumental Hittite-era structure.”

Aviv and Shmuel Bar-Am provide a virtual tour of the excavations of Ramat Rahel.

Israel’s Good Name describes a recent visit to Chorazin (Korazim) and the first century Galilee boat.

Wayne Stiles suggests that the Transjordanian tribes settled for “second best” and he applies that principle for us today.

Leen Ritmeyer analyzes the paving stone tiles released by the Temple Mount Sifting Project and
suggests they came from “the interior of some of the many buildings that surrounded the Temple and/or from under the colonnades around the smaller courts.”

The Hebrew Music Museum opened earlier this year in Jerusalem and features 260 instruments.

This week Southern Adventist University opened a new exhibit entitled “A World in Miniature:
Creation, Cosmos, and Ecology on Seals from Biblical Times.” The museum’s website does not appear to have information yet on this new display.

The ASOR Blog identifies their five most popular posts of the summer.

The British Institute at Ankara has published nine volumes in the series Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor, all available without charge in pdf format.

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

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A stone seal discovered this summer at Abel Beth Maacah suggests Israelite presence at the site in the 9th century.

Luke Chandler has collected a number of photos of floor tiles from Herod’s Temple Mount that have been restored by the Temple Mounting Sifting Project. The Jerusalem Post has more details. There are more photos here. A 20-minute video of the press conference is online, with English starting at about 3 minutes.

Archaeologists have uncovered a Byzantine-era stable at Avdat in southern Israel. High school students joined in the sifting of hundreds of buckets of organic material left behind by donkeys, sheep, and goats. Five high-resolution photos are available.

There’s now an island in the Sea of Galilee. It’s near the southern shore and is the result of the low water level. Artillery shells from WWI have also been discovered nearby.

A mosaic from the Huqoq synagogue may depict Alexander the Great meeting the high priest of Jerusalem. Another interpretation is that it shows the battle between Antiochus VII and John Hyrcanus I. The National Geographic article has photos.

Israel’s ancient capital of Samaria has been vandalized. A video in Hebrew shows some of the damage.

Exploring Bible Lands continues its series on “Walking like Jesus” with a photo of a Roman road in Galilee.

Wayne Stiles explores why Kiriath Jearim is ignored, and why it shouldn’t be.

Thursday’s Archaeological Conference in the City of David entitled “Digging for Truth — Jerusalem,
Archaeology & UNESCO” may be watched online. Parts are in Hebrew and other parts in English, with the whole lasting 4.5 hours. The program may be viewed here. The Jerusalem Post reports on the talk by Dore Gold.

Olive pits discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa receive special attention at a new exhibit at the Bible Lands
Museum Jerusalem.

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

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In work to construct a mikveh in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, archaeologists discovered a Roman bathhouse and below that a cistern connected to the aqueduct from Bethlehem.

Hundreds of Roman fresco fragments from a large building, dating to the 2nd century, have been excavated in Zippori National Park (Sepphoris).

A journalist gets a rare chance to visit Mount Ebal and its “altar.”

A site proposed as one of the Gilgals of the Bible is in danger because of the establishment of a new garbage dump.

Nadav Shragai asks why the media ignores illegal Muslim activity on the Temple Mount.

A new music video by Michael W. Smith was filmed entirely in Israel and includes some beautiful drone footage.

The Baptist News interviews a zooarchaeologist who excavated in the Philistine cemetery of Ashkelon.

A collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments owned by the Museum of the Bible have been published in a book edited by Emanuel Tov, Kipp Davis, and Robert Duke.

It’s not just the words, but where they were spoken, argues Wayne Stiles.

Dan Warner is on the Book and the Spade this week talking about his excavation of the Canaanite water system at Gezer.

Seth Rodriquez appreciates the support he received for his trip to teach biblical backgrounds at the
Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe and he reports on his time there.

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

Mount Ebal altar from northwest, ws092213002
Proposed altar on Mount Ebal
Photo by Bill Schlegel
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The Israeli police arrested five members of the Waqf for erecting scaffolding and carrying out structural changes on the Dome of the Rock without authorization.

A new study suggests that there was widespread literacy in the kingdom of Judah in the 6th century BC. The full study is available for purchase or free through Academia.

The Temple Institute is planning to open the first school for training priests to serve in the Jerusalem temple.

Jeremy Smoak compares the silver amulets from Jerusalem with the Ekron temple inscription.

Wayne Stiles: “God inspired metaphors of biblical geography and botany to highlight one of the most important aspects in any healthy marriage.”

The Winter 2016 issue of DigSight is now online and includes stories on Qeiyafa finds, past lectures, and a new exhibit.

An article on the Inspiration Cruises website gives a little history of a Finnish moshav established in Israel in the 1970s and named in memory of Jews surrendered to the Nazis in World War II.

Frank L. Benz, longtime professor at Wartburg Seminary, died last week. Several years ago, we mentioned here his little-known New Testament marking guide to the Student Map Manual.

Martin Bachmann, the German Archaeology Institute’s deputy Istanbul director and the head of the Pergamon excavations, died this week at the age of 52.

George Mendenhall died yesterday, 8 days shy of his 100th birthday.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

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A youth group working alongside archaeologists in Ibillin in northern Israel have uncovered a Canaanite fortress.

A pottery workshop from the Roman period has been excavated in western Galilee. High-res photos are available here.

After a four-year break, excavators are back at work at Tel Dan.

Jodi Magness provides an update on this summer’s excavations of Huqoq on The Book and the Spade.

Israel’s only mummy is now on display in a special exhibit at the Israel Museum that opened this week.

A project featuring ten mosaic replicas was unveiled in Jerusalem’s Cardo this week. A Jerusalem Post article indicates that the project will take a year to complete.

A group of Israeli archaeologists was attacked when touring the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount Sifting Project has a firsthand report.

Israel’s High Court is allowing the transfer of the ancient library at the Rockefeller Museum to the new IAA headquarters.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project is looking for help in identifying some of their finds.

Wayne Stiles explains the King’s Garden in Jerusalem, past and present.

CBD has a good deal going on the New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Get the original four volumes for $148, or get all five for $260. The update volume is available separately as well for $111. (Used sets at Amazon are a little more and new are $400+228.)

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

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Repairs inside the Dome of the Rock are complete, and when they took photos this week, it was revealed that the reconstruction of the tile floor proposed by the Temple Mount Sifting Project is accurate.

The study of fish bones found in a 7th-century AD shipwreck near Dor indicates that a now-extinct subspecies of St. Peter’s fish was being transported on the boat (Haaretz premium).

Scholars are offering competing explanations for the massive trash dump in the Kidron Valley from the first century AD (Haaretz premium).

A jogger along the shore of Ashkelon discovered a 12th-century AD oil lamp.

Aren Maeir is providing daily updates of the excavation of Gath.

The Tel Burna team gives an update from the first two weeks of their season. Chris McKinny’s work on the LB cultic building looks particularly promising in the remaining two weeks.

Jennie Ebeling and Norma Franklin discuss several important facets of their excavations at Jezreel.

Luke Chandler discusses the possibility of a Judahite water system at Lachish and the need for funds to excavate it.

If you’re interested in a brief, well-illustrated study of the world’s largest stones used in construction projects, check out Tom Powers’s latest post.

Felicity Cobbing of the PEF was present at the opening of the Palestine Museum in Ramallah and shares her perspective.

The senior staff of the Ashkelon excavations is wrapping up their final season this month and beginning a new project at Tel Shimron with a geophysical survey this summer.

Appian Media was recently filming in Israel for their upcoming Following the Messiah video series.

They are posting updates on the project and their travels on their blog.

The Fifth Gospel is a new iBook that explores the land, the culture, and the archaeology of the Bible. It was designed for high school students and features maps, interactive quizzes, photos, and short film clips. Check it out on iTunes.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

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