Temple Mount Archives - Page 3 of 54

Weekend Roundup

Two discoveries were announced this week that will both likely make the “top 10” list for 2021: a Jerubbaal inscription and a city wall of Jerusalem. Those will summarized at greater length here tomorrow and Monday.

Archaeologists have discovered remains of an uneaten pig in a house in the City of David dating to about 700 BC. The underlying journal article is here.

Two coins from the First and Second Jewish Revolts were discovered in an archaeological survey in eastern Benjamin. The survey report was published in the Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin.

Week 2 has concluded at the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavations, and Aren Maeir is faithful as always to post updates and photos. The most recent is here.

Eve Harow interviewed Aren Maeir on the Rejuvenation podcast.

Gordon Govier reviews the discoveries and developments in biblical archaeology this summer on The Book and the Spade podcast.

Once again, Bryan Windle has a post that you could adapt for a lecture or lesson, with his Top 10 Discoveries Related to Abraham.

“In ‘Legend of Destruction,’ Gidi Dar’s new film about the destruction of the Second Temple, artists David Polonsky and Michael Faust faced a serious challenge: make an animation movie composed entirely of still paintings. It took them eight years to complete” (Haaretz premium).

Glenn Schwartz believes that “the world’s first fully developed alphabetic writing arrived on the scene some 500 years earlier than what archaeologists have long believed.” Christopher Rollston offers his reflections.

New release: Ramat Raḥel VI: The Renewed Excavations by the Tel Aviv–Heidelberg Expedition (2005–2010). The Babylonian-Persian Pit, by Oded Lipschits, Liora Freud, Manfred Oeming, and Yuval Gadot. Save 30% with code NR21.

Excavation of the second Khufu Boat has concluded, and final restoration work is now being done at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

David Ian Lightbody writes about the origin of the cartouche in Old Kingdom Egypt.

Italian authorities have recovered 782 ancient artifacts stolen by a Belgian art collector.

“The Colosseum Archaeological Park reopens the House of the Vestal Virgins to the public fully on 6 July following an extensive restoration that began in 2013.”

The Museum with No Frontiers has launched a new website.

Here are some recent episodes on Digging for Truth:

Temple Mount Revisionism: A Response (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Pharaoh Shishak, with Bryan Windle
King David’s Fortified City of Khirbet Qeiyafa, with Michael Hasel

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Steven Anderson, Charles Savelle, Roger Schmidgall, Explorator

Tagged 10th Century, Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, Philistines, Samaria, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Cambridge Symposium Lectures Online

A number of lectures related to the archaeology of Jerusalem have now been posted from the Cambridge Symposium held in March 2019.

The official title of the gathering was “The Ancient City of David: Recent Archaeological Exploration of Jerusalem. An Academic Symposium co-organized by Megalim: The City of David Institute and Von Hugel Institute of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge.”

I’ve organized the available recordings in chronological order by topic. The lectures range in length from 13 to 45 minutes, with most approximately 25 minutes.

Jerusalem in the Old Testament era:

Ronny Reich: The Controversy over Jerusalem’s Fortifications in the Middle Bronze Age

Gabriel Barkay: An Egyptian Temple in Canaanite Jerusalem?

Dan Gil: The Enigmatic Subterranean Waterworks of Biblical Jerusalem

Hagai Misgav: Considerations in the Publication of Epigraphical Finds: The Bulla of “Isaiah the Prophet” – A Case Study

Jerusalem in the New Testament era:

Eyal Meiron: Were the Remains of the Seleucid Akra Fortress Found in Jerusalem?: An Alternative View

Nahshon Szanton: The Dating of the Stepped Street in Jerusalem in Light of the New Excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley

Ronny Reich: Jerusalem as a Pilgrimage City in the Early Roman Period

Avi Solomon, Joe Uziel and Tehillah Liebermann: Jerusalem as Seen from Above – and Beneath – Wilson’s Arch in the Early and Late Roman Period

Hillel Geva: The Upper City in Second Temple Period Jerusalem on the Eve of the Roman Destruction

Additional lectures:

Yosef Garfinkel: The Enigma of the United Monarchy in the 10th Century BC: A View from Hurvat Qeiyafa

Moran Hajbi: A Recently Discovered Monumental Structure from post-70 AD and the Pre-Aelia Capitolina Period at the Stepped Street Excavations in the City of David

Gabriel Barkay: Highlights from the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem

HT: G. M. Grena

Tagged 10th Century, Jerusalem, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists discovered a stone anchor in an underwater dig at Tel Dor.

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of 150 clay sealings from a Neolithic site in the Beth Shean Valley.

The Israeli team excavating el-Araj (Bethsaida?) signed a collaboration agreement with an Italian university for the exchange of researchers and students.

Five suspects were arrested after they were caught carrying out an illegal excavation in Galilee.

“Israel has opened its first underwater national park at the ancient port city of Caesarea, where divers can tour the 2,000-year-old remains of what was once a major complex extending into the sea.”

Israel will begin allowing individual tourists to arrive on July 1.

Jodi Magness discussed toilet issues at Qumran in a recent lecture.

The June issue of Near Eastern Archaeology includes a study from Gath on bone projectiles.

The three-day “Caesarea Maritima Conference” will begin on June 13 at 3:15 pm and continue through June 15 at 9:00 pm (Israel Time).

Eilat Mazar will be honored on July 1 with an evening of lectures by Amihai Mazar, Gabriel Barkay, Yitzhak Dvira, and Reut Ben Aryeh (in Hebrew).

“The years of archaeological excavations Israel has conducted at the Temple Mount have yielded no proof that the Temple ever existed in Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday evening.”

Bryan Windle has put together a very impressive list of “Top Ten Discoveries Related to David.”

Israel’s Good Name spent a day on Mount Hermon after it snowed.

New: Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple, 4th edition, edited by John Merrill and Hershel Shanks.

If you get Wayne Stiles and me in a room together, we’ll end up talking about the top 10 discoveries in Israel’s archaeology.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Paleojudaica

Tagged 10th Century, Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Resources, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“The Tel Ashkelon National Park in southern Israel is undergoing a large-scale renovation project that will open up previously unseen parts of the heritage site, including a recently excavated 2,000-year-old Roman basilica.” More than a mile of accessible pathways will also be added to the park.

The director of the salvage excavations of Tel Beth Shemesh reports on the discoveries. One conclusion: the site was not abandoned after Sennacherib’s attack.

A study of more than 3,500 plant finds from Gath reveals that the Canaanites living there in the Early Bronze Age ate figs, olives, wheat, barley, grapes, and more. The underlying journal article is available for purchase.

The bridge that provides the only access to the Temple Mount for non-Muslims is in immediate danger of collapsing.

Drew Longacre’s analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls suggests that some were written for community reading and others for personal use. Longacre’s recent lecture on a related subject is on YouTube.

A new episode on This Week in the Ancient Near East: “A Resurrected Date by Any Other Name Would Still Taste As Sweet, or, Jurassic Park in the Judean Desert”

Glenn J. Corbett, the new editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, answers five questions about his background that prepared him for his new position.

This week on The Book and the Spade: “Remembering Professor Eilat Mazar.”

Archaeology of the Passion Week is the subject of this week’s podcast on the Biblical World, with Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer.

Israel’s Good Name reports on his February trip to the Golan Heights after a snowfall.

The T-shirt designs have been posted for this year’s excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath and Tel Burna.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Andy Cook

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Excavations, Golan, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“Archaeologists have discovered a rare oil lamp, shaped like a grotesque face cut in half, at the foundation of a building erected in Jerusalem’s City of David shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple almost 2,000 years ago.”

Israel’s easing of coronavirus restrictions allowed hundreds of Christians to gather at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the Holy Fire ceremony.

Riots on the Temple Mount led to hundreds of injured Palestinians and policemen.

“Some 2,000 years ago, an individual scribe wrote at least eight of the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts, making him the most prolific scribe ever identified.” The scholar’s conference presentation has been posted on YouTube.

Israel’s Good Name reports on his birdwatching trip to the Hulda Reservoir.

The Jerusalem Post reviews Yoel Elitzur’s Places in the Parasha – Biblical Geography and its Meaning.

The latest issue of Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is now available (go to “Contents” for downloads).

The 24th Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest will be held on October 16 and 17 on Zoom, with a strong lineup of speakers.

Tali Erickson-Gini is interviewed on The Times of Israel podcast, focusing on her expertise on the Nabateans’ Incense Road.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Negev, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

On their first day back to sifting, the Temple Mount Sifting Project discovered their first pur, just in time for Purim.

This Times of Israel article has some drone footage that clearly shows the damage to the Mount Ebal altar site. The article details the firestorm that erupted. The Jerusalem Post argues for protection for the site.

Conservators are injecting the stones of the Western Wall with grout to help them withstand the effects of weathering.

Erez Ben-Yosef and Elisabetta Boaretto are interviewed on the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel about Solomonic copper mines and radiocarbon dating.

Aren Maeir’s MOOC on “Biblical Archaeology: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Judah” returns on March 8. This will be the fourth run, and the course is free.

Online on March 6: A Virtual Tour of Israel: Haifa, a Shared City. Free registration is required.

Chris McKinny continues his discussion of historical geography and archaeology at sites in central Israel including Gezer, Masada, Qumran, Jericho, Shiloh, and Caesarea.

Dumbest tradition ever: After conquering the Promised Land, Joshua asked God if he could go to Mesopotamia to die.

Bible Archaeology Report’s top three for February: “something deciphered, something discovered and something damaged.”

In light of the oil disaster on Israel’s shore, Shmuel Browns shares a series of Coastline photos.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Chris McKinny

Tagged Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Negev, Samaria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup