Turkey Archives - Page 49 of 67

Weekend Roundup

Several Aramaic and Greek inscriptions with the word “rabbi” have been found in the cemetery of Sepphoris at the time when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was alive.

A large church in the underground city of Nevşehir in Cappadocia has been discovered with many colorful frescoes. They estimate that the church dates to the 5th century.

Turkey is planning to restore Göbekli Tepe in order to boost tourism.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is using lighting to restore the original colors to the Temple of Dendur.

The botching of the repair job on King Tut’s beard has resulted in a disciplinary hearing for eight officials.

Egypt is trying to revive tourism with 3-D scans of the pyramids, opening of new museums, and a highly publicized radar study of King Tut’s tomb.

Photography is once again permitted in the Egyptian Museum with purchase of a camera ticket.

Trude Dothan, long-time excavator of Philistine sites, died this week.

Lost photos of Lawrence of Arabia have been discovered in the archives of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

A short piece at the Jerusalem Post remembers Edward Robinson on the anniversary of his death in 1863.

Clay tablets suggest that the Babylonians invented astronomical geometry long before the Europeans did.

Can you identify these “mystery objects” discovered in the PEF collection?

Dale Manor is on The Book and the Spade this week talking about his on-going excavations of Tel Beth Shemesh.

Tim Frank’s Daughter of Lachish is now available on Kindle. I really enjoyed this work of historical fiction set in the biblical world. (I explain why in my review on Amazon.)

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Museums, Philistines, Sad News, Shephelah, Turkey

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient road in Tarsus, not far from the Cleopatra Gate.

A new study suggests that the Romans contributed to an increase in human parasites, despite their advances in sanitation technology.

Wayne Stiles draws spiritual application out of a gate in Jerusalem that is blocked to prevent the Messiah’s arrival.

Washington Post: How 3D printers can help undo the destruction of ISIS

Lawrence H. Schiffman shares insights about Jews and Judaism that he gained from reading the New Testament.

Last week I was on The Book and the Spade with Gordon Govier discussing the top ten stories in biblical archaeology. This week we’re discussing upcoming excavations in Israel in 2016.

Penn Museum explains how to make cuneiform tablet cookies.

Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv has opened a new exhibition on discoveries from Tel Rehov.

Israel’s underwater treasures need protecting, according to a recent post on the ASOR Blog.

Haaretz reports on the significance of the recently discovered seal impression of Hezekiah, son of
Ahaz, king of Judah.

Visits to the Temple Mount by non-Jewish and non-Muslim tourists has been going down every year since 2010.

A new video shows how a small excavation at Ein Lamur/Ein Limon is being used to strengthen the community.

Luke Chandler shares a video on volunteers excavating at Lachish.

The Review of Biblical Literature has been moved behind a paywall.

Helmut Koester died on New Year’s Day at the age of 89.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem, Museums, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

An 8-year-old boy discovered the head of an Iron Age figurine while visiting the site of Beth Shemesh.

A mosaic with an inscription from Isaiah 65 has been discovered near Adana, Turkey.

Archaeologists have found a “giant fence” at Tell ed-Daba that dates to the time of the Hyksos’ invasion.

The Algemeiner: “Hamas forces seized a chest full of Ottoman-era gold coins discovered in Gaza.”

Police arrested an antiquities dealer near Beth Shean with a collection of more than 3,000 illegally obtained coins.

Google is adding Petra to its “Street View.” The queen of Jordan contributed by writing the company’s blog post. I’m impressed.

Fadi Shawkat Haddad has released A Christian Pilgrimage Journey in Jordan. Haddad is a Christian tour guide in Jordan whom I worked with many years ago. The book covers 80 sites and costs $20 plus postage.

The Summer 2015 issue of DigSight is now available in pdf format. This issue includes a report on the season at Lachish, the Ishbaal inscription from Khirbet Qeiyafa, and upcoming events.

Charles E. Jones has expanded his bibliography of autobiographies of archaeologists and given it a new home.

A team of researchers is learning more about how vellum was produced for pocket Bibles in the medieval period.

Premier Exhibitions recently had a media preview of its King Tut exhibition. It features more than
1,000 precisely crafted replicas, arranged in the exact manner found by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

Qedem Reports is now accessible online through JSTOR. In the future, all Qedem volumes will be available.

The Biblical Archaeology Society is running a Thanksgiving sale with discounts up to 85%.

The future of archaeology is non-invasive and non-destructive technologies.

This week on the Land and the Book: Bible Exploration Tech Tools with Scott Lindsey from Logos Bible Software.

Here’s more on the new papyrus of the Gospel of John.

BibleX has an interesting post on Paul and Bedbugs.

Israeli archaeologist Yoram Tsafrir died on Monday.

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Israel's Coast, Jordan, Museums, Resources, Sad News, Shephelah, Technology, Travels, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

An undisturbed 3,500-year-old soldier’s tomb with enormous treasures has been found in southwest Greece.

A secret tunnel built by the Hittites has been discovered in central Turkey.

Twenty two ancient shipwrecks have been discovered off the coast of Turkey.

A fine first-century marble head of the mythical greek hero Hercules has been acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art.

Charles Jones has posted a preliminary bibliography of autobiographies of scholars of the greater Ancient Near East.

Haaretz: “How Did a Judean Seal End Up in a 2,000-year-old Russian Warrior Woman’s Grave?”

The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative has added to its library works from the Detroit Institutes of Arts.

“Scan Pyramids” is a new study by Egyptian and foreign experts that will use modern infra-red technology to map four pyramids and search for hidden secrets.

David Moster identifies 10 great biblical artifacts in the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.

Lenny Ben-David shares a photo essay entitled “Secrets under the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

The Jordan Times reports on restoration efforts at Macherus. The Hungarian team plans to excavate
until 2029 and to create a visitor’s center in a Herodian cistern.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Wayne Stiles, Agade

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Greece, Museums, Technology, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A church mosaic floor dating to AD 500 and depicting a map of Egypt has been discovered in Kiryat Gat.

There’s a growing consensus among archaeologists that the tomb of King Tut has two previously undiscovered rooms, one of which could hold the remains of Nefertiti.

A site in Gush Etzion inhabited during the Bar-Kochba era has been destroyed by vandals.

Some Arab scholars are claiming that a Jewish mafia is behind the destruction of antiquities in Palmyra and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Wayne Stiles shares some footage from his helicopter ride over Israel.

Thomas L. Thompson claims that Israel Finkelstein and William Dever are more similar to William F. Albright than they think.

Excavations at Tel Tayinat in southern Turkey suggest that the site was an ancient Philistine capital.

Leon Mauldin takes a look at the high place of Dan.

The California Museum of Ancient Art is hosting a four-part lecture series on Ancient Shipwrecks and Harbors: Great Discoveries in Underwater Archaeology.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has posted a video clip of a lecture by Robert Deutsch entitled “To Publish or Not to Publish.” Aren Maeir’s segment looks at “Archaeology During Times of Trouble.”

The November/December issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Cana, Hippos, and manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible not quite as old as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Please consider participating in this Survey on Field Safety.

A student shares his experience in volunteering at the Palestine Exploration Fund this summer.

This week on The Land and the Book, Charlie Dyer covers “everything you want to know about the Temple Mount.”

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Agade, G. M. Grena, Jared Clark, Paleojudaica

Mosaic in Kiryat Gat
Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Philistines, Shephelah, Syria, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

In Pompeii, a pre-Roman tomb dating to 4 B.C. has been found in perfect condition by French archaeologists.

A newly discovered tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh preserves nearly twenty lines previously unknown.

The UNC Charlotte magazine features a story on the Mount Zion excavation.

Eldad Keynan examines a unique mikveh in Upper Galilee—one with a cross inscribed on the wall.

Dr. Ben Witherington paid a visit to the Greco-Roman Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and demonstrates how artifacts illuminate our understanding of the New Testament.

Why study biblical geography? Barry Britnell suggests one, two, and three reasons.

Bryant Wood reexamines the blockage of the Jordan River.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the significance of Adullam and shares several photos of the cave.

“The Virtual World Project presents interactive virtual tours of archaeological sites in Israel and Jordan. The project is designed to aid in the teaching and study of antiquity.” There’s some background here.

“Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) in Istanbul has begun an exhibition celebrating the immense contribution of John Garstang, a British scholar, on archaeology in Turkey.”

With only 2,000 gazelle remaining in Israel, the species will probably be classified as endangered.

Logos has pre-publication pricing on a new video course, AR101 Archaeology in Action: Biblical Archaeology in the Field ($50).

The early bird discount for Wayne Stiles’s Holy Land Tour ends on Monday.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Chris McKinny, David Bivin

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Museums, Shephelah, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup