Norma Franklin asks, Why was Jezreel so important to the kingdom of Israel? Her claim that “there is no mention in the biblical narrative” of an Israelite palace is incorrect (1 Kings 21:1).
Another story on the excavations of Carchemish reports that the Japanese offered a million dollars for the opportunity to dig there.
The pigs in ancient Israel allegedly came from Europe.
Five historical monuments have been destroyed in Syria’s civil war. The photos show the damage.
How did ancient Greek music sound? The BBC reports on the research of Armand D’Angour.
How do you avoid losing what you learned on your trip to the Holy Land? Wayne Stiles suggests seven ways. My favorite is #4: Share with people what you have learned and experienced.
Leon Mauldin is doing a series on the cities of refuge. So far, he’s visited Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron.
All of the entries from Skyview’s 2013 Creative Shot Contest are online.
The Batchelder Conference of Biblical Archeology at the University of Nebraska is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday.
Haaretz profiles the Mormon campus on the Mount of Olives, with details about the campus architecture and the “Non-Proselyting Agreement.”
HT: Jack Sasson
2 thoughts on “Weekend Roundup”
Regarding the article on Jezreel – besides the problem you cite above, this seems to be a clear example of an archaeologist seeing their site as the epicenter of history. Jezreel is important, it may have had much more occupational history than was previously known – but this characterization is a bit far-fetched. You could make the exact same case for Dothan, Taanach, and Yokneam – and a much better case for Megiddo as a mustering point for armies (stables!).
Krak des Chevaliers has not been completely destroyed; most of its walls have not collapsed. The Umayyad mosque has been very heavily damaged, but it is not completely destroyed. Considering the rate of regime bombing of Krak des Chevaliers, I expect it to be destroyed by the end of the war. Palmyra has been damaged and looted, but is not destroyed; most of the site is intact. I have written a more comprehensive post on antiquities damage in Syria at
http://againstjebelallawz.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/a-few-words-on-syria-part-1/