Weekend Roundup Archives - Page 168 of 169

Weekend Roundup

The “Northern Philistines” are the featured subject of the current issue of Near Eastern Archaeology.

The issue is not online, but Aren Maeir, expert on “Southern Philistines,” offers some reflections on the new discoveries.

The Bible and Interpretation has posted Gordon J. Hamilton’s essay, “From the Seal of a Seer to an Inscribed Game Board: A Catalog of Eleven Early Alphabetic Inscriptions Recently Discovered in Egypt and Palestine.” Among the inscriptions he surveys are the Tel Zayit Stone, Beth-Shemesh Game Board, and Qeiyafa Ostracon.

Aren Maeir explains why he believes Hamilton’s reading of the Safi inscription is not correct.

A new blog that will be of interest to many readers here is Christian World Traveler.

The Book & the Spade 2011 Archaeological Study Tour is now taking sign-ups. If you’ve been looking for a trip that “does more” and costs less, take a look at the itinerary posted here.

Tagged Weekend Roundup

Insight for Living (with Chuck Swindoll) is now touring Israel, and at the end of each day they’re posting a short video of their travels. Author Wayne Stiles is traveling with them and is also posting daily. One of his photos shows an actor dressed up as King Herod Agrippa I, in his silvery garments (see Acts 12).

You can now view more than 35,000 photos in the Oriental Institute Museum Photo Archives Database. Enter as “guest.”

The Job section of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set: Old Testament is now posted for free viewing from the

Logos has some great pre-pub prices on some scholarly collections now. My eye was caught by the three-volume World of the Aramaeans ($50; retail $480), but you may be interested in the collections on Daniel, Amos, Biblical Narrative, Chronicles, Samuel, or David. Some of these volumes cost $100 in print, but they are closer to $10 in the pre-publication promotion.

Tagged Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

You never know what will start a riot in Israel. In this case, it was the government’s adding two historical sites to a list of 150 that should be restored. Today Israeli police forces entered the Temple Mount in order to remove 20 masked protesters who were throwing objects at tourists.

G. M. Grena notes that BAR has posted a good photograph of the Qeiyafa Ostracon.

Egypt has announced the discovery of a large red granite head of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on Luxor’s West Bank.

Tom Powers has followed up the “Under the Temple Mount” post here with some beautiful watercolors of the same areas on his blog.

If you’re looking for more reaction to Eilat Mazar’s “10th century” “wall” announced last week, take a look at this roundup by John Hobbins. I expect to post more on the matter this coming week.

Today is Purim and in honor of this festive holiday, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted an online exhibit of “Masks, Rattles and Purim Customs.” Some images are available in high resolution here (zip).

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Leen Ritmeyer has posted a reconstruction drawing of Jerusalem during the Byzantine period, including an arrow pointing to the newly discovered Decumanus. (I think that I am the only one calling this street the Decumanus.)

Foundation Stone has a slideshow with 16 photos of the Decumanus excavation and press conference.

A 10th century Arabic inscription was discovered in excavations in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.

The IAA press release is here, but you can apparently only access the high-res photos by a direct link (zip).

Yahoo has a slideshow with about 5 photos of the Byzantine winepress.

Israel has added the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem to their list of national heritage sites.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

I am pleased to learn that my friend A.D. Riddle and his colleague David Parker have taken first place in the animation category of the Student Web Mapping Competition of the North American Cartographic Information Society. They were given the honor for their work on The Dead Sea: A History of Change (noted here previously). This is an excellent resource and they are to be congratulated for their work!

The Israel Postal Authority is releasing dozens of stamps that may be of interest to readers here, including Maritime Archaeology in Israel and Fruits of Israel.
Bryant Wood has a description of the infant jar burial excavated last summer at Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?).

Bible and Interpretation has posted a report of the 2005-2009 excavations at Tamar (Ein Hazeva) is now available. The 11-page pdf file (html version here) gives a review of the site’s history and includes numerous illustrations. I stopped at this site with a group last month and certainly would have benefitted if I had already read this report.

Tagged Dead Sea, Excavations, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Five hikers were wounded when a mine exploded near Mount Avital in the Golan Heights.

Richard S. Hess has written an essay on the “Names in Genesis 11” at The Bible and Interpretation.

Professor Donald Wiseman passed away this week.

You can see and read more about the 1st century boat found at the Sea of Galilee at the new website entitled the “Jesus Boat Museum.” I can’t say I like the name they’ve chosen for marketing purposes, but they have some good photographs and explanations about an important archaeological discovery.

The Biblical Learning Blog has a post about “25 Open Courseware Classes about Early Christianity.” The title is a bit misleading, but you may find some subjects of interest here, including a Notre Dame course on Ancient Rome, a MIT course on Ancient Greece, or a Boise State course on the Crusades.

Tagged Galilee, Resources, Weekend Roundup