Tourism Archives - Page 5 of 87

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The Vesuvius challenge has produced its first result: the reading of a single word from a burnt papyrus using the help of AI.

An untouched chamber tomb with well-preserved frescoes was discovered near Naples.

“Archaeologists have discovered political graffiti among the ancient remains of Pompeii.”

Royalty Now Studios has reimagined the face of Roman emperor Augustus as it might look today.

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

The British Museum is asking the public for help in getting back artifacts that were sold.

A tourist was arrested for breaking off pieces of marble on the Athens Acropolis.

A new study has determined that the Parthenon sculptures (aka Elgin Marbles) were originally painted with bright colors.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Greece, Italy, Museums, Technology, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

New rooms have been discovered in the Sahura Pyramid. Detailed surveys have been made using 3D laser scanning.

Archaeologists in Jordan are using a remote controlled car to investigate a network of underground water channels in the desert.

The Domus Tiberiana on Rome’s Palatine Hill has been reopened 50 years after it was closed for restoration.

The Following Hadrian blog takes a look at the only surviving copy of Hadrian’s autobiography.

An AP story explores the enduring strength of Roman concrete.

Lidar Sapir-Hen and Deirdre N. Fulton explore “the role of dogs in the social fabric of the Iron Age through a comparative study of the evidence from settlements.” They conclude from archaeological evidence that dogs served villagers as herders, guards, and occasionally hunters. The underlying journal article is also available.

Zoom lecture on Nov 6: “Tree-ring and radiocarbon refinements towards more precise chronology for the Near Eastern Bronze Age,” by Charlotte L. Pearson. Register here.

For the 200th anniversary of Champollion’s cracking the code of hieroglyphics, Jessica Phelan tells the story of how it happened.

Wired: Scientists Have an Audacious Plan to Map the Ancient World Before It Disappears

New release: Living Communities and Their Archaeologies in the Middle East, edited by Rick Bonnie, Marta Lorenzon, and Suzie Thomas (Helsinki University Press, open access)

“This fall, the Penn Museum will begin construction of its new $54 million Ancient Egypt and Nubia galleries.” Work is slated to be completed by late 2028.

Two of Doug Greenwold’s audiobooks are now available on Audible.

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

Statue of a griffin grasping Nemesis’s wheel of fate, from Erez, AD 210-11, as displayed in the Israel Museum this summer before the attack

Tagged Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Bible Scenes has released a beautiful 3-minute video showing a 3D model of Herod’s Temple. The video was nearly two years in the making, with the assistance of Leen Ritmeyer (who gives some background here). The website has a number of free scenes, and generous permission usage is granted. You can help them create more scenes by becoming a subscriber.

Chandler Collins writes about “some unexpected architectural fragments” discovered in the Jewish Quarter in the 1970s.

The Jerusalem Post has stories about the archaeological site of Magdala and its tourist facilities.

Nate Loper surveys “the historical and archaeological connections between Israel and the Egyptian empire” in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

Online lecture on Sept 21: “Fact & Fiction in the Empress Helena’s Travels to the Holy Land,” by Julia Hillner. Sponsored by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. Free.

A full recording of the “Conrad Schick and His World” conference is now online. You can find the conference booklet with abstracts here.

Abigail Leavitt reports on the lectures and field trip for a recent conference at Ariel University entitled “Boundaries and Influences in the Archaeology of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Today is the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the significant seventh month in the Jewish calendar. Your calendar probably identifies it as the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah).

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, David Padfield, Will Varner

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Four Roman swords were discovered in a cave near En Gedi. Three are spatha swords, and all were likely stolen from Roman soldiers by Jewish rebels during the Bar Kochba revolt.

The swords were discovered incidentally while doing multispectral imaging on a 7th-century BC inscription in the cave. The new reading of the inscription may include the word “salt.”

An Israeli teenager discovered an bronze Roman ring at Sussita/Hippos.

i24News visits the “dig for a day” program in the caves of Bet Guvrin.

The German Protestant Institute for Archaeology will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a conference in Jerusalem on October 16-17.

Jordan Ryan is a guest on The Book and the Spade discussing the 2023 excavation season at Tel Shimron.

Abigail Leavitt shares a number of photos from her walk around the Old City of Jerusalem.

The IBEX program in Israel where I taught for some years is featured in the new issue of The Master’s University Magazine.

Was a major discovery related to the Pool of Siloam made this week? Some unreliable websites suggest something new was revealed. The regular sources seem to be ignoring it, though The Jerusalem Post has recycled this reporting, with a completely irrelevant photo. When you read beyond the headline, the claim is that eight steps were discovered. A comparison of the published photo with earlier photos suggests that a portion of the lowest flight of steps, previously partially revealed, has now been fully exposed along with a portion of the reservoir and walls within.

Pool of Siloam steps. The wooden boards are located on the second (of three) flight of steps, filling in gaps in preserved stones. Photo published with the news reports this week, courtesy of the City of David Foundation. Comparison with the photos below indicates that this was taken earlier this summer.

Pool of Siloam in 2006, with three flights of stairs. The lowest flight is not fully exposed.

Pool of Siloam last month, showing third flight of steps and on-going excavations in pool below the steps. Some walls appear to be visible within the pool. Photo by John Black.

Pool of Siloam on Wednesday, September 6, showing wall inside the area of the pool. Photo by John Black.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Gordon Dickson

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Jerusalem, Lectures, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Two sets of large channels uncovered in the City of David (Givati Parking Lot) and dating to the time of King Joash (ca. 800 BC) have stymied investigators as to their purpose. Barnea Levi Selavan interviewed archaeologist Yiftach Shalev on location (15 min).

About 1,000 feet of the Upper Aqueduct bringing water to Jerusalem was discovered in a neighborhood south of the Old City. This is the longest section of this aqueduct ever discovered.

Bryan Windle highlights the top three reports in biblical archaeology in the month of August.

“The Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted its biannual examination of the Western Wall stones on Tuesday in preparation for the influx of visitors expected around the Jewish High Holy Days.”

The Albright Institute has just opened applications for fellowships, awards, and internships for the next academic year.

The toilets of Iron Age Jerusalem are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East podcast.

Seetheholyland.net has added an article on the Church of St. John the Baptist in the Muristan, the oldest intact church in Jerusalem, built around the year 1070. The article includes photos of this rarely open church.

Mitchell First has written a short biographical article on Josephus.

John Delancey shares a video shot from the top of the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Jerusalem.

Brad Gray looks at the viticulture context behind Jesus’s words in John 15.

Leen Ritmeyer shares several reconstruction drawings and a photo of the Middle Gate of Jerusalem mentioned in Jeremiah 39.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Will Varner, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working on Mount Zion have discovered, for the first time ever, destruction levels from the Romans and the Babylonians in the same space. Shimon Gibson believes that the evidence from the Persian period suggests that Nehemiah’s wall included not only the City of David but also the Western Hill.

“Ground-penetrating radar is revealing the secrets of a Roman legion camp near Tel Megiddo, including the ancient camp’s amphitheater for combat training.”

Chris McKinny and Joe Uziel write about “The Millo: Jerusalem’s Lost Monument” in the forthcoming issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. They discuss the subject in a video interview with Nathan Steinmeyer.

Bible Archaeology Report has created a list of the top ten discoveries related to the book of Isaiah.

Jerusalem Seminary has been given a grant to provide discounts on tuition for their fall courses. The grant also enables increased scholarships.

Jordan has a severe water crisis.

A rockslide at the waterfall in Nahal David at En Gedi led to the death of an 8-year-old boy and injuries to eight others. The Yonatan Bar David mentioned in the article is from Yad HaShmonah.

Amnon Ben-Tor, the director of excavations at Hazor since 1990, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.

An expanded edition has just been released of Amnon Ben-Tor’s Hazor: Canaanite Metropolis, Israelite City (Israel Exploration Society, 180₪)

Conference on Sept 11-12 at Ariel University: “Boundaries and Influences in the Archeology of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean”

Ferrell Jenkins shares photos of carob pods like those that were eaten by the prodigal son.

The Bible Mapper Blog is now the Bible Mapper Atlas, with more than 150 maps freely available. You can find lists organized by historical event and by region here.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, John Black, Alexander Schick, Explorator

The recently collapsed section of the Roman aqueduct at Caesarea. Photo by Michael Schneider

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Lectures, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup