Analysis of soil from Herod’s palace garden in Jericho reveals that he raised “lush bonsai versions of pines, cypresses, cedars, olives and other trees.”
There is more here about the police bust of a major antiquities ring in central Israel.
Israel21c runs an interesting piece on the value and conservation of ancient mosaics in Israel.
With the mines removed, worshipers were able to celebrate Epiphany near the Jordan River for the first time in more than 50 years.
Roger D. Isaacs adds to the lists of top 10 Bible discoveries of 2020.
Because of travel restrictions, Jerusalem University College is offering for the first time ever its full slate of classes online, including courses on physical settings, cultural background, parables of Jesus, and history of the Second Temple period.
New: Heart of the Holy Land: 40 Reflections on Scripture and Place, by Paul H. Wright (and on Kindle)
New: Encountering Jesus in the Real World of the Gospels, by Cyndi Parker
New: Archaeology and Ancient Israelite Religion, edited by Avraham Faust. Hardback for purchase or free pdf. Individual essays are available here.
The Israel Film Archive has some short film clips of historic interest. They are in Hebrew, but visually interesting even if you don’t know Hebrew.
- Antiquities in Jericho, the Dead Sea, and Jerusalem, 1967
- Opening of the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, 1965
- Letters From Bar Kokhba Revolt are Found During Excavation in Judean Desert (with Yigael Yadin), 1960
- Opening of the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition in the Hebrew University, 1955
- Jerusalem Reunified at the End of Six-Day War, 1967 (9 min – very good)
HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, A.D. Riddle, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Alexander Schick
