Weekend Roundup Archives - Page 173 of 177

Weekend Roundup

Construction of a new parking lot underneath the Jewish Quarter was reported to require the first breach of the Old City walls of Jerusalem in more than a hundred years. Well, not quite. First, the architect clarified that he was only going under the walls and not through them. Then Leen Ritmeyer explained that the walls were not breached a hundred years ago for Kaiser Wilhelm II’s visit. The walls are safe, for now.

A program on the “New Finds in Jaffa Gate” will be held on Oct 12, 2010, 6-8 pm at Jerusalem’s Yad Ben Zvi Institute. Ofer Sion and Shahar Poni will lecture on the discoveries, including the channel leading to Hezekiah’s Pool. The lecture notice (in Hebrew) can be found here and here (pdf).

HT: Joe Lauer

A statue of Hathor disappeared from a temple at Serabit el-Khadim and was discovered in the Sinai desert five days later. Authorities are questioning the site’s security guards.

Following Friday’s report that the Syrian army has a Scud missile base near Damascus, Jay Baggett (Land of the Bible) created a flyover tour to the “hidden” base where the missiles can be easily seen on Google Earth.

Steven Lancaster and James Monson have completed the Geobasics Study Guide, an outstanding and unique work that deserves a post of its own. In the meantime, you can get a copy for yourself. The guide is in pdf format and is free. The accompanying map book is (only) $15.

Tagged Jerusalem, Lectures, Resources, Syria, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

Ferrell Jenkins has posted some great shots of the royal theater box at the Herodium, along with one of his recent aerial photos.

A bronze signet ring depicting the Greek god Apollo has been discovered at Tel Dor. The University of Haifa press release includes a large photo.

A seal dated to 6200 BC has been discovered in the Yeşilova Tumulus in western Turkey.

G. M. Grena argues from LMLK seals and the Bible that Sennacherib did not devastate the economy of Judah.

Yeshiva University is hosting a conference in March entitled “Talmuda De-Eretz Yisrael: Archaeology and The Rabbis of Antique Palestine.”

You can sign up now for Bible & Archaeology Fest XIII. I went last year and thought it was excellent. The list of speakers is a “who’s who” of archaeology and biblical studies.

Tagged Discoveries, Lectures, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The archive of the American Schools of Oriental Research is now open to the public at Boston University. Treasures in the collection include diaries of archaeologists, photos of excavations, and historic mementos.

Wow – check out this yard full of antiquities that a “collector” had amassed before he was arrested.

For the story in English, see here.

Hundreds of looted antiquities have been returned to Iraq from the United States, reports the NY Times.

An article was found in the excavations near the Western Wall. No kidding—an article. You don’t want to miss these informative updates from The Kotel site.

iLumina Gold Premium (details) was a great program when it cost $60. Now it’s $15.

HT: Joe Lauer and Roi Brit

Tagged Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Two articles that I contributed made it to the “Most Viewed” list over at The Bible and Interpretation. Both articles are brief and challenge current thinking:

Probably the most important work of historical geography ever written is The Sacred Bridge, by Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Notley. At $100, you may need convincing that it’s worth the sacrifice. I look at it this way: take the number of years left in your life and divide $100 by that. It is worth a few bucks a year to have such an extensive reference tool at arm’s length. Leen Ritmeyer has posted a brief review of the book on his blog. If you don’t need the original languages, you can cut the price in half by purchasing Carta’s New Century Handbook and Atlas of the Bible.

If you’d like a free classic to offset the expensive purchase, you can download the entire work of George Adam Smith’s Historical Geography of the Holy Land (pdf). This is the 4th edition (of 26!), but as far as I know, the content is largely the same. I am not sure if residents outside the US have access.

Tagged Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A couple of fragments of a cuneiform tablet were found recently at the excavations of Hazor. Details released thus far are limited, but the tablet is from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1500 BC) and has parallels to the Law Code of Hammurabi. The excavators’ notice of the discovery is online here. I have heard that the find was made on the surface, and that publication won’t take long.

Roman period tombs have been discovered in Petra with skeletal remains and ancient artifacts.

A small basalt statue dating from about 4000 BC has been found in Jordan near the border of Saudi Arabia.

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written an “Archaeology in Israel Update,” including summaries of the medieval aqueduct in Jerusalem, graves in Ashkelon, MB artifacts near Jokneam, MB tombs in Nazareth, and the 18th anniversary of the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.

New excavations begin today at Shiloh and the team is looking for volunteers (article in Hebrew).

If you prefer to “experience” excavations without getting dirty, take a look at the live video feed from Gath (during working hours only).

HT: Roi Brit

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Jordan, Samaria, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The area of Adullam where David hid in a cave will be destroyed by oil prospectors, according to a group of concerned citizens.

If you haven’t visited the Pool of Siloam recently (or ever), you may not have seen this artist’s reconstruction of what it looked like.

USC has an article on how new photographic methods and computer technology are helping in the deciphering of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Book and the Spade radio program has a new website.

Robert Cargill notes that National Geographic TV will be airing a special entitled “Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls” on July 27. You can see a preview online. I confess that I still have a lot of trouble believing that the primary reason for the placement of the scrolls in the Qumran caves is that fleeing Jerusalemites were hiding them from the Romans. If that was the case, one would not expect to find all of them within a very small geographic area (not far from a settlement).

The Ancient World Online has updated its extensive list of open access journals. Among those that might interest readers here are Hadashot Arkheologiyot and the Bulletin of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society (1933-1967).

The May 2010 issue of BASOR is now online for subscribers. Non-subscribers can see the table of contents and abstracts.

Hershel Shanks talks a little bit about his new autobiography in front of the camera. He seems to relish his conviction as a thief. Elsewhere, William Varner reviews the book quite favorably.

What did Jesus look like? Justin Taylor revisits an article from a few years back that provides some background to the reconstruction made using “forensic anthropology.”

Logos Bible Software has a pre-publication special on the 22 volumes of the Babylonian Talmud and the 28 volumes of the Jerusalem Talmud (Neusner’s translation). Both for $160 (for a limited time).

By the way, Neusner has written or edited 900 books, which averages out to two a month for the last 37 years.

Tagged Weekend Roundup