Frank Moore Cross died this week. Hershel Shanks has written some reflections on their relationship.

James Davila describes his experience as a student. Eisenbrauns has a 50% sale on a volume of 55 key articles he wrote. Chuck Jones has created a list of his articles available on JSTOR. And Frank 
Moore Cross: Conversations with a Bible Scholar is available as a free ebook.

A two-part interview with Robert Mullins on the new excavations of Abel Beth Maacah is now available at The Book and the Spade.

The Smithsonian Channel delayed the release of the documentary on the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.”

Hershel Shanks disagrees with Harvard Theological Review’s decision to delay publication of the article.

The historic souk of Aleppo, Syria, is a battleground today.

The Dead Sea will live again: Wayne Stiles explains and includes a slideshow, a video, and a map.

The 200th anniversary of the rediscovery of Petra is celebrated in a new exhibition in Basel.

“From Papyrus to Print: A Journey through the History of the Bible” is the central exhibit at the new 
Bible and archaeology museum at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Rachel Hallote will be lecturing on “Not-So-Innocents Abroad: The Beginnings of American Biblical Archaeology” on October 28 at Emory University.

Manfred Bietak will be lecturing on “Recent Discoveries at the Hyksos Capital, Tell el-Dab‘a
(Egypt)” on November 12, 7:00 PM in Hinkson Hall, Rodine Building, Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School.

HT: Al Sandalow, Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Petra Siq, df072007322
The Siq of Petra
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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Have they found a “smoking gun” proving that the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife was forged?

A plan to build a water reservoir west of Jerusalem near Har Adar is being opposed because it will mean the loss of 800 pine, cypress, and oak trees.

Shahar Shilo will speak about new discoveries from Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the City of David in Simi Valley, California next week. I know that he is speaking in Dallas and probably elsewhere, but I do not have public links for those events.

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art today launched MetPublications, a major online resource that offers unparalleled in-depth access to the Museum’s renowned print and online publications, covering art, art history, archaeology, conservation, and collecting.”

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is online (digital subscription required).

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

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Streams in the Desert: A 20-second clip from SourceFlix.com

New exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum: Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt,

October 16, 2012-July 28, 2013

The Sea of Galilee is entering fall at a higher level than in six years.

Wayne Stiles: Connecting Cisterns, Rain, and Reading the Bible

Haaretz: Samson follows the sun to Galilee

The date palm growing from a 2,000-year-old seed is shown and discussed on video.

The Mazotos shipwreck is the oldest shipwreck found off Cyprus to date. The vessel sank in 350 BC
with a load of 1,000 amphorae of wine.

Elizabeth Payne, conservator of the Yale Babylonian Collection, is interviewed in the school paper.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

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Vandals spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti on the Dormition Abbey church. UPDATE: The graffiti was near the Dormition Abbey, just outside Zion Gate on the door of the Franciscan Convent.

Haaretz has a photo. (Thanks, Dina.)

Israel and Jordan are planning to work together to rehabilitate the Jordan River.

The case for the authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife is getting weaker.

Aren Maeir posts an archaeological note relating to Sukkot.

If you’re interested in historical fiction set in the life of the early church, The Scribes is currently free for Kindle.

The problem with blackmail is that it never stops, even between governments and world-class museums.

How is the Messiah related to the feast of Sukkot? Wayne Stiles explains and illustrates.

HT: Jack Sasson

Man with four species during Sukkot at Western Wall, cd091006002

Sukkot prayers (photo source)
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Charles Jones has put created an excellent Roundup of Resources on Ancient Geography. Bookmark this one!

There are enough scholars who have serious doubts about the authenticity of the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” that when a report circulated that Harvard Theological Review had decided to not publish the article, many scholars believed it. Brian LePort has some of the back and forth.

Mark Hoffman excavated at et-Tell (Bethsaida?) this summer and is sharing his photo book of the dig. (No account is needed to flip through it, and full screen provides the best view.)

Jodi Magness is interviewed in the WAMC Academic Minute about her excavations of the Huqoq synagogue.

Cornell University has received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating research in the Near East.

A conference at Tel Aviv University in late October will focus on Ancient Greece and Ancient Israel:
Interactions and Parallels (10th to 4th Centuries BCE). The details are available here.

SourceFlix’s latest short is called “Fishers of Men.”


Biblical Archaeology Review is now available as a digital subscription, with the bonus that you get last year’s digital issues.

Robert Mullins gives a day-by-day account of the first season at Abel-beth-maacah. His excitement is justified.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Abel Beth Maacah from northwest, tb062900201
Abel Beth Maacah from the northwest
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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The University of Oxford and the Vatican Library plan “to digitize 1.5 million pages of texts from their collections and make them freely available online.”

A large 3rd or 4th century poolside mosaic has been uncovered in southern Turkey, not far from biblical Attalia.

The Saqqara Serapeum was inaugurated this week.

The Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project has received a 3-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Hebrew University will begin offering online courses for free.

Check out Wayne Stiles’ descriptive and devotional thoughts about Tel Dan. “By providing alternative places of worship [at Dan and Bethel], Jeroboam appealed to the laziness of the human spirit.”

If you’re looking for full-color, poster-size maps of biblical history, take a look at WordAction’s Bible Teaching Maps. The $35 set includes 10 large maps bible-teaching-mapsand 10 reproducible charts. The maps were produced by Zondervan and Oxford University Press.

They are easily mounted on foam board for display and transport.

Christianbook.com has many Bible atlases on sale this week, as well as Gary Burge’s The Bible and the Land for $1.99.

A number of distinguished scholars passed away this week, including Manfred Goerg, Bahnam Abu As-Souf, and Itamar Singer.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

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