Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Egypt has announced the discovery of an ancient village in the Nile Delta.

A 3-D topographical survey of the Lisht necropolis area in Egypt has been completed.

Archaeologists made some important discoveries in the port of the Greek island of Kythnos.

The fire at Brazil’s National Museum destroyed millions of items, including the entire collection of 700 Egyptian artifacts.

Biblical Archaeology Society has limited space remaining for its Bible History of the Nile tour in February.

Unlike many of the reviews of the Museum of the Bible in D.C., this one by Alex Joffe is intelligent and balanced.

Seetheholyland.net has compiled a list of more than 120 tour operators who offer pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Accordance is running a High Holy Days Sale that includes discounts on significant works from Carta, including The Quest, Echoes from the Past, and The Raging Torrent.

Appian Media has just released a sneak peek for their upcoming series, “Searching for a King.”

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

More than 1,000 Hellenistic-era seal impressions were recently discovered in excavations at Maresha.

Underwater archaeologists are searching the sea near Dor in advance of the construction of a gas pipeline.

US military veterans are participating in excavations at Beth Shearim in a program providing therapy for PTSD.

A plan to build a cable car to transport visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not making everyone happy.

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem now offers a virtual reality tour that visits nine vantage points in the Old City.

The IAA is opposed to plans by the Temple Mount Faithful to hold a concert in the excavations area south of the Temple Mount.

The 12th annual conference on “New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Vicinity” will be held next month. Aren Maeir has posted the program.

Joel Kramer has announced the dates of his next study tour in Israel.

Carl Rasmussen links to two videos from Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations of Jericho.

The Methuselah date palm tree is male, but six more ancient date seeds have been planted in hopes of raising a female for Methuselah to pollinate.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Seminar on United Kingdom at Lanier Theological Library

A little-advertised seminar is occurring next week in Houston, and if you’re able to get there, it should be quite worthwhile. The only thing I’ve found online about it is this registration site, but that should be the main thing you need if you want to secure a seat. The main facts are as follows:

The Lanier Theological Library presents a seminar on “Recent Evidence for Israel’s United Kingdom” on Friday, September 14th, 2:00-5:00 pm in the Stone Chapel.

2:00-2:25 Jane Cahill, “Jerusalem at the Time of the United Monarchy: The Known, the Unknown, and the Next Frontier”

2:25-2:50 Steven Ortiz, “The Westward Expansion of the United Monarchy in Light of Recent Excavations”

2:50-3:15 Chris McKinny, “Going for Gold . . . Bringing Home (mainly) Bronze: Jerusalem’s Role in the Arabah Copper Industry and the Biblical Account of Solomon”

3:30-3:55 Timothy Harrison, “Kingdoms of Idols: Israel’s Northern Neighbors and What They Reveal about the World of the Bible”

3:55-4:20 K. Lawson Younger Jr. “David’s Wars: What Can We Know about his Aramean Enemies?”

4:20-4:45 Gary Rendsburg, “The Book of Genesis as a Product of the United Monarchy”

4:45-5:00 Discussion

This looks very good, and if you haven’t been to the Lanier Library, that’s worth a visit even if no one is speaking. If they do as they’ve done in the past, we might expect that videos of these lectures will appear on their website.

Tagged Lectures

Weekend Roundup

Scholars are studying sites in the Jordan Valley to see if they are related to early Israelite settlement.

Zahi Hawass tells the story of the discovery of the Solar Boat of Khufu.

An 10-year-old boy hiking in Galilee discovered an ancient stone figure.

Aren Maeir has written an initial summary of this summer’s excavations of Gath. They found quite a bit related to Hazael’s destruction of the city.

Israel’s Good Name describes his excavation experience at Gath.

Gonzalo Rubio explains how eclipses were regarded as omens in the ancient world.

Yosef Garfinkel is lecturing on Khirbet Qeiyafa and Khirbet al-Ra’i on September 15 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston.

Jerusalem Perspective has posted a lecture by Ronny Reich on “The Mikveh and Ritual Immersion in Jesus’ Day.” Reich is the leading expert on ancient Jewish ritual baths.

The J. Paul Getty Museum has posted a catalog of 630 ancient lamps in their collections.

“Tomb of Christ: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre Experience” will open on November 15 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. The website includes a digital guide for the exhibition.

Biblical Israel Ministries & Tours has launched an updated website, including a list of their upcoming Israel tours.

The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible releases on Tuesday. This is a revision of the NIV Zondervan Study Bible, and one major improvement is the more-readable font. We contributed many of the photos, and I wrote the notes for 2 Kings. Westminster Bookstore has it on sale.

Accordance has many graphics collections for sale, including the American Colony Collection and Cultural Images of the Holy Land.

Wipf and Stock are offering 40% off their catalog with code LABOR40.

Now available in the US (from Biblical Archaeology Society):

Megiddo-Armageddon, by David Ussishkin
A Walk to Caesarea, by Joseph Patrich

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, A.D. Riddle, Alexander Schick, Paleojudica

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Philistines, Photo Resources, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A ceramic pomegranate was discovered at Shiloh this past summer. (The news release gives no indication of a date.)

Scientists are learning more about the three people buried in the 30-ton, black granite sarcophagus recently discovered in Alexandria. The presence of a woman indicates all were not soldiers, and a hole in a skull suggests trepanation. One researcher comments on the inscriptions.

An ancient DNA study is shedding light on the Chalcolithic culture in the Upper Galilee. More than 600 people were buried in the Peqi’in Cave.

The presence of a large number gazelle bones in a Galilean village suggests that Shikhin was a production center for parchment (Haaretz premium).

Archaeologists believe they have uncovered a “pleasure-garden” atop Masada.

“Can Caesarea become the acropolis of Israeli tourism?” Haaretz (premium) looks at the large-scale restoration project currently underway.

Plans continue to be made for an underwater museum in Iznik, Turkey.

The Bible Lands Museum is loaning a cuneiform tablet with the name “Benayahu son of Netanyahu” to the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Next month Harvard Art Museums opens a special exhibition, “Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings.”

Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology is hosting its annual conference, “News from the Trenches,” on October 18. There’s a schedule in Hebrew here; I haven’t found one online in English yet.

Robert Mullins will be lecturing on Abel Beth Maacah at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on Sept. 10 at 7 pm in Hinkson Hall. This is the inaugural lecture in the Claris Nystrom Lecture Series in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology.

“The land God chose was not arbitrary, for He designed even the land itself to develop the spiritual lives of His people.” Wayne Stiles explains what that means.

Is there any significance to the mention of Zaccheus climbing a sycamore-fig tree? Brad Gray shows how it recalls the prophecy of Amos in his latest Walking the Text video.

Megan Sauter shares her experience in creating date pastries from an ancient recipe from Mari.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Judah, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Samaria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A Roman-era cemetery with 32 tombs has been discovered near Hebron.

Archaeologists have discovered what is “probably the most ancient archaeological solid residue of cheese ever found” in the sands near Saqqara.

Erez Ben-Yosef and Aaron Greener explain the significance of Edom’s copper mines in Timna.

A couple of new studies identify the sources of ancient Egyptian copper.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities Newsletter for July 2018 includes the latest archaeological discoveries, repatriated antiquities, meetings, temporary exhibits, and increased fees.

“An antiquities museum in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib” has reopened after five years. The museum holds some of the Ebla tablets and was damaged in the war.

“The UCLA Library and Early Manuscripts Electronic Library have partnered with St. Catherine’s Monastery to digitize and publish online on an open access basis some 1,100 rare and unique Syriac and Arabic manuscripts dating from the fourth to the 17th centuries.”

Alexander Schick has written an extended article about the Temple Mount. If you don’t read German, there are many photos of interest.

Gabriel Barkay’s lecture, “Was Jesus Buried in the Garden Tomb?” from 2006 is now available online at Jerusalem Perspective.

The latest excursion of Israel’s Good Name takes him to Gath and the Museum of Philistine Culture in Ashdod.

The September/October issue of Biblical Archaeology Review features articles on Masada, Tel Shimron, and dating.

The Columbian has a touristy piece on Jaffa.

Candida Moss identifies the best ancient Christian sites in Egypt.

A number of streams in the Golan Heights that are popular with hikers have been closed due to contamination.

The oldest hippopotamus in captivity has died at the age of 59 at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.

The four volumes of the Tel Beth Shean excavation reports are now available for free in pdf format from Amihai Mazar’s academia website. He has also posted a chapter on Tel Rehov in the 10th-9th centuries.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Golan, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Museums, Philistines, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Tourism, Weekend Roundup