Temple Mount Archives - Page 5 of 56

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

We have more stories this weekend than perhaps ever before for a single week (nearly 50), so expect a third installment of the roundup on Monday.

The first-ever ancient depiction of the balm of Gilead was discovered on an amethyst seal found by volunteers sifting soil from near the Temple Mount. There’s a 3-minute video here.

Excavations at el-Araj (Bethsaida?) have wrapped up for the season, and the archaeologists discovered a large apse and two partial inscriptions in the mosaic floor of what they believe is the Church of the Apostles.

A diver found a Crusader-era sword in perfect condition off the coast of northern Israel. There is a short video here.

Not only the Crusader sword but much more has been discovered because of a once-in-a-century storm that occurred in December 2010.

Archaeologists discovered a hoard of silver coins from the Hasmonean era in Modiin.

Daniel Master is a guest on the Book and the Spade to discuss the recent excavations at Tel Shimron.

An organization is calling on the Israeli government to excavate and open to tourists the site of ancient Gibeah of Saul, more recently home to King Hussein’s unfinished palace.

“Members of the Samaritan faith gathered at sunrise on Wednesday to mark Sukkot, a month after Jews celebrated the festival.” The short story includes a brief video.

NY Times: “Rameh, a Palestinian town [in Galilee] surrounded by olive groves, has long had a reputation for producing especially good oil.”

Megan Sauter writes about the importance of three purple textile fragments from the time of David recently discovered in the Central Timna Valley Project.

Andrew Califf writes about seven lesser-known archaeological sites in Israel (Haaretz paywall).

The Museum of the Bible is offering virtual tours of Masada and Megiddo on November 10 and 17, “using advanced images combined with an online interactive classroom to create a rich, immersive experience.”

“A new exhibition by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the Yigal Allon Center in Kibbutz Ginossar offers a glimpse of the centuries when Jewish sages managed to rebuild a community in the Galilee.”

Kyle Keimer and Chris McKinny discuss Cabul in the days of Solomon in the latest episode of OnScript’s Biblical World.

When children volunteering at the Temple Mount Sifting Project stole some of the artifacts, the director used the opportunity to instruct them on the community’s responsibility.

On sale for Kindle: A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem, by Ben Witherington ($3.99)

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica, Explorator, BibleX

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Museums, Negev, New Exhibits, Temple Mount, Tourism

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A new study indicates that Egypt was using copper mined at Timna during the reigns of David and Solomon, suggesting an important trade route was in use at the time.

A journalist proposed that Sennacherib’s failure to capture Jerusalem was owing to Tirhakah’s intervention on behalf of Judah. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures commissioned eight scholars to evaluate it, with six scholars affirming the theory. Alice Ogden Bellis summarizes the discussion.

The City of David YouTube channel has released a Tisha B’Av special in which they look at newly discovered evidence of the destructions of Jerusalem in 586 BC and AD 70 (25 min).

Zachi Dvira is the guest on the “Times Will Tell” podcast, talking about the history of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Nadav Shragai discusses some of the stories and controversies of the 49 cisterns under the Temple Mount.

“Was a well-preserved set of game pieces and other childhood items buried [at Tel Kedesh] by a young woman before she got married?”

The team excavating Tell es-Safi/Gath has concluded their third week.

In a new episode on the Biblical World podcast, Mary Buck and Chris McKinny discuss the topography of ancient Jerusalem and the possible identification of the Millo with the Spring Tower.

From the maker of “Ushpizin,” and now playing in theaters in Israel, “Legend of Destruction” is a 90-minute film that “tells the story of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 CE, from the perspective of Ben Batiach, a good-hearted scholar who turns zealot, leading to the Roman siege on the city and the destruction of the Second Temple.”

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

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Negev, Philistines, Temple Mount

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