The Getty Museum has opened a new exhibit featuring the Rothschild Pentateuch along with old copies of the Bible and Quran.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem has released Out of the Blue, a catalog for its exhibition on dyes of the ancient world.

The British Museum will be returning eight ancient artifacts looted from Iraq after identifying the temple where they originated.

The Oklahoma exhibit of the seals of Hezekiah and Isaiah has been extended from August 19 until January 27, 2019.

The BBC posts a series of photos from the Sinai Trail, a 137-mile (220-km) path that runs from the Gulf of Aqaba to Jebel Katarina.

Ben Witherington traveled this summer to Greece, Israel, and Jordan, and the first of 40+ illustrated posts is here.

An ASOR fellowship recipient writes about her experience in the last season of excavations at Omrit in Galilee.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the latest discoveries from the ARTIFAX magazine in this week’s episode of The Book and the Spade.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project met their funding goal.

It wasn’t only Solomon who imported cedars of Lebanon for his building projects, explains Ferrell Jenkins.

The Uffii Digitization Project is making 3-D images of many Greek and Roman sculptures.

The Biblical Archaeology Society links to a number of virtual tours, including Isaiah, Pharaoh in Canaan, and the Lachish Reliefs.

Jean-Claude Golvin has created beautiful reconstructions from all over the ancient world, including Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and more.

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

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The Roman villa of a rich fisherman was discovered in Halicarnassus in southwestern Turkey.

Remains of child sacrifice have been found in a Bronze Age cemetery in Turkey.

The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv is designed like Noah’s Ark. It opens on Monday.

Week Four brought the Shiloh excavations to an end this summer, but an elite team returned for some conservation work.

The first week of excavations is over at Gath and Tel Burna. John DeLancey was volunteering at Gath and he shares his experience. (All of these links will take you to the most recent post at the time of this writing.)

On the ASOR Blog, James Fraser writes about dolmens in the Levant.

The new archaeology wing at the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem opened this week.

Assyrian king Ashurbanipal is the focus of an exhibit at the British Museum that runs from November to February. Tickets are £17.

Gershon Edelstein, founder of the Ein Yael Living Museum, died this week.

Adrian Hennigan suggests 9 places tourists should avoid this summer, either because they are hot or crowded (Haaretz premium).

Wayne Stiles considers the historical and spiritual significance of Arad.

Israel’s Good Name shares his trip to the northern Golan.

A guy goes to a garage sale in Minnesota and buys some old negatives. It turns out they are originals taken in Jerusalem in 1858!

Mark Hoffman is very impressed with the ESV Archaeology Study Bible.

The Everlasting Nation Museum opens this summer in Hixson, Tennessee. It includes exhibits of Abraham’s tents, a Jewish wedding, a replica of the Western Wall, and an exact reproduction of Corrie Ten Boom’s “hiding place.”

Ferrell Jenkins has written 2000(!) posts in the last decade or so, and he takes the occasion to reflect back on 50 years of travel “from Ararat to Patmos” and beyond. His work is greatly appreciated!

There will be no weekend roundup for the next week or two.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle, Steven Anderson

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Archaeologists have discovered a three-room burial cave in Tiberias, apparently from the first century BC or first century AD. Haaretz has more here.

“Two subterranean Byzantine period winepresses were discovered in recent excavations at Tzippori [Sepphoris] National Park.”

Gary Byers summarizes the third week of excavations at Shiloh. This week they found a scarab, seal impression, inkwell, and lots of walls.

Piles of ancient debris on the Temple Mount were moved this week, in violation of court order.


The Washington Post reports on the glass head discovered at Abel Beth Maacah.


The Times of Israel explains why the world premiere of the seals of Isaiah and Hezekiah is at a college in Oklahoma.

John DeLancey is writing daily updates for his current Israel-Jordan tour. Here is the latest one.

Wayne Stiles explains what the Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, and other –ites mean and why it matters.

The topic this week on The Land and the Book is “Traveling to Israel as a Child.”

There were heavy rains in Israel this week—in June!—and Aren Maeir has photos of water puddles at his favorite Philistine city.

I’ve just returned from the annual Institute of Biblical Context conference. The teaching was excellent, and it was great to meet so many others who love the biblical world (and photographs!).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

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An Israeli government grant of $17 million is intended to expand excavations and strengthen tourist infrastructure in and around the City of David.

Lazarus’s tomb in Bethany is the first site to benefit from Virtual Reality glasses in a new “Accessible Palestine” initiative.

ABR’s first week at Shiloh is in the books, and you can read a summary of the discoveries from the 11 squares here.

At Neot Kedumim, “Israel’s foremost food archaeologist” Tova Dickstein is working to understand the biblical diet. If you sign up for one of her biblical cooking workshops, you’ll be learning more about Ezekiel’s “bread” and less about hummus and falafel.

A man has been arrested for illegally excavating near the traditional site of Akeldema.

Eilat Mazar is interviewed on the Land of Israel Network (one hour).

Mordecai Aviam is on The Book and the Spade, talking with Gordon Govier about his dream of “Finding Bethsaida.”

In the month of May, Wayne Stiles looked at the geographical and practical significance of the story of Ruth, the Burnt House in Jerusalem, the Levitical cities, the Jabbok River, and the Plains of Moab.

Ferrell Jenkins has written a series on the Arabah (introduction, northern end, Tamar, Keturah, Ezion Geber, and copper mining) and a shorter series on the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park (#1, #2, and #3).

Israel’s Good Name stays on the move: Gamla II, Tel Gezer, and Jerusalem’s Binyanei HaUma Archaeological Dig.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle, Pat McCarthy

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A symposium is being held this week in Jerusalem on “The Dead Sea Scrolls at Seventy: Clear a Path in the Wilderness.” The full program is here. The poster is here.

Brad Gray investigates the geographical connection between the leper healings of Naaman and the 10 lepers in the latest episode of The Teaching Series.

Ten students were killed by a flash flood when hiking in Nahal Tzafit this week.

The Druze celebrated their annual pilgrimage to Jethro’s tomb in Galilee last week.

Ferrell Jenkins has written about “the Great Rift” in preparation for a series of articles about the Aravah. His post includes several beautiful photos.

Episode Five of Digging for Truth focuses on the recent excavations of Shiloh.

The site and synagogue of Umm el-Qanatir in the Golan Heights are the subject of an article in Front Page Magazine.

Timna and its copper mines are described by the BBC.

Lyndelle Webster is profiled on the Azekah Expedition blog, and she recounts how her volunteer work changed her life direction.

Israel’s Good Name shares his experience and photos from his visit to Ein Hemed.

Wayne Stiles explains the geographical and theological significance of Kadesh Barnea.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Paleojudaica

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David Gurevich considers the effects of re-dating Jerusalem’s Middle Bronze walls on our understanding of Jerusalem in the time of David and Solomon.

Why do the locals of Jerusalem dump their trash everywhere? Wayne Stiles suggests some reasons and makes an application to our lives.

Archaeologists have filed a petition against the Israel Antiquities Authority for its approval of the prayer platform below Robinson’s Arch.

Scientists are studying dust deposits in the Jordan Valley in order to understand changes in landscape and climate in antiquity.

If you’ve hiked the Israel Trail and the Jordan Trail, you might want to consider the Sinai Trail (especially if you are brave).

“Southwest Baptist University [in Bolivar, Missouri] is hosting the biblical archaeology exhibit
‘Khirbet el-Maqatir — A Journey through Biblical History’ through Dec. 8.”

If you want to dig at one of the most exciting excavations in Israel, you need to get your app in now!

John DeLancey shares a video of the quiet Capernaum shoreline and explains the significance of the location.

Tampa Bay Online runs an obituary for James F. Strange.

Congratulations to Seth Rodriquez on his appointment to the faculty of Colorado Christian University!

HT: Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Agade, A.D. Riddle

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