Turkey Archives - Page 35 of 65

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

The story around the “First Century Gospel of Mark” text has turned very strange. (Michael Holmes, Elijah Hixson, Brent Nongbri, Candida Moss, Jerry Pattengale)

An Egyptian statue resembling King Tut sold for $6 million in a controversial auction.

A luxury hotel built in Antakya (biblical Antioch on the Orontes) preserves the ancient ruins found below.

Boxes of material from Jerry Vardaman’s excavations at Macherus have been dug out of storage and will be studied and published.

Omri Lernau explains what kinds of fish were eaten in ancient Jerusalem.

Dozens of metal archaeological artifacts excavated at Caesarea were stolen from an Israel Antiquities Authority storage facility (Haaretz premium).

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is a double issue, featuring articles on the wise woman of Abel Beth Maacah, the Royal Stoa of the Temple Mount, Jewish purity practices, inscriptions from Mount Gerizim, and the Copper Scroll.

Here’s a tutorial on how to write in cuneiform.

The newest Bible Land Passages documentary has been released. This 18-minute video looks the candidates for the tomb of Jesus.

In a recent episode of Hebrew Voices, David Moster explains how toilets worked in ancient Israel.

And David just produced part 2 of “How to Use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: the Masorah Notes” (20-min video).

Recent interviews on The Book and the Spade:

Shlomo Ben Asher on Magdala and the Magdala stone
Scott Stripling on the 2019 Shiloh excavations

Carl Rasmussen explains how a Lewis Bolt was used to lift heavy stones in the ancient world.

Leen Ritmeyer shares some photos from his underground work at the Temple Mount in the 1970s.

Ferrell Jenkins posts an idyllic photo of an olive tree and two olive presses.

A friend at my church is leading a 20-day tour of New Zealand this January and he has a few open spots. He’s a native New Zealander and a seminary graduate, and he will be giving biblical instruction along the way (for example, NZ has 30 million sheep!). I can’t imagine a better tour of New Zealand. Here’s a flyer with more info.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade, David Padfield, Mark Hoffman, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Samaria, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Museums:

“Assyrians in the Shadow of Vesuvius” is a new exhibit at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

“Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri” is now on display at the Getty Villa in southern California. The post discusses how the Getty Villa was designed after the Villa of Papyri.

“Last Supper in Pompeii” is a new exhibit opening later this month at the Ashmolean Museum.

A replica of the destroyed Lion of Mosul is going on display at London’s Imperial War Museum.

A major exhibition on Troy will open at the British Museum on November 21.

The Egyptian Museum, though losing much of its collection to the Grand Egyptian Museum, will undergo a three-year renovation with the hope of securing status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A new exhibition on Tall Zira’a opened this week at The Jordan Museum.

Lectures:

Shahrokh Razmjou will be lecturing on “The Rise and Fall of Persepolis: A Wonder of the Ancient World” in London on July 23.

Twenty scholars will be speaking at the 22nd Annual Bible and Archaeology Fest in San Diego, November 22-24.

Tourism:

Jerusalem’s “Tomb of the Kings” will reopen to visitors for the first time since 2010, but the tombs themselves will be off-limits.

With restorations complete, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity has been removed from UNESCO’s list of endangered world heritage sites.

The Lahun Pyramid opened to the public for the first time last week.

Every year there’s a story that Carchemish will soon be opened to the public.

Babylon has been named a 2019 UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adam Stewart Brown articulates well why you should visit the Holy Land.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade, Explorator, Bill Krewson

Tagged Egypt, Italy, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Persia, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

I go away for one week, and I come back to a large pile of stories in the biblical and archaeological world. This is going to take three long posts to catch up.

Discoveries:

Excavations at the synagogue of Huqoq have uncovered a mosaic depicting the Israelites’ encampment at Elim as well as two of the four beasts of Daniel 7.

Recent research has revealed that Tel Shikmona was not a trading settlement but a purple dye manufacturing center.

The Siloam Road, connecting the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, was officially opened this week.

Archaeologists discovered an ancient baptismal font hidden inside another baptismal font at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

“An ancient Roman-era shipwreck has been discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Cyprus.”

Excavations:

The Tel Burna crew has finished three weeks of their summer dig, with daily posts providing summaries of the finds along with photos. Here’s the latest. John DeLancey has posted his perspective as a volunteer.

The Gath expedition is halfway finished with their season, and they are unearthing a road, a window, architectural remains, and a monster wall.

This summer’s excavations at el-Araj (Bethsaida?) have produced more mosaics from the Byzantine church, a mold for making lead fishing weights, part of a roof roller, and Roman flagstones.

The Jerusalem Report has a feature piece on recent excavations at Tell Beth Shemesh.

Excavations are beginning in Laodicea on the road that leads to the ancient stadium.

Studies:

A new DNA study indicates that Philistines living in Ashkelon in the late 12th century BC originated from Greece, Crete, or Sardinia. These articles are based on a journal article published in Science Advances (pdf).

“New research explains why salt crystals are piling up on the deepest parts of the Dead Sea’s floor.”

Joe Zias argues that nearly all, if not all, of the human remains found at Masada are ethnically non-Jewish.

A new study shows that masons’ marks were used at Hippos only from the late first century to the late second century (Haaretz premium).

Sad News:

Doug Greenwold died on June 23. Doug was the Senior Teaching Fellow at Preserving Bible Times and a co-founder of The Institute of Biblical Context. He will be greatly missed.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade, Explorator, Lois Tverberg

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Judah, Mediterranean Islands, Philistines, Sad News, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The Ketef Hinnom Archaeological Garden has now opened, no longer requiring passage through the Begin Center to visit the First Temple period tombs.

An agreement was signed to carry out renovations in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic churches. There is no word on whether the ladder will be moved.

Some are claiming that Muslims have turned the Golden Gate into a mosque.

The IDF carried out a simultaneous detonation of 900 landmines in the region of Qasr el-Yehud near the Jordan River.

A number of wildfires have been set this week in the region of Samaria.

The Times of Israel runs a story on the relaunch of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

I can’t tell which part of this “10th-century gate discovered at ‘Bethsaida’” wasn’t reported last year, but the Jerusalem Post is running it as news.

A Turkish archaeologist discovered a stone with a Greek inscription embedded in a wall during roadwork near Cnidos.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Roman-period anchors piled up in a corner of the Malta Maritime Museum.

Glenn C. Altschuler reviews Jodi Magness’s new book, Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth. I would expect the book to be a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Masada.

Charles Savelle reviews David Dorsey’s classic, The Roads and Highways of Ancient Israel (now back in print).

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Keith Keyser

Tagged Book Review, Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Mediterranean Islands, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A Seleucid fortress has been discovered off the shore of Dor (Haaretz premium).

Scott Stripling reports the progress in the Shiloh excavations in a series of recent videos (May 21, May 22, May 24, May 27, May 30).

A new visitor’s center has been opened at Caesarea in four reconstructed vaults underneath Herod’s temple. They are hoping to double tourism to the site in the next six years.

Sara Toth Stub writes about the oasis of En Gedi in a feature piece from the Archaeology magazine.

Archaeologists working in Cairo have discovered a temple from the time of Nectanebo I.

Archaeological researchers believe that they have discovered the baptistery in the Hagia Sophia that was used to baptize Byzantine emperors.

A large marble head of Dionysus has been discovered in excavations of the ancient forum in Rome.

Brent Seales is about to conduct his first scans of Herculaneum scrolls in nearly a decade.

Appian Media has announced their upcoming projects, along with a way to support them by becoming a member.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has a sale on The Sacred Bridge, marking the second edition down to $90.

The Book and the Spade pulls out of their archive a 1983 interview with Gabriel Barkay, shortly after he discovered the silver amulets at Ketef Hinnom.

Wayne Stiles has launched a new podcast, “Live the Bible.”

Omer Frenkel is a professional narrator who has made recordings of the Hebrew Bible over the last 14 years. Steven Anderson has created convenient playlists (in English).

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Keith Keyser

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Israel's Coast, Italy, Jerusalem, Resources, Samaria, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Scientists have produced alcohol from ancient yeast excavated at four archaeological sites in Israel.

Aren Maeir is compiling a list of press reports and shares some of the video clips. One reporter offers a review.

After a Second Temple period burial cave in Jericho’s impressive necropolis was damaged by tractor work, hundreds of the bones were re-buried elsewhere.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the identities of archaeologists working in the West Bank must not be released by the government.

A new entrance to the Tel Zafit National Park (the Philistine city of Gath) was dedicated this week. Aren Maeir shares lots of photos.

With temperatures in Israel soaring above 100 degrees F (37 C), wildfires are causing the evacuation of many communities in central Israel, including the Neot Kedumim Biblical Landscape Reserve.

Gordon Govier talks about Psalm 122 and the archaeology of Jerusalem on this week’s The Book and the Spade.

Peter Hessler tells the story of a how an Egyptian guard improvised in the early days of the Arab Spring to protect a site from looting.

Archaeologists working at Kirikkale in central Turkey have uncovered nine layers of Hittite ruins.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a favorite photo of the ancient Diolkos near Corinth.

Carl Rasmussen explains why early Christians very likely frequented places like the local thermopolium.

In a 20-minute video, David Moster shows what there is to see at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.

Ferrell Jenkins explains why he thinks that “the two current volumes on Daniel and Esther may be the best.”

HT: Agade

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Philistines, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup