Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has written an article on the little-known Church of St. Mark near the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to tradition in the Syriac Orthodox church, this was the place of the Last Supper.

A Byzantine winepress has been excavated at Hamei Yo’av near Kiryat Gat. High-resolution photos are available here (zip).

If you’re traveling to the Middle East, it’s worth preparing not only for the sites, but also for the food.

Debra Kamin has four rules for eating hummus.

The LMLK Blogspot has a “modern ancient art mystery” for savvy biblical archaeology sleuths.

The AP has more about the new excavations in the city of Ur.

Scientists are studying a battering ram found in a Greek or Roman ship sunk off the coast of Libya.

The ruins of ancient Palmyra are being threatened by the fighting in Syria.

Some new maps of the ancient world are now going online at the Encyclopedia of Ancient History.

Aren Maeir will be lecturing on “The Search for Goliath” on April 18 at William Jessup University.

Yesterday’s quotation was by William Dever, long-time crusader against biblical archaeology. It’s
from page 14 of Archaeology and Biblical Studies: Retrospects and Prospects. Evanston, IL:
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 1974.

HT: Jack Sasson

Syrian Orthodox Church, St Mark's Convent, traditional house of Mark and Upper Room, tb010312374
Entrance to Church of St. Mark
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, Jerusalem volume (available at Amazon for $220 or at BiblePlaces.com for $39)
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The Times of Israel recommends five places to visit on your next trip to Jaffa (Joppa).

National Geographic is calling all adventurers and explorers for a new adventure series.

Yes, locusts are kosher. They’re apparently good pickled, dried, smoked, boiled, roasted, barbecue grilled, fried, and stir fried.

No, locusts are not kosher. The problem is that the biblical locust may not be the same as the modern ones.

In an op-ed at the Los Angeles Times, John J. Collins provides a brief history of controversy surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls and concludes with a summary of why the scrolls are important.

Eisenbrauns’ Deal of the Weekend is Ugarit at Seventy-Five, edited by K. Lawson Younger Jr. (Reg. $39.50; now $15.80).

ASOR’s Archaeology Weekly Roundup links to 14 other stories.

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

Joppa ocean view with minaret, tb101806997
View of the Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa (Joppa)
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 4
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10.5 Million Visits to the Western Wall in 2012 – The increase in tourism requires a doubling in restroom capacity.

Archaeology in Israel Update—February 2013 – Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg selects the top five stories of the month.

48 hours in the Negev – Onnie Schiffmiller provides a two-day itinerary beginning at Beersheba and moving south.

How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour – Wayne Stiles recommends ways to prepare mentally, practically, physically, and spiritually.

8 Tips to Maximize Your Holy Land Tour – Stiles follows up his preparation post with suggestions on what to do once you’re in Israel, including what photos to take and not take, how to keep up, and why you should ask lots of questions.

Men praying at Western Wall during Sukkot, tb100906912
A “full house” at the Western Wall prayer plaza during the feast of Tabernacles. Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 3.
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Information on the second Qeiyafa inscription coming later this year (Luke Chandler)
The Tel Burna Arch
aeological Project (ASOR Blog)

Israel approves drilling for oil in Golan Heights (Jerusalem Post)

John the Baptist: The First Christian Martyr (Bryant Wood)

Review of The Unsolved Mystery of Noah’s Ark (Gordon Franz and Bill Crouse)


NIV Study Bible for Kindle marked down to $6.64 (Amazon)

Ferrell Jenkins has begun a series on famous people buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount
Zion, including Horatio G. Spafford and James Leslie Starkey.

Online Battle Over Sacred Scrolls, Real-World Consequences (New York Times) Includes an interview with Raphael Golb.

Oak forest on Golan Heights, tb020506169
Oak forest on Golan Heights
Photo from Galilee and the North
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Some environmentalists are not happy with a plan to save the Dead Sea with a pipeline from the Red Sea.

Archaeology in Egypt has suffered from the political turmoil and resulting loss of tourist dollars.

Residents of Modi’in are protesting plans to build where someone else used to live a long time ago.

Seth Rodriquez provides insight into the Broken Wall of the Sluggard.

Rubén Gómez has a new website for his Spanish-speaking tour of Israel later this year.

The History Channel shares six “secrets” of King Tut.

In honor of Ehud Netzer, the Biblical Archaeology Society has made a collection of Ehud Netzer’s articles available for free, including the recent “In Search of Herod’s Tomb.” Click on each title to read.

The ASOR Blog provides a weekly roundup of stories in the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Jack Sasson

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Shmuel Browns has a roundup of interesting items he has discovered as a guide this week, and he’s soliciting suggestions for a name for the series.

Seth Rodriquez illustrates each region of the land of Israel.

The presentations from “Managing Archaeological Data in the Digital Age: Best Practices and Realities” are now online.

Nearly $2 million has been spent to restore the archaeological remains of the Nabatean city of Avdat after vandals attacked it.

The Cyrus Cylinder will make its first appearance in the U.S. on March 9 at the Smithsonian.

GigaPan has some extremely high-resolution panoramic images of Jerusalem.

HT: Jack Sasson, Michael Oliver

Avdat Byzantine Church of St Theodore, tb030607886
The Nabatean city of Avdat
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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