Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A three-year-old Israeli girl has found a scarab-shaped Canaanite amulet dating back some 3,800 years at the site of Tel Azeka near Bet Shemesh.”

The Times of Israel runs an illustrated story about the exhibition “Rescued Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History” that opened this week in Paris.

Western Wall authorities have carried out their semi-annual removal of prayer notes, and they have announced that due to high demand, the priestly blessing will be held twice during Passover this year.

New release: Reconfiguring the Land of Israel: A Rabbinic Project (Brill, 2024; $175; free download)

New release: The Victorians and the Holy Land: Adventurers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in the Lands of the Bible, by Allan Chapman (Eerdmans, $35)

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on May 14: “Rethinking the Early Christian Book in the Eastern Mediterranean,” by Timothy B. Sailors

The Local Reporter runs a short profile of Jodi Magness.

Ferrell Jenkins explains how we know that Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Discoveries, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists have discovered the tomb of an unknown Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the Second Intermediate Period.

“An Egyptian archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has discovered the tomb of a high-ranking military commander dating back to King Ramses III, along with a collection of mass and individual graves from the Greek, Roman, and Late Periods at Tell Roud Iskander in the Maskhouta area.”

A new study by Nicholas Brown of Yale University argues that clay trays found near the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun were used for libations in the Osirian funerary rite.

The presence of iron shackles at an Egyptian gold mine suggests that some of the workers in the Ptolemaic period were slaves.

A team using radar technology claims that they have discovered a vast underground city more than 6,500 feet beneath the Giza pyramids. Egyptian authorities deny this is true.

Joel Kramer (Expedition Bible) has posted a new video about the tomb of Amenhotep II, the possible pharaoh of the exodus.

The Antalya Archaeology Museum will be reconstructed on its current site, with its completion scheduled for the end of 2026.

The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum presents the history of the church and Istanbul, including artifacts never before displayed.

Jay Jean Jackson imagines what the ancient Greek pilgrimage along the Sacred Way to the temple of Apollo in Didyma would have been like.

The exhibition “Gobeklitepe: The Mystery of a Sacred Place” in Rome’s Colosseum has attracted 5 million visitors so far.

Archaeologists found four fragments of the Book of the Dead in the archives of a museum in Italy.

Smithsonian Magazine runs a feature story on Rome’s underground aqueducts.

The assassination of Julius Caesar was reenacted on location on the Ides of March.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Museums, New Exhibits, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Recent excavations of a pyramid-like structure south of Masada suggest that it was a Hellenistic fortress that was later reused as a monumental tomb.

Excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem have uncovered the presence of a garden in approximately the first century.

A monastery and farmhouse have been discovered and excavated at a site north of Beersheba. The underlying journal articles are published in ‘Atiqot.

“A 1,200-year-old clay jug painted in bright colors and ringed with camels and a mystery beast was unearthed by archaeologists at the Horvat Anim site in the Yatir Forest.” There are more photos here.

Aren Maeir visited Tel Ashdod to see the new excavations which will lead to a restoration of the six-chambered gate.

Scott Stripling explains what they have found in the favissa at Shiloh on Digging for Truth.

The IAA is not giving into the Western Wall Rabbi’s demand to return the 5-ton stone to its original location.

Zoom lecture on April 2: “Political Landscapes in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age,” by Andrea Titolo and Alessio Palmisano (Zoom link; recording will be available a few days later on YouTube)

Recently declassified CIA documents reveal that an experiment was conducted in 1988 to locate the ark of the covenant.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Negev, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Underwater archaeologists have discovered infrastructure of an ancient port at Asini in Greece.

Archaeologists have excavated a “grand ancient Greek tomb site” near Corinth.

“A recent study offers new insights into the pigments used by ancient Roman artists in Pompeii, revealing how they mixed raw materials to achieve a wide range of color tones.”

Persepolis’s ancient underground channels prevented flooding and destruction during a severe rainstorm.

Restoration work on Jerash’s northern theater continues.

Artnet highlights three interesting artifacts discovered in the tomb of Thutmose II.

Turkiye Today describes seven must-see cuneiform tablets in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.

The ASOR Punic Project Digital Initiative “will provide digital files of individual stelae that can be viewed on screen or 3D printed at any scale.”

New release: Against Moab: Interrogating the Archaeology of Iron Age Jordan, by Benjamin W. Porter. (Cambridge University Press, open access)

Hybrid lecture at Penn State on March 27, 5 pm (EDT): “In the Steps of a Babylonian King: A Scholar’s Adventures in Jordan and Lebanon,” by Rocío Da Riva (Zoom registration)

“After 1,700 years the first ancient Greek temple opened in Arcadia, Peloponnese over the weekend.” The Greek Church is not happy. The site manager defends the project: “There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and do not have a place to worship.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Museums, Persia, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists excavating Azekah found a new type of female figurine that comes expected forms with new elements.

Radiocarbon dates for the Huqoq synagogue place its construction in the late 4th or early 5th centuries AD, lending support to those who advocate a late date for Galilean-type synagogues.

Ruth Schuster has written a lengthy article for Haaretz (subscription) about various interpretations of the iconography on the Magdala Stone, including the proposal that it depicts God’s chariot in the temple.

Bible Mapper Atlas has published a new poster map of the tribal territory of Zebulun, and the accompanying article explains why the map extends Zebulun’s border to the sea.

The Torah.com has posted an eight-part series on the Amarna Letters, written by Alice Mandell.

David Jacobson and Nikos Kokkinos’s 2022 paper on Agrippa II’s royal triclinium in Jerusalem further strengthens the case against those who want to move the temple to the City of David. I’m told that a book is forthcoming with the conference papers, but this article is already available on Academia.

The Biblical Archaeology Society is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Publication Awards.

New release: Megiddo VII, the Shmunis Excavations of a Monumental Middle Bronze Tomb and its Environs, edited by M.J. Adams, M.D. Cradic and I. Finkelstein (Eisenbrauns, $125)

Hybrid lecture at the Albright on April 16: “‘Trowel Blazers’ in the Archaeology of the Levant & Near East during the Early 20th Century,” by Kathleen Nicoll

The recently announced discoveries in the City of David of the big grooves and standing stone are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Jerusalem Seminary is running a 10-day study tour in May entitled “Discovering Jesus in His Jewish Context.”

Bryan Windle summarizes the top ten archaeological discoveries related to Jeremiah in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Resources, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists working at Rome’s port city of Ostia discovered the oldest ritual bath (mikveh) known outside the land of Israel.

“A team of researchers identified and mapped a vast network of irrigation canals near Eridu, considered the oldest city in history.”

“Artificial intelligence has discovered ancient civilizations over 5,000 years old hidden beneath some of the world’s largest deserts, including one in the heart of the Dubai desert, without the use of a single shovel.”

The recently renovated Side Museum in southern Turkey has more than 3,000 artifacts and 9,000 coins on display.

“The 2,000-year-old lighthouse in the ancient city of Patara, built by Roman Emperor Nero in CE 64, is set to illuminate once again after centuries, as restoration efforts reach their final stages.”

The excavation director at Pisidian Antioch wants artifacts taken to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum in the early 20th century to be returned.

A German tourist was arrested when he tried to leave Greece with an ancient Greek marble column hidden in his car.

The Greek Reporter suggests the top 20 archaeological sites in the country.

A portion of the famous Torlonia Collection, locked away for most of the 20th century, will be displayed in North America for the first time, beginning with Chicago and then heading to Fort Worth and Montreal. The 58 sculptures in the exhibition largely date to the Roman Imperial Period.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Turkey, Weekend Roundup