Michael S. Heiser, at the Paleobabble blog, shares an article on limestone quarrying in Spain that may shed light on how similar activity was carried out in Israel. From the abstract:

It appears that one of the quarrying methods used was based on the chemical dissociation by fire of standing stone blocks at their  attachment points,a technique hitherto unknown or unreported in the literature.

Israel has its first crocodiles in the wild since the last one was shot in 1912. Fortunately the 50 escapees from the crocodile farm in the Jordan Rift have now been captured. Bonus question: where is the Crocodile River located in Israel?

Paul’s first preaching stop in what is today Turkey was at Perga (Acts 13:13). Archaeologists there are now celebrating 65 years of excavation.

An archaeological park has opened at Claros (Klaros), not far from Smyrna (Izmir).

The Jordan Times is reporting an uptick in the number of visitors to the “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” baptismal site.

Archaeological sites in Syria are apparently not faring well in the current bloodletting. The danger to Mari is noted in a recent story.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History, by Weston W. Fields, is reviewed by Jaqueline Du Toit. She writes,

“In conclusion, volume 1 of The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History is an inestimable contribution to scrolls historiography. It will appeal to scholars and students of biblical scholarship, but also to academia in general and a popular audience. Despite its price, which curtails its mass appeal, it is highly recommended. And, based on the riveting narrative still unfolding, volume 2 is awaited with great anticipation.”

Joe Yudin takes readers on a tour of part of the Old City of Jerusalem, focusing on remains of the Tenth Roman Legion. He gives a good tour but he makes a significant mistake in dating the Cardo to the Roman period. While the northern portion (beginning at Damascus Gate) was constructed by Hadrian, the southern portion was only built in the time of Justinian in the Byzantine period.

(Excavator Nahman Avigad was surprised to make this discovery in his excavations; he discusses it at length on pages 225-27 of the excellent Discovering Jerusalem. I was about to write this is a very difficult work to find, for indeed it was for many years, but now Amazon has used copies starting at $4.63. I’ve bought several over the years for $60.)

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a camera that lets you focus after you’ve taken the shot?

Answer to the crocodile question: the Nahal Taninim (Crocodile River) runs on the northern end of the Sharon Plain, just below Mount Carmel.

HT: Explorator, Joseph Lauer, G. M. Grena