“The LORD commanded the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon dry land” (Jonah 2:11, JPS).
Can anyone name the place where, in church tradition, Jonah was vomited back onto land? Here is a Google Earth view to get the ball rolling.
Post your answers in the comments below, and tomorrow we will post a follow-up with photo. I think it is safe to allow research for this one. Please give some indication of your source(s).
Unlike its neighbor to the south, Lebanon has only a handful of excavations currently in progress and there is no systematic archaeological survey of the entire country presently available. Sadly, archaeological work is only being carried out at a total of five (or so) sites: Sidon, Tell Arqa, Tell el-Burak (link 2, link 3), Baalbek, and Kamid el-Loz.
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| Tell Arqa in northern Lebanon. |
Naturally, one would think that the paucity of archaeological work (and tourism, for that matter) is due to present security conditions. But that is only part of the story. Hélène Sader, a historian and archaeologist at the American University in Beirut, has written a piece for the ASOR blog entitled, “Archaeology in Lebanon Today: Its Politics and Its Problems,” in which she paints a fairly bleak portrait of the current situation.
The DGA has been without leadership for the last four years. The last Director General resigned three years ago and the appointment of a new one is still blocked by political rivalries. The failure to build a new generation of professional and well-trained archaeologists is so dramatic that it is very hard today to find even a small pool of competent candidates for the position of Director General from within or outside the department of antiquities. Several DGA archaeologists and architects have lately resigned out of frustration and it seems that the institution is back to square one: no director general, insufficient numbers of qualified professionals, no reforms of the laws regulating archaeological work, no funds, and first and foremost, no vision and no direction for the future of archaeology in Lebanon.
We keep our fingers crossed that the future leadership of the DGA will have the political and financial support of the Lebanese government to build a modern institution and to promote archaeological research. Maybe then, like a phoenix, Lebanese Archaeology will rise from its ashes.
Aryn Baker wrote a piece for Time Magazine entitled “Saudi Arabia to Tourists: We Are Just Not That Into You” in which she describes how Saudi Arabia has put out a “do not disturb” sign for foreign tourists. Thus, it would seem, there are few opportunities for people to gain access to the archaeological finds from this country. That is what makes the “Roads of Arabia” exhibition so significant. “Roads of Arabia” showed in several European museums before coming to the United States. The exhibition just finished up at the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and is now headed to Pittsburgh. The exhibition has a website with hi-resolution photographs of exhibition highlights, including this pedestal or altar discovered at Tayma (biblical Tema [Job 6:19]).
Here is the schedule for upcoming shows of the exhibition:
(Post by A.D. Riddle)
These are all free and open to the public.
Wed, Feb 13, 2013, 7:00-8:30 pm
John Walton, “Origins Today: Genesis with Ancient Eyes” followed by responses from Richard Averbeck and Lawson Younger.
ATO Chapel, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.
Sat, March 2, 2013, 5:00 pm
Kathryn Bard, “Harbor of the Pharaohs to the Land of Punt: Excavations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 2001-2011.”
American Research Center in Egypt – Chicago Chapter.
LaSalle Bank Room, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
See website for more details.
Wed, Mar 6, 2013, 7:00–8:00 PM
T.J. Wilkinson, “Canals, Kings and Hydraulic Landscapes in the Ancient Near East: An Archaeological Perspective” followed by reception in the museum.
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Register at oimlwilkinson.eventbrite.com.
See website for more details.
Fri-Sat, Mar 15-16, 2013
University of Chicago Oriental Institute Symposium.
“Household Studies in Complex Societies: A (Micro) Archaeological and Text Combined Comparative Approach.”
The schedule for the symposium is given below. See website for more details.
Friday, March 15:
Opening Remarks, 9:00-9:30 AM
Session 1: Method and Theory, 9:30-11:10 AM
Adelheid Otto “How to Reconstruct Daily Life in a Near Eastern Settlement: Possibilities and Constraints of a Combined Archaeological, Historical, and Scientific Approach”
Kate Spence “Ancient Egyptian Houses: Architecture, Conceptualization and Interpretation”
Paolo Brusasco “Interaction between Textual Materials and Social Space in the Definition of Family Composition in Mesopotamia”
Session 2: Activity Area Analysis, 11:10-1:00 PM
Peter Pfälzner “Activity-area Analyses of Room and Grave Contexts in Third- and Second-millennium BC Syria”
Lynn Rainville “Everyday Life in an Assyrian City: Microarchaeological and Ethno-archaeological Approaches to the Study of Activity Areas”
Felix Arnold “Clean and Unclean Space in Houses on Elephantine”
Lisa Nevett “The Use and Abuse of Artifact Assemblages in Classical Greek Domestic Contexts”
Session 3: Social Stratification, 2:30-3:30 PM
Miriam Müller “An Ancient Egyptian Middle Class as Revealed in a Neighborhood of Tell el-Dabʿa/Avaris”
Heather Baker “Family Structure, Household Cycle, and the Social Use of Domestic Space in Urban Babylonia”
Session 4: Ethnicity and Identity 4:00-5:00 PM
Nicholas Picardo “Hybrid Households: Institutional Affiliations and Household Identity in the Town of Wah-sut (South Abydos)”
Aaron Brody “Living in Households, Constructing Identities: Ethnicity, Boundaries, and Empire in Iron IIB–IIC Tell en-Nasbeh”
Reception: 5:00-6:00 PM
Saturday, March 16
Session 5: Private and Political Economy, 9:00-10:00 AM
Jens-Arne Dickmann “Crucial Contexts: A Close Reading of the Household of the Casa del Menandro at Pompeii”
Kristin de Lucia “Micro-archaeology and the Identification of Household Multicrafting among Lakeshore Communities in Pre-Aztec Central Mexico”
Session 6: Urban-Rural and Core-Periphery Relations 10:00-10:40 AM
Peter Miglus “Private House or Temple: Decoding Patterns of the Old Babylonian Architecture”
Responses and Roundtable Discussion 11:00-1:00 PM
Here are two free lectures for those in the Chicago area. Apologies for such short notice.
American Research Center in Egypt – Chicago Chapter lecture.
Today, Feb. 2, Saturday at 5:00 pm.
Peter Brand, “All in the Family: The Royal Family of Ramesses II.”
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, LaSalle Bank Room.
Website for details.
Oriental Institute lecture.
Feb. 6, Wednesday at 7:00 pm.
Elizabeth Stone, “City and Hinterland in ancient Mesopotamia: An
examination of continuities and developments in the fabric of urban and
rural settlement from 5,000 B.C. until the time of Christ.”
Free Registration required here.
Website for details.
(Post by A.D. Riddle)
There have been a dozen or so online pieces in the last two days about the colossal statue found at Tel Tayinat this summer, but most of them repeat what can be found in the official news release (see the update added to the end of our first post).
A few new photos have appeared, and the Toronto Star describes the discovery of the statue by Darren Joblonkay, a student working on the dig this summer.
(photo by Jennifer Jackson)
(photo by Jennifer Jackson)
