The suggestion that el-Araj could be New Testament Bethsaida received lots of media attention, not all accurate. I’d recommend this report by Jeffrey Garcia and Steven Notley at the CSAJCO website.
An on-site interview with archaeologist Mordechai Aviam is posted at CBN’s Facebook page. The Today show sent a correspondent to the site. National Geographic sets some of the record straight. The Times of Israel looks at the two sites laying claim to the name of Bethsaida.
Jonathan Adler guides a video tour of a 2,000-year-old stone quarry that he excavated in Galilee. The Jerusalem Post provides a written report on the excavations.
The Abel Beth Maacah team shares a photo album from the 2017 season.
Nadav Na’aman argues that Khirbet Qeiyafa was not a Judahite city in a recent article in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.
Authorities are planning to stop the flow of sewage down the Kidron Valley.
The Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d) traces the path in which ISIS looted artifacts make their way out of the Middle East.
“Researchers have unearthed a 1,800-year-old writing tool, or stylus, at the Assos archeological site in northwestern Turkey.”
Excavations at Carchemish have uncovered 250 Hittite bullae this year.
Excavators at Tell Tayinat found fragments of a large female statue at the citadel gate complex.
Now online: Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities’ Newsletter for July 2017.
Wayne Stiles considers the strategic value of the International Highway (aka Via Maris).
Ferrell Jenkins shares a couple of beautiful photos of ibex at En Gedi and Ein Avdat.
Leon Mauldin explains the location and importance of Akeldama, the Field of Blood.
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is on the Book and the Spade discussing “Canaanite DNA” and her excavation work at Tel Halif.
We will be making a big announcement in the BiblePlaces Newsletter on Monday. You can sign up for a free subscription here.
HT: A.D. Riddle, Lois Tverberg, Chris McKinny, Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer
One thought on “Weekend Roundup”
Thanks for bringing the Naaman's JHS article to my attention. My initial thoughts are that the 3rd anachronism he discusses on pp. 9-10 suffers from the commonly used term "finger impression". As I emphasized in my 2014 NEAS lecture, it's likely these impressions were primarily made with a device as part of a cultic ritual (or even a bureaucratic governmental one). Naaman then contrasts these simple "finger" impressions with those of a tooled "royal seal impression", leading him to doubt a Judahite connection due to a "long gap of about 250 years." I would rebut with 2 points: 1) The government structure & location(s) at the time of Saul & David were markedly different from that at the time of Hezekiah & Josiah (the 2 candidates commonly linked to the aforementioned royal seals). 2) 2Kings 18:3 & 2Chronicles 30:5, 31:3-6 record a long gap between the times when David & Hezekiah ruled, & the inhabitants of the region tithed.