Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Israel’s New Archaeology Campus

Now under construction, Israel’s new archaeology center is profiled in the Architectural Record.

We’ve mentioned this project before, but today’s story includes some new information, such as the design of the complex (like a layered tell) and its open access to the public.

In Jerusalem, the capital of a modern country enthralled by its past, a unique national archaeology campus is being built. The project—commissioned by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and officially named The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel—combines three major components: storage of the national archaeological treasures (some two million items); restoration labs for objects made of various materials, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, mosaics, and glass, textile, and clay finds; and a national archaeology library and archive.
[…]
The guiding principle in the design of the new complex, which Safdie proposed during the competition phase, was that the project be a metaphor for an archaeological excavation. The floors will be numbered from the top down, like the numbering of strata in an excavation. And some mosaic preservation work will take place in the courtyards, which will be shaded by a canopy much like the tent-like canopies used in actual digs. The most striking design feature is this giant, square, concave canopy, held in place by cables and made of a brown, woven fiberglass-and-polymer fabric that allows 40 percent light transmission while keeping rain out. “Because of the shape, [water] drains toward the center, forming a kind of fountain into a pool,” Safdie said.
[…]
The new campus “is not a museum,” although there will be displays of finds from recent excavations before they are shown permanently elsewhere. Most important, it will give people a chance to see the process of archaeology and have “a glimpse of the accumulation by allowing [them] into the vaults and to see 1,000 mosaics, 10,000 pots,” Safdie said. “It will have more meaning, that you can [come here] and then see … displays in the other museums.”

Read it all here.

Since most tourists to Israel don’t even make it to the Israel Museum (sadly!), it is unlikely that this specialized archaeological complex will be added to tourist itineraries. But repeat visitors and those fascinated by archaeology will surely want to make time for it. The center is scheduled to open in April 2016.

The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel
Image courtesy Safdie Architects and the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

Wayne Stiles recommends 3 Sites To See Along the Mediterranean and 3 High Points to Visit in the Golan. As always, he has lots of photos.

Lois Tverberg has a new e-book out: 5 Hebrew Words That Every Christian Should Know. Only $3.99 and a free sample is available.

After Israel, the next country Bible students should visit is Turkey. Why? Ferrell Jenkins explains.

Tom Powers provides the history of “the bridge that never was.” His post includes illustrations of Robinson’s arch and inaccurate reconstructions.

The Bible and Interpretation features a well-illustrated summary of crucifixion in the ancient Mediterranean world based on a recent monograph by John Granger Cook.

This article explains why museums hate ancient coins.

The “endless archaeological park” also known as Greece is now on Google Street View after overcoming five years of government resistance.

Bible History Daily has a new post on Map Quests: Geography, Digital Humanities and the Ancient World.

Satellite imagery is helping officials monitor looting of sites in Egypt. The New York Times reports on other actions the Egyptian government is taking against antiquities theft.

Work continues in the effort to establish an archaeology park at Carchemish.

For more, see the ASOR Archaeology Weekly Roundup.

HT: Explorator, Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Temple of Artemis in Termessos, Turkey
Photo from Western Turkey

Tagged Egypt, Golan, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Technology, Tourism, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Leon Mauldin has photos of a restored pagan temple at Laodicea.

Luke Chandler: Canaan was not a big desert. (Someone tell the media!)

Where is the ark of the covenant? This article surveys some of the most popular views in history.

And now Ferrell Jenkins has seen Jerusalem in IMAX. Read his review here.

Leen Ritmeyer has a brief note on his recent work at Khirbet el-Maqatir, concluding that the first-century village was actually a walled city.

The Associates for Biblical Research have just released a new booklet entitled Khirbet el-Maqatir: History of a Biblical Site.

BibleX reports that all of SBL’s Ancient Near Eastern Monographs are now available as free pdfs.

A museum for the History of Medicine in the Holy Land has opened in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Hershel Shanks ponders a remaining mystery about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

We’ll have more stories in part 3 of the roundup tomorrow.

The “desert of Canaan”
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

SourceFlix has just released a great new film short on “The Potter.” The 3-minute video features a craftsman in Hebron.

Recent excavations in Hebron are briefly described in the Jewish Press.

Might el-Araj be the real Bethsaida? A five-day “shovel survey” this week suggests that it might be.

An intact burial chamber was discovered in Aswan, Egypt, with nine mummies. Luxor Times has photos.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is looking to boost budget tourism by providing grants for the construction of hostels in Jerusalem and around the country.

The note that Pope Francis placed in a crack of the Western Wall had the text of the Lord’s Prayer written in Spanish.

“The Western Wall Heritage Foundation unveiled on Sunday a fully excavated grand hall from the 14th century in the Western Wall Tunnels that took 10 years to restore.” (JPost) An older video shows the hall under renovation. (HT: Joseph Lauer)

Jerusalem has been chosen as the “Islamic Tourism Capital” for 2016.

Is a mosque being constructed in the Golden Gate? The Israel Antiquities Authority says no.

Exploring Bible Lands is leading a tour of Israel and just finished a visit to Northern Galilee.

What language did Jesus speak? The dispute between the pope and the prime minister has scholars weighing in.

I’m on the Book and the Spade this week, talking with Gordon Govier about Magdala and a Jerusalem inscription (direct link here). I missed noting last week’s broadcast on the latest developments in the City of David. Details on The Book & The Spade 2015 Archaeological Adventure Study Tour are now available.

The Golden Gate of the Temple Mount
Photo from Jerusalem

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Temple Mount, Tourism

The Temple Mount Sifting Project and Its Detractors

The Temple Mount Sifting Project is profiled at length by Ilan Ben Zion in The Times of Israel. If you’ve been following the work for the last decade, much of the report will sound familiar. But Ben Zion provides some detractors with the opportunity to showcase their ignorance.

Israel Finkelstein: “the debris could also have been brought from other locations” besides the Temple Mount.

Marwan Abu-Khalaf: whatever was in that soil may have come from the surrounding Kidron Valley.

Yonathan Mizrachi: the sifting project “doesn’t have any archaeological value.”

First, they tried to prevent archaeologists from studying the material illegally removed from the
Temple Mount. When that failed, they try to deny it has any significance. Unfortunately, news reports like this one allow them to say whatever they want, without any evidence whatsoever.

Ben Zion describes some of the discoveries made since the project began in 2004.

Most of the tens of thousands of items found in the pans by volunteers are small — an abundance of coins, innumerable fragments of clay, figurines, brightly colored mosaic tiles and beads, arrowheads, inscribed stones and bits of bone. In explaining the trove of tiny artifacts found, Barkay made regular reference to biblical and post-biblical characters in corresponding the items to time periods: clay figurines smashed during the time of the just kings of Judah, seal impressions with the names of priests mentioned in the book of Jeremiah and coins minted during the rein of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who fought the Maccabees. The relics catalog the history of Jerusalem from antiquity through the modern era.

The full story, with many photos, is published here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

UPDATE (6/12): The director of the sifting project has responded.

Gold mosaic pieces from the Dome of the Rock
Photo courtesy of The Temple Mount Sifting Project

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Crusader-Era Monastery Seal Discovered in Jerusalem

From the Jerusalem Post:

The Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday that it unearthed a rare 800-year-old lead seal from the Monastery of St. Sabas in Jerusalem.
[…]
The seal shows a bearded bust of a saint wearing a himation, while holding a cross in his right hand and the Gospel in his left. Surrounding it is a Greek inscription naming him “Saint Sabas.”
On the back of the seal there is a longer Greek inscription, reading: “This is the seal of the Laura of the Holy Sabas.”

Photo by Clara Amit, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority

During the summer of 2012, the Antiquities Authority conducted two archaeological salvage excavations at the Horbat Mizmil antiquities site in Bayit Vagan, which revealed the remains of a farmstead constructed during the Byzantine period (5th-6th centuries CE).
The archeologists said the excavated farmstead may refer to a farming settlement sold to the monastery in 1163–1164.
[…]
St. Sabas, or according to his Syriac name, “Mar Saba,” was one of the most important and influential leaders of the Christian monastic movement developing in the Judean Desert during the Byzantine period.
Sabas established several monasteries, but his crowning achievement was the construction of the Monastery of St. Sabas, referred to as the “Great Laura” in the Byzantine period.
The monastery, situated on a cliff overlooking Nahal Kidron, was home to several hundred monks.
“This is the only monastery in the Judean Desert continuously inhabited since its foundation, and even today there are circa 10 Greek monks who reside in the monastery belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church,” the Antiquities Authority said.

The full story is here. The IAA press release is here.

HT: Bill Soper

Mar Saba monastery
Image from Picturesque Palestine, volume 1

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Judah