(Post by A.D. Riddle)

The answer to yesterday’s challenge is Nabi Yoûnis (or Nebi, Neby, Yunus, Younes, Yunas—there are a variety of English spellings. I will use the spelling “approved” by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names). It was answered correctly and quickly in the comments, so maybe next time, we should leave out the Google Earth view. The name Nabi Yoûnis is Arabic for Prophet Jonah, and the site commemorates the location where the great fish spit Jonah out onto dry land. It is located in Google Earth at 33.660894°, 35.418515°.

At 8:10 am on Tuesday, June 26, 1838, Edward Robinson passed by Khan Nabi Yoûnis on his way from Sidon to Beirut. He mentions that nearby was “Wely Neby Yunas, with a white dome, marking the place where, according to the Muhammedan legend, the prophet Jonas was thrown up by the fish” (Biblical Researches 3: 430-431). A nearly identically-worded description is found in Picturesque Palestine 3: 40. 

Drawing of Nabi Yoûnis from Picturesque Palestine, vol. 3.

Today, the Muslim shrine described by Robinson is surrounded by the Shiite village named Nabi Yoûnis and bears little resemblance to the drawing above. Also, the dome is now green.

Modern Nabi Yoûnis. 

The Muslim shrine occupies the site of an earlier Byzantine church which was apparently destroyed by earthquake. Some remains from this church can be seen in reuse inside the shrine. During the Mamluk period, the structure was rebuilt and converted into a Muslim shrine.

Nabi Yoûnis, Corinthian capital from Byzantine church reused in modern Muslim shrine.

I have no way for evaluating whether or not this tradition is historically accurate, that Nabi Yoûnis is the place where Jonah was spit out. It is interesting to note that according to 2 Kings 14:25, a prophet named Jonah son of Amittai lived during Jeroboam II’s reign. This verse explains that Jonah announced large territorial gains for the kingdom of Israel in the time of Jeroboam II. For a brief moment in history, the boundary of the kingdom extended north to Lebo-Hamath, identified with modern Labwe in Lebanon. The Aramean kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath were also subjected to Israel. Nothing is said concerning the Phoenician coastal cities, so I do not know if Nabi Yoûnis would have been under some kind of Israelite control or not at this time as well.

Further note: a small side room in the Nabi Yoûnis shrine supposedly houses the tomb of Jonah. As with Noah, there are apparently multiple sites that are believed to be Jonah’s burial place. Another such tomb of Jonah is located in el-Meshhad, Israel, the site identified with Jonah’s hometown, Gath-hepher (see Picturesque Palestine 2: 61, illustration on 56).

References

Harb, Antoine Khoury.
2008     The Roots of Christianity in Lebanon. Beirut: Lebanese Heritage Foundation.

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(Post by A.D. Riddle)

“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).

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(Guest post by A.D. Riddle)

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.

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 outdated antiquities law which established the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) “as the sole authority” limits the DGA’s staff “to five archaeologists, five trainee archaeologists, and five architects in charge of regular and salvage excavations, restoration and conservation of historical and archaeological monuments, and the curatorship of the national and regional museums collections!” Following the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Lebanese government set out to rebuild Beirut’s Central District. The DGA was then faced with the task of not only rebuilding the National Museum, but also “supervising the largest urban excavation site in the world with practically no qualified personnel, no funds, and no political support.” Since 2000, “the DGA has become extremely restrictive regarding long term excavation projects” and is “reluctant to issue permits to foreign institutions.” Numerous salvage excavations go unpublished and the excavated remains are “regularly bulldozed or disfigured by irresponsible urban planning without any objections.”
Sader concludes:

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.

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(Post by A.D. Riddle)

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:

Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA
June 15 – Nov 4, 2013
The Museum of Fine Arts
Houston, TX
Dec 22, 2013 – Mar 9, 2014
Asian Art Museum
San Francisco, CA
Oct 17, 2014 – Jan 18, 2015
Previous posts about the exhibition can be found here and here
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(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

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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.

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