February 16, 2011 - BiblePlaces.com

Some Missing Objects Found in Cairo Museum

Today, Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, reported that three objects which were thought to have been taken from the Cairo Museum have turned up on the museum grounds. Four days ago, Hawass issued a press release stating that 18 objects were missing from the museum in connection with a break-in which occurred on January 29 (previously mentioned here and here).

Now, only 15 objects remain missing.

The objects recovered are (1) the Heart Scarab of Yuya, (2) one of the eleven shabti statuettes of Yuya and Thuya, and (3) fragments of the gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun being carried by the goddess Menkaret and all of the fragments of Menkaret. The objects had been dislocated and Hawass believes they were dropped when the looters fled. A final inventory of the museum is still being conducted.

More details can be found on Hawass’s blog (with photos) or in the Ahram Online news report.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt

Beth Haccherem – A Site Identification: Primer

Over the next week or so I will be discussing a topic of considerable interest to this author – the identification of Beth Haccherem. My conclusions are not revolutionary (or new), however, the methodology with which I reached my conclusion has not been used elsewhere (at least according to my knowledge.) With that being said allow the following information to inform and introduce you to the ancient site of Beth Haccherem.

Site Name

Beth Haccherem literally means “the house of the vineyard.” The name testifies to the city’s location and function. The Judean hill country’s vine-producing capabilities are some of the best in the Levant. Beth-Haccherem is within a larger group of sites with names derived from agricultural man-made devices.

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Textual Concordance (source document, available on request)

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1. Joshua 15:59a (LXX) (you can download a free translation of the LXX here)

2. Jeremiah 6:1 (key verse)

3. Nehemiah 3:14 (updated – not 3:1)

4. Genesis Apocryphon 22:13-14 (Dead Sea Scrolls)

5. The Copper Scroll X:47-51 (Dead Sea Scrolls)

6. Midoth 3:4 (Mishna)

7. Niddah 2:7 (Mishna)

8. Jerome – Jeremiah Commentary (v. 6:1)

Proposed Identifications

Herodium (Edward Robinson 1838)
Ein Karem (Edward Robinson 1856 – traditional identification)
Ramat Rachel (Yochanan Aharoni 1950s)

Map of proposed sites (click on images to zoom)

Possible Toponymic Connections

Jebel Fureidis (modern – Herodium) – Arabic meaning “mountain of Herod.”
Ain Karem (modern – Ein Karem) – Arabic meaning “spring of the vineyard.”
Khirbet Salih (modern – Ramat Rahel) – Arabic meaning “ruin of Salih” unlike many place names it is not a variant of some ancient place name.

More to come…

Follow-up to “Sad News from Cairo Museum”

National Geographic has photos of four of the eighteen objects that were reported missing from the Cairo Museum as a result of the break-in just over two weeks ago.

Sandstone head of an Amarna princess (Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic).

Last week, Claude Mariottini drew our attention to other National Geographic photos of damaged artifacts in the Cairo Museum.

CORRECTION: There are eighteen, not eight, objects which were reported missing. There were eight items listed, but one of the items was actually consisted of eleven shabti statuettes.

Tagged Egypt