Weekend Roundup Archives - Page 164 of 169

Weekend Roundup

Tragic news comes out of Israel this week as a massive forest fire has killed more than 40 people and destroyed more than 10,000 acres on Mount Carmel. If you’ve traveled with me in the last 7-8 years, you probably spent a night at Kibbutz Beit Oren, which suffered great damage. For several photos of the mountain (in better days) and a map, see Ferrell Jenkins’ post. The fire may not be put out for another week.

Archaeologists are now studying ancient sites without ever visiting them, thanks to a NASA satellite.

Arizona State University archaeologist Stephen H. Savage has been studying Khirbet en-Nahas and with NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite been able to determine where “the ore is coming from; which parts of the site were used for smelting and which were not; and that different parts of the site were drawing ore from different regions.

Jennie R. Ebeling has an interesting and well-illustrated summary of discoveries made at Hazor in recent years.

Jweekly.com has a brief article summarizing the discoveries at Magdala.

Reading Acts has a brief summary of James Charlesworth’s presentation at NEAS in which he discussed whether the pool of Bethesda and the pool of Siloam were ritual baths (miqva’ot).

Shimon Gibson has the opportunity to publish important archaeological finds from excavations on Mount Zion in the 1970s and he is now raising funds. Making a donation is particularly quick if you have an Amazon account. Even a small contribution will help!

The winners have been selected for this week’s give-away of the Holy Land Revealed DVD set. It is perhaps notable that both winners live outside of the United States.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Israel has surpassed the 3-million-tourist mark for 2010, breaking the annual record for tourists set in 2008. More than 60% of tourists are Christians and the nation’s goal is to reach 5 million tourists a year by 2015.

Last week’s annual meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society was attended by Ferrell Jenkins, who provides summaries of many of the lectures. Aren Maeir has posted his observations of one day of the ASOR meetings.

The Magdala excavations are continuing around the calendar and photos are now posted from November.

Israel is calling on the Palestinian leadership to reject the “study” that the Jewish people have no right to the Western Wall.

The PBS Special “Quest for Solomon’s Mines” is now available online, though viewing in some
countries is not permitted. UCSD’s role in the feature is discussed in a campus news story.

I have not yet seen it, but a trusted reader tells me that Anson Rainey’s Teaching History and Historical Geography of Bible Lands: A Syllabus that I mentioned here before “consists almost entirely of the text of biblical passages, without any commentary or other notes.” You might browse it before you buy.

This week I read A Promise Kept, a new book produced by Insight for Living. Subtitled “A Pictorial Journey of the Coming of Christ,” the beautifully illustrated and superbly written book was just what I needed to start the Christmas season. It’s available this month for a donation and will be on sale in the IFL store in December.

Tagged Excavations, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Chris Harrison has several interesting graphics at “Visualizing the Bible,” including one entitled “Biblical Social Network (People and Places).”

I love the work of Biblical Backgrounds, Inc., and was excited to see their new website on a recent visit.

Raphael Golb was sentenced to six months in prison for his internet crimes related to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Robert Cargill has posted his response to the sentencing.

In a paper to be presented at SBL, James Davila has posted his SBL paper online: What Just Happened: The Rise of “Biblioblogging” in the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century.”

Ferrell Jenkins has posted an interesting quote about “Rachel’s Tomb” from the father of historical geography, Edward Robinson.

A documentary shot in 1969-70 linked at Leen Ritmeyer’s site has stunning aerial footage of Iran, including Persepolis and Susa.

PBS will be premiering “Quest for Solomon’s Mines” on November 23. You can watch a preview online. Luke Chandler wonders how the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation will be treated.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

An inscription with the name of Ramses III has been found in Saudi Arabia, suggesting Egyptian interest in the trade routes to what is today Yemen. A related article is “Solomon & Sheba, Inc.,” by André Lemaire, published earlier this year in Biblical Archaeology Review.

A Logos collection that may interest readers here is the William Mitchell Ramsay Collection. The 16 volumes may sell for $30 if enough people bid on it.

Prof. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa will be visiting Yeshiva University, giving a talk on
Tuesday evening, November 16. His topic is “A Word is Better than a Million Potsherds: David and Solomon Between Text & Material Culture.” The talk will take place in Furst Hall (500 West 185th St, at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue), on the 5th floor, in room 535, at 8:30 p.m.

Yoav Farhi will be lecturing on Tuesday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. His topic is “Ancient Coins of Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Stronghold on the Road to Jerusalem.”

Aren Maeir will be speaking at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri on November 17, at 5:30 p.m. The college’s participation in the excavations at Gath this season are the subject of an article in the local press.

I wonder if anyone knows whatever happened to this anticipated biblical archaeology book by Stager and Cross.

HT: Eric Welch and Joe Lauer

Tagged Lectures, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Anson Rainey will be lecturing in the Chicago area on “The Order of Sacrifices in Levitical Ritual” in the inaugural lecture of a new series: “The Trinity Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology Lecture.” For more details on the Nov 15 lecture, see here.

The Albright Institute in Jerusalem is hosting a “Workshop on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age” on December 12. For more details, see this flyer.

Ehud Netzer was remembered in a broadcast this week on LandMinds.

A special exhibit opened at the British Museum this week entitled, “Journey through the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.” Ann Wuyts has some related information.

Atiqot has placed their two most recent issues online. Arutz-7 explains the significance of this journal.

There are a couple of new articles about the irrigation system at Ramat Rahel.
Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled against a petition intended to stop the destruction of artifacts on the Temple Mount.

If you’ve ever wondered if Jews are or are not allowed to walk on the Temple Mount, you now have your answer.

There has been some discussion online recently about Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem in light of UNESCO’s claim that the Jewish holy place is actually a Muslim mosque. Leen Ritmeyer has the best images and discussion, but my guess is that it probably was a Muslim shrine before it was “Rachel’s Tomb.” In any case, the biblical evidence is decisively against the authenticity of the site.

Maybe I’ll explain more one of these days, but for the real short answer, see 1 Samuel 10:2. [I now see Jim Davila’s request for an explanation, so I’ll bump it up on my priority list and try to post on it soon.

UPDATE: That explanation is here.]

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Parts of Caesarea are in danger of being destroyed by the erosion caused by ocean waves, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. At risk is the port, the restaurants, and the sand on the beach.

Officials would like $15 million to protect the site.

Ancient gardens at Ramat Rahel are profiled in a recent article at ScienceBlog.

UNESCO has issued a report which refers to “Rachel’s Tomb” as a mosque. Israel’s prime minister disagrees.

A couple of archaeologists are lecturing at Queen’s College in New York in November. Eric Meyers is speaking on the “Origins of Nabratein’s Synagogue” on the 3rd. Jodi Magness’ topic on the 9th is
“Ancient Synagogues: Their Origins and Paradox.”

Anson Rainey will be lecturing on the “Ancient Hebrew Language: Recent Trends in Research” on November 29 in Fort Worth.

Female visitors to Egypt now have some electronic assistance in avoiding the ubiquitous sexual harassment.

A bill in the Knesset may eliminate nearly all hunting in Israel.

More has been published about the untimely death of Ehud Netzer, including this article in Haaretz.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Weekend Roundup