The big story of the week is the discoveries made in excavations at Caesarea, including the altar of Herod’s temple, an inscribed menorah, and a statue of Asclepius. You can read the press release here or download high-res photos here. Haaretz has the best illustrated story. The Times of Israel emphasizes the discovery of an inscribed menorah. The Jerusalem Post focuses on the $27 million project. Art Daily provides another brief summary.This 3-minute video includes English subtitles.
A colossus of Ramses II has been re-erected in front of Luxor Temple’s first pylon.
Ten nations have created an “Ancient Civilizations Forum” to work together to protect ancient heritage from Islamic extremism.
Israeli police arrested a man in Hawara and confiscated hundreds of antiquities they discovered in his house.
A petition is now circulating to save the Yale Babylonian Collection.
A first-century AD bust of Drusus Minor will be returned to Italy by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Should Egypt sell some of its artifacts to raise money?
BBC: “Madain Saleh isn’t as well-known as Petra, but the Nabateans’ second-largest city played a
crucial role in their mysterious empire.”
Simon Gathercole looks at the historical evidence for Jesus’s life and death.
BAS has published online a web-exclusive chart of 53 biblical people who have been confirmed in inscriptions.
Wayne Stiles’s recent post on Mount Carmel includes photos of its beauty and its burning.
Leon Mauldin visited Bethphage yesterday.
What happened to the cross that Jesus died on?
Mark Hoffman suggests that you may want to download Google Earth before it’s gone.
The Corinth Excavations Archaeological Manual has been published and a pdf has been made available for free. The post includes a link to previously published archaeology manuals.
The four-volume Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity is available on
Logos at a pre-pub price of $51. I recommend it.
I’ll be traveling much of May and June, so I probably will not be able to do many roundups.
HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle
