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The William G. Dever Archaeological Fellowship for Biblical Scholars is a travel-study award for “a qualified American untenured faculty member in the field of biblical studies who wants to acquire elementary, first-hand experience in field archaeology and research in Israel.”
Wayne Stiles explains how Kadesh Barnea helps us to know God’s will.
Jerusalem’s recent snowfall: SourceFlix shares some beautiful aerial footage.
Swedish archaeologists have found near Cairo a 2,500-year-old relief depicting two pharaonic deities.
And Czech archaeologists find tomb of previously unknown pharaonic queen Khentakawess.
The original volumes of the Tell en-Nasbeh (biblical Mizpah) excavation reports are now available online for the first time. The Bade Museum website includes a couple of other downloads that may be of interest.
And now published by Gorgias Press: “As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah …”: The Tell en-Nasbeh Excavations after 85 Years, edited by Jeffrey R. Zorn & Aaron J. Brody.
The Yale Babylonian Collection now has its own website.
The open access, electronic companion to Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 3/2 (Eisenbrauns, 2014) is now online.
The authenticity of two Baruch son of Neriah bullae is rejected in a new article by Yuval Goren and
Eran Arie in BASOR vol. 372 (December 2014), pp. 147-158. (Abstract and article on JStor. And there’s free access to the entire issue via the BASOR website.)
“Patterns of Evidence: Exodus,” claims to solve the problem of lack of evidence, but it appears to do so by a major chronological revision. As far as I’m concerned, a movie showing on only one night (Jan 19, 7pm) in selected theaters doesn’t deserve much attention.
A full-scale sailing replica of the Ma‘agan Michael is now under construction. The original ship wrecked near Dor in 400 BC and was discovered in 1985.
Both portions of P46 have now been digitized and are available online.
Kevin Shillington has begun a series on Charles Warren on the Palestine Exploration Fund Blog.
Coming soon: Discovery House Bible Atlas, by John Beck.
HT: Ted Weis, Agade, BibleX
Tell en-Nasbeh, biblical Mizpah, in 1966
Photo by David Bivin
Photo by David Bivin
- Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Forgery, Movies, Resources, Samaria, Tourism, Travels, Weekend Roundup
Leen Ritmeyer explains why the Western Wall of the Temple Mount was not destroyed by an earthquake, and he follows up a reader’s question to prove it with photos.
Snow fell in Israel this week. Arutz-7 has photos.
The story going around this week on the location of Jesus’ trial being excavated is not new. We’ve been posting on it here under the less sensational title of the Kishle excavations. We agree that this is the area of Herod’s palace, and that this is where Jesus’ trial occurred. George Athas explains further.
I’m on the Book and the Spade this week, talking with Gordon Govier about the top 10 biblical archaeology discoveries of 2014.
Many eastern Christians visited the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism on January 6.
New book: Biblical Lachish: A Tale of Construction, Destruction, Excavation and Restoration, by
David Ussishkin. I see a few mentions online with a 2014 date, but it’s not clear if the English edition is actually available. (I’ll have to remove Lachish from my pending post on “Whatever Happened to
Popular Books on Archaeological Excavations?”) UPDATE: BAS has the book in stock.
The Bible and Interpretation features an excerpt from Eric H. Cline’s book, 1177 BC: The Year
Civilization Collapsed, explaining the power vacuum that allowed Israelite and Philistine settlement.
Tourism to Israel dropped after the summer events.
Turkey has nominated Ephesus for the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Scott Stripling summarizes the recent winter excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir (biblical Ai?).
Wayne Stiles is hosting an informal gathering on What It’s Like to Travel to Israel next weekend.
ASOR has listed its Top 10 Blog Posts of 2014.
Walking with Paul, a Lands of the Bible wall calendar, is now available for 50% off. Several of our photos are featured.
Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates at Ephesus
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
- Tagged Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Holidays, Jerusalem, Resources, Samaria, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weather
James Hoffmeier is lecturing in Chicago tomorrow on “The Design and Origin of the New Kingdom East Frontier Defense System.” The American Research Center in Egypt is sponsoring the lecture on Saturday, January 10, at 5:00 p.m. at the Oriental Institute (1155 E 58th St, Chicago, IL 60637), LaSalle Banks Room, Lower Level.
The center’s website includes information about the speaker along with this description of the lecture:
Archaeological and geological work in north Sinai over the past 15 years have resulted in providing sufficient data to reveal the design of and the rationale for Egypt’s east frontier defense system. Excavations at Tell Hebua I and II and nearby Tell el-Borg have provided valuable archaeological information. The former sites remain under investigation, while I direct the exploration of Tell el-Borg between 1999 and 2008. Paleo-environmental investigations of the area revealed new geographical features that when combined with the new archaeological data provide the basis for understanding the route of the Ways of Horus, the Egyptian military road to Canaan. This paper will include a report on the final season of excavations at Tell el-Borg, which yielded unexpected results, the remains of a third New Kingdom defense structure. With this new feature in hand, the picture of the design of the frontier defense system was fully realized. The lecture will seek to identify the origin for design of northeastern frontier.
- Tagged Egypt, Exodus-Conquest, Lectures
The Lanier Theological Library is inviting scholars and patrons to a free seminar on Historical and Archaeological Evidence for the Jewish Diaspora after 722 BC. The seminar will be held on Friday, January 16, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., in our chapel, located at 14130 Hargrave Road, Houston, TX 77070.
This seminar precedes and ties in well with the library’s lecture on the next day by Rabbi Benjamin Scolnic, “The Book of Daniel and the Nature of Biblical Truth.” Registration for the Saturday evening lecture is separate from this seminar.
This 3-hour session on Friday will feature the six presenters and presentations below.
K. Lawson Younger (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) “Israelites and Judahites in Assyria and Babylon in Cuneiform Sources“
James K. Hoffmeier (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) “Judeans in Egypt after the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.“
Richard Hawes (Archaeology Forum, Tyndale House Cambridge) “Did Edom Annex Parts of Southern Judah Following the Fall of Jerusalem in 567/8 B.C.“
Benjamin Scolnic (Southern Connecticut State University) “The Book of Daniel and Modern Theories about the Persecution that led to the Story of Hanukkah“
Gary A. Rendsburg (Rutgers University) “Septuagint, Synagogue, and Symbiosis: The Jews of Hellenistic Egypt“
Thomas W. Davis (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) “Jews in Cyprus in Hellenistic Times“
We invite you to attend this seminar as an opportunity to expand your knowledge, contribute to the discussion, connect with other attendees and explore this library. You are welcome to extend this invitation to pastors, graduate students, or other people you think would be interested. Seating is limited, so please register for this event by JANUARY 14, 2015.
To register for this free seminar, go here.
Registration for the Jan. 17 lecture at 7 p.m. is still open here.
HT: Agade
- Tagged Lectures
The Israel Exploration Journal is published twice annually. Several of the articles from the latest issue (64/2) may be of interest to readers here. Access to the full articles requires a subscription (print or electronic, via JStor).
EILAT MAZAR, YUVAL GOREN, WAYNE HOROWITZ and TAKAYOSHI
OSHIMA: Jerusalem 2: A Fragment of a Cuneiform Tablet from the Ophel Excavations
Abstract: A tiny fragment of a cuneiform tablet was recovered in the Ophel excavations in Jerusalem in 2013. Even smaller than the fragment recovered in the 2009–2010 excavations (published in IEJ 60 in 2010), the fragment preserves only parts of five signs. Nevertheless, on the basis of the provenance study and an analysis of the physical tablet and sign forms, we are able to suggest a Ramesside date for the tablet and propose that this fragment, like the earlier tablet, comes from a royal letter.
MICHAEL D. PRESS: The Chronology of Philistine Figurines
ITZHAQ SHAI and JOE UZIEL: Addressing Survey Methodology in the Southern Levant: Applying Different Methods for the Survey of Tel Burna, Israel
Abstract: Surveying in the southern Levant has until recently been limited to basic methods of surface artefact collection. While recent regional studies have begun to integrate other methods, surveys conducted on individual sites—particularly multiperiod settlements (tels)—remain outdated.
The following study presents the results of two different survey methods applied at the site of Tel Burna, Israel—surface artefact collection and test-pit surveying—and conducts a three-way comparison between the two survey methods and the excavation results, in an effort to promote survey methodology in the region and to determine the best way for surveying such sites. This will help to reduce the expense and damage caused by excavation, while providing further information on the sites, not obtainable through excavation.
ERIC MITCHELL, R. ADAM DODD and S. CAMERON COYLE: More ‘Boundary of Gezer’
Inscriptions: One New and Another Rediscovered
Abstract: The article discusses two Boundary of Gezer inscriptions found in 2012. One inscription,
classified as no. 4, had previously been discovered by Clermont-Ganneau but was never fully published, and had not been seen in the field since his time. The other is a newly discovered thirteenth Gezer boundary inscription; the tenth one with both גזר תחמ and ΑΛΚΙΟΥ. In an appendix, the authors also attempt to sort out the disjointed nature of the discovery, publication and attribution of the Boundary of Gezer inscriptions over time.
MORDECHAI AVIAM and DINA SHALEM: A Decorated Fragment of a Tyrian Lead Coffin from a Cemetery at Akhziv
MOSHE FISCHER and ITAMAR TAXEL: Yavneh-Yam in the Byzantine—Early Islamic Transition: The Archaeological Remains and Their Socio-Political Implications
The full table of contents with abstracts is available on the website of the Israel Exploration Society.
For previous issues, see here.
- Tagged Jerusalem, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah
