Weekend Roundup

If you would like to try your hand at identifying objects found in an archaeological excavation, the team at the Temple Mount Sifting Project is now soliciting input from those who may have information related to their finds.  You can head over to the photo gallery to begin.

Zahi Hawass is back as Egyptian Minister of Antiquities because he learned that “antiquities cannot live away from me.”  The nation’s trials have not ended and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is again closed.

The spring season at Tel Burna has wrapped up, and the website now has links to photos and an easier way to donate.

Ferrell Jenkins recently explained the connections of Libya to the New Testament.

G. M. Grena debunks the claims that the earliest depiction of Jesus was found in the lead codices from Jordan.

Gerald Mattingly lectured yesterday afternoon at Lee University on the topic: “Is Anybody Finding
Anything Important Over in Jordan: The Top 10 Discoveries from Transjordan that Relate to the Bible.”  Perhaps he will turn the presentation into an article one day.

Iran has cut ties with the Louvre.  It’s too bad it’s not the other way around.

Glo users now can access the program on all of their PCs, Macs, iPads and soon iPhones.

Logos has released an updated version of Shibboleth and Mark Hoffman explains why it’s good and when an alternative may be better for you.

Only rarely does one see an original copy of the Survey of Western Palestine maps (26 sheets) for sale.  A bookseller in the UK has one listed now, if you act quickly and are ready to part with $3,826 plus shipping.  Alternately, you can get an electronic copy for $35 (including shipping) from us.  In either case, you’ll benefit from the 160-page index (which we have painstakingly digitized).

HT: Jack Sasson

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Recent Articles at Bible and Interpretation

Various articles posted at the Bible and Interpretation in the last month have drawn my eye.  Some I hoped to interact with here, but as time passes, I realize it may just be best to point you directly to them.

Why the fishing town Bethsaida is not found along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Fred Strickert explains that the reason why et-Tell (aka “Bethsaida”) is today distant from the Sea of Galilee is silting by the Jordan River.  He also wonders if the site may have been elevated by seismic activity since biblical times.  El-Araj is not a viable candidate for Bethsaida, he says, because the site was not settled in the first century.

From the Seal of a Seer to an Inscribed Game Board: A Catalog of Eleven Early Alphabetic Inscriptions Recently Discovered in Egypt and Palestine.  This article by Gordon J. Hamilton considers three new inscriptions from the Middle Bronze, one from the Late Bronze, and seven from the Early Iron Age (including inscriptions from Gath, Tel Zayit, Tel Rehov, Beth Shemesh, and Kh. Qeiyafa).  The bibliographic data alone is very useful.  With regard to the Gath ostracon, note Maeir’s response.

On Archaeology, Forgeries and Public Awareness: The “James Brother of Jesus” Ossuary in Retrospect.  Gideon Avni believes that the obviously forged inscriptions of the James Ossuary and Jehoash Tablet will be regarded as little more than a footnote in history books.  Since a number of scholars consider the case to still be open, this article unfairly denigrates other conclusions by acting as if they don’t exist.

Zedekiah Cave or the Quarries of King Solomon in Jerusalem: A Subsurface Stone Quarry for Building the Second Temple by King Herod.  Zeev Lewy of the Geological Survey of Israel has written a fascinating report suggesting reasons why Herod’s engineers selected a certain type of stone for use in the Temple Mount.  This also explains why the massive quarry was accessed through a single small entrance.

The Bible and Interpretation has many other recent articles, and they now also have a mechanism for supporting their work.

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Touring Israel

A number of articles or blog pieces have appeared recently about various sites and trails around Israel.

Shmuel Browns recently completed an eight-day hike on the Israel Trail, beginning at its southern end near Eilat.  He posts some reflections and photos from his experience.  The last picture in particular should get some of you to thinking about when you’re going to book your next flight to Israel. Browns also recommends a hike from the Timna Valley where one can see many plants in bloom this time of year.

Yoni Cohen writes in the Jerusalem Post about hiking in the Yehudia Forest Reserve, though the article is too brief.  The National Parks official website has similar information, and I noted previously (with links) that this is the best place to hike in the summer.  Last week Cohen wrote about Ein Akev and Ein Zik near Kibbutz Sede Boqer.

Ferrell Jenkins has written about two of the lesser known sources of the Jordan River, the Nahal Senir (Hasbani) and the Nahal Iyon (Bareighit).  He also recently pointed readers to his free guide to biblically related artifacts in the British Museum.

Leon Mauldin is touring Israel now and has recently visited Gordon’s Calvary, Anathoth, and Gibeon.

Carl Rasmussen has begun a blog and his most recent post features several beautiful photos of a synagogue mosaic at Sepphoris.

In a new column at the Jerusalem Post, Wayne Stiles writes of Tel Dan and Qumran.  On his blog, Stiles notes the release of a DVD four years in the making entitled “Experience the Land and the Book.”

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Weekend Roundup

On Sunday, The New York Times posted an article about the meaning of the Hebrew word tekhelet, mentioned in Exodus 26:1 and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Instead of light blue, Zvi C. Koren argues that is was a “closer to a bluish purple.”

On Tuesday, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem posted a press release about the publication of the first volume of The Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palestine (CIIP) series. There are 9 volumes of the series scheduled and the goal is to collect “all the inscriptions ever found in Israel and the Palestinian Authority from the period of Alexander the Great (4th century C.E) until Mohammed (beginning of the 7th century A.D.)” The first volume “includes more than 700 inscriptions from Jerusalem and surrounding areas up until the destruction of the Second Temple.”

Also on Tuesday, reports about a break in at an artifact storehouse near the Giza pyramids were posted here and here.

On Wednesday, Aren Maeir posted on his blog a summary and a critique of recent lectures at Hebrew University about the Philistines and Sea Peoples.

Also on Wednesday, an article about archaeology in Libya (in light of the current unrest in that country) was posted by Scientific American here.

On Thursday (as was previously posted on this blog) Zahi Hawass announced that he will step down. Reports of this event can be found here and here. Hawass also posted a report on his blog that day about the dangers that are threatening archaeological sites and artifacts in Egypt. Biblical Archaeology Review intends to publish an interview with Hawass in the next issue.

Also on Thursday, Israel National News posted an article on a new training program being offered by the Israel Antiquities Authority. It is “a program to teach Jews from around the world how to conserve ancient buildings. The program, called Saving the Stones, is a five-month international training internship in historical and archeological conservation.” The IAA’s press release is here.

On Friday, a new exhibit with body casts from Pompeii opened at Discovery Times Square. The exhibit website is here and an article about it in the New York Times is here.

The McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College is currently displaying a collection called Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity. Admission to the museum is free.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph I. Lauer, A.D. Riddle

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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Mark Hoffman is in the process of posting geo-tagged photos from his recent trip to Turkey and Greece. 

Tom Powers has determined the exact location of the recently discovered Roman bathhouse in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Ferrell Jenkins has returned safely from his trip to Egypt and Israel.  See his recent posts for photos he took along the way.

Leen Ritmeyer continues his explanation of the newly excavated drainage channel next to the Temple Mount.

This Israel MFA article shows you how you can be an “eco-tourist in Israel.”  The conclusion provides a list of a ten GoEco opportunities.  Many of them sound worthwhile and interesting.

The Jerusalem Post has an interview with Kay Wilson, the tour guide who was nearly stabbed to
death while hiking with a friend in the hills west of Jerusalem.

The Dead Sea is not dead.  Some microorganisms are able to survive in the extremely salty conditions.  Most of the brief article at ScienceDaily is technical, but this sentence caught my eye:

“Evolution is not a perfect engineer who plans everything and knows exactly what he wants to create from the outset.” 


Excavating the City of David, by Ronny Reich, is scheduled to be published this spring by the Israel Exploration Society.  Eisenbrauns has the details and is accepting pre-orders.

The best mainstream treatment of the history of ancient Israel is now out in a third edition.  Ancient Israel has chapters written by a dozen scholars and is edited by Hershel Shanks.  The previous edition came out in 1999, so an updated work is needed.  As of this writing, the best price is at the BAS Store.

The latest edition of Atiqot has been published and you can read the articles for free if you register (a quick and easy process).  The article I clicked on to test the process (“A Cairn Field”) turns out to be about a potential high place near Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah.

Israel’s MFA has the best article I can remember about birds migrating through Israel. “At least 500 million birds of 200 different species fly across Israel each spring and fall.”  The article tells you where to find them and why you might want to.

And a Haaretz reporter is surprised that he/she likes the newly introduced McFalafel.

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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