Leen Ritmeyer has photos from Alexander Schick of a wooden version of the formerly Holyland Hotel model of Jerusalem, now on display at Ben Gurion Airport.

Haaretz has a story about a Canaanite banquet hall discovered at Tel Kabri.

The Samaritans are using genetic testing (and abortion) to reduce the chances of birth defects caused by inbreeding.

The first snow of the season has fallen on Mount Hermon.

Vandals have attacked the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem for the second time this year.

You can now purchase the high-resolution artwork from the ESV Study Bible. The maps, illustrations, and charts/diagrams are available in packages for $10, or you can download everything for $25.

Eisenbrauns has a 30-50% off sale on the 4 volumes of the Ashkelon reports.

HT: Jack Sasson

IMG_1291
Model of Jerusalem at Ben Gurion Airport.
Photo by Alexander Schick.

The blog for Eilat Mazar’s excavations south of the Temple Mount has some new posts, including one reporting the discovery of a 10th-century Egyptian scarab. Mazar asks if the scarab belonged to Solomon’s wife.

The largest Egyptian sarcophagus ever identified belonged to Merneptah and is now being re-assembled.

The Harvard Gazette: “In a high-tech project that would have been impossible even four years ago, technicians are attempting to re-create a 2-foot-long ceramic lion that likely flanked an image of the goddess Ishtar in a temple in long-ago Nuzi.”

NY Times: “The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology . . . is undertaking an ambitious effort to become more accessible to the public.”

Seth Rodriquez continues his biblical geography series with the Coastal Plain – Plain of Dor.

SourceFlix records a funeral procession in front of the tomb of Lazarus and reflects on the meaning of Jesus’ miracle.

Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus is $2.99 on Kindle for a few days (recommended previously here).

Glo is now available for $35 (reg. $90).

Logos has several new Archaeology sets available at a discount. All of them include the standard surveys by Mazar and Stern. The medium size includes the “Cities of Paul” images volume.

HT: Jack Sasson

Dor harbor area from north, tb090506883
View of Dor’s harbor from the tell
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

“Scattered throughout Israel are dozens of archeological exhibits, indoor and outdoor, that anyone can visit at no charge.” Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am recommend three of those sites to visit.
Iraqi authorities captured two smugglers in possession of rare statues and coins.

The Dallas Museum of Art is sending one of its 2nd century mosaics to Turkey after determining that it was probably stolen years ago from the area of Edessa.

The Jewish philanthropist who funded the excavation of the bust of Nefertiti was expunged from the records by the Nazis but is now being honored for his contributions.

Shmuel Browns has opened a new online store for products with his photographs and artwork.

El Al is offering reduced rates on winter flights to Israel.

Charles Savelle on the new Pictorial Library of Bible Lands: If you teach the Bible, plan to go to the
Bible lands, or have been there before, I would suggest you check this resource out.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Amarna, limestone, gypsum and rock crystal bust of Nefertiti, 18th dynasty, adr070511363
Bust of Nefertiti.
Photo by A.D. Riddle.

Archaeologists working at Acco have discovered harbor remains and four shipwrecks from the early 19th century.

Deane Galbraith summarizes a new article in which Yigal Levin rejects the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as Shaaraim and proposes instead that it is the Israelite encampment.

Bible History Daily has a short story on a new exhibit about Famous Americans Who Made Holy Land Tours. Featured tourists include Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Muriel and Jeremy Josse Collection of Holy Land Maps includes more than 250 maps of late 19th- and early 20th-century Palestine and the African continent.

Harvard University is returning to archaeology in Iraq after nearly a century, but they’re doing so without touching the ground.

National Geographic has word (and photos) of the Oldest Pharaoh Rock Art Rediscovered in Egypt.

Bible History Daily posts more than a dozen high-res images of “King David’s Tomb.” You need a subscription to read Jeffrey Zorn’s related article, but the images are available to all. And if you ever teach about the subject, you should grab the nicely colored drawings from Weill’s excavations while they’re available (below the photos).

The city of Jerusalem has approved plans for rebuilding the second of two domed synagogues in the Old City. Both were destroyed in the 48 war, and the Hurvah Synagogue was rebuilt several years ago. A donation of $12 million is launching the rebuilding of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue.

For a look at what’s going on in the broader world of biblical studies in the past month, head over to the Carnival.

HT: David Coppedge

Tiferet Israel Synagogue, tb010312424
Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Google Maps now includes floor plans of dozens of museums around the world, including the British Museum and the Smithsonian.

A couple of museums in Israel moved treasures to the vault because of danger from rockets from Gaza.

You can wait years to see an article about the New Testament city of Nain. Miriam Feinberg Vamosh ends the wait.

David Bivin thinks that the Nain where Jesus raised the boy from the dead is near Jerusalem in the upper reaches of the Wadi Qilt (subscription req’d for full article).

Joe Zias attempts to clear things up with regard to his role with the James Ossuary.

Perhaps you didn’t know: Wayne Stiles’ weekly column is available each Monday at the Jerusalem Post, but the edition on his personal site includes more content and higher-resolution photos. This week he travels to Chorazin (“Capernaum with a View”).

The PowerPoint presentation for Itzhaq Shai’s recent lecture on Tel Burna is available for download.

It is interesting to look through even without the audio.

Ferrell Jenkins shares some of his observations from the recent annual meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit formerly at Discovery Times Square and Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute has now rolled into Cincinnati.

A golden brooch from the treasure of King Croesus is returning to Turkey after the museum director sold it to pay off his gambling debts.

The National Museum of Iraq is scheduled to have a grand re-opening early next year.

Conservation efforts at Herculaneum are more successful than at its sister site of Pompeii.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Herculaneum Cardo IV from west, tb111405666
Ruins of Herculaneum from the west
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

The Associated Press reports on the Carchemish excavations. Six photos are featured. (A version with photos embedded is here.)

NT Blog: The Jesus’ Wife Fragment: How the Forgery Was Done

Logos Bible Software, my Bible study program of choice for more than 15 years now, has released version 5. The Biblical Studies and Technological Tools blog is reviewing it. In Part 1, Mark Hoffman provides excuses for upgrading, and in Part 2, he gives reasons, with plenty of illustrated examples.

Eisenbrauns’ Deal of the Weekend is Exploring the Longue Duree: Essays in Honor of Lawrence E. Stager. Don’t let the title fool you: there are many interesting articles in this book. (Click on the Table of Contents link for a full list.)