Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Claim: Evidence Discovered of the Tabernacle at Shiloh

Archaeologists who have been excavating for several years at the biblical site of Shiloh are now claiming to have discovered evidence for the location of the tabernacle. From Israel HaYom:

Archaeologists discover holes carved into the ground in Shiloh which could have held the beams of The Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting, which, according to the Bible, housed the Ark of the Covenant.
The Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting — which, according to the Bible, housed the Ark of the Covenant — was a temporary structure made of wooden beams and fabric, not materials cut out for thousands of years of survival.
Nevertheless, undaunted, archaeologists have searched for evidence of the Tent of Meeting for years, which they posited would be found in ancient Shiloh (next to the settlement of Shiloh in the Binyamin region). Now it appears their efforts have borne fruit, yielding assumptions that the Tent of Meeting indeed stood there.
The findings, which will be presented at a conference of the Shiloh Association scheduled to take place this week in ancient Shiloh, include the discovery of holes carved into the ground which could have held the beams of a temporary structure.
Because the Tent of Meeting and Ark of the Covenant were portable, archaeologists are considering the possibility that the Tent of Meeting stood there. The Tent of Meeting served as a place of prayer and sacrifice until the First Temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon.
Near the holes, in the northern part of Tel Shiloh, structures were unearthed that correspond to the dates when Joshua first settled the land of Israel until the period of King David’s reign.
One of these structures was found to contain ceramic vessels as well as three large taboon clay ovens.

The article explains why archaeologists believe these vessels were used in the tabernacle. Thee excavators also found a section of the city wall of Shiloh. Arutz-7 also reports on the discovery.

Background and photos of the site of Shiloh are here, and images of a tabernacle replica in southern Israel are here.

Area of tabernacle discovery before excavations.
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 2.

Tagged Discoveries, Samaria

Hiding in Jerusalem: New Evidence for Roman Siege

Evidence of the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 has been found in excavations near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. From the Jerusalem Post:

The Antiquities Authority on Thursday unearthed for the first time a small 2,000-year-old cistern near the Western Wall that connects an archeological find with the famine that occurred during the Roman siege of Jerusalem during that era.
The cistern – found near Robinson’s Arch in a drainage channel from the Shiloah Pool in the City of David – contained three intact cooking pots and a small ceramic oil lamp.
According to Eli Shukron, the excavations director for the Antiquities Authority, the discovery is unprecedented.
“The complete cooking pots and ceramic oil lamp indicate that the people went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots, without anyone seeing them,” he said. “This is consistent with the account provided by Josephus.”

The Jerusalem Post story continues with Josephus’ description of the last desperate days of the Roman siege.

The story is also reported by Arutz-7, and the Israel Antiquities Authority press release includes high-res photos (direct link). A 3-minute video shows the discovery with audio in Hebrew.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Photographs by Vladimir Naykhin/Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem

Visit Ancient Sites with an Augmented Reality App

Architip is a new app that uses augmented reality (AR) technology to help users see what ancient sites in Israel used to look like. From The Times of Israel:

Augmented reality is a technology that uses mathematics, models, location services, camera technology, and advanced algorithms to impose a virtual image that melds into a real-life one. “For example, you might look at an ancient mosaic on the floor of a synagogue or church, and barely see the decorations on it because of the fading,” said Yaron Benvenisti, CEO of Architip, which is located in Jerusalem and has been operating for about six months. “With Architip, you would see the mosaic in full color, with all its drawings intact.”
Because each site needs to be mapped and augmented separately, Architip is being marketed as a “white label” engine, which will be used at specific sites. As a pilot, the Architip R&D team, led by Israeli AR and computer vision pioneer Sagiv Philipp, has mapped and “virtualized” the Tel Lachish archaeological site in central Israel. Tel Lachish was a fortified city surrounded by towers, and had many stately buildings, but looking at the site today, it’s hard to visualize the city as it was. With Architip, users can see the site in all its ancient glory just by holding up their smartphone’s camera at the location and looking at the screen.
“With Architip, you can see Tel Lachish as it was,” Benvenisti said, “walking through its streets and seeing the reconstruction through your device.” All a user has to do is point their device at a specific point, and Archtip’s technology does the rest.

The full article, including an illustration, is here. The company website includes a video demo that shows other features. I think that Lachish may be an ideal first choice if you’re just testing things out, but they’re going to have to choose more popular sites if they want more than a handful of users.

HT: Stephen Smuts

Tagged Shephelah, Technology

Weekend Roundup

The LMLK Blogspot has posted a video tour of the new “Motherland of Religions: The Eastern Mediterranean in Late Prehistory” exhibit at El Camino College, including displays of artifacts from Hebron and Khirbet el-Qom.

Wayne Stiles explains how the ordinary becomes extraordinary in the Valley of Elah.

In a recent Israel Roundup, Shmuel Browns looks at the Rockefeller Museum, the BBC, and the Jerusalem Botanic Garden.

Haaretz is doing its best to embarrass the left-wing Tel Aviv University by showing its indirect connections to the right-wing Elad in its excavations in the City of David. (And unlike most of their articles, they’ve made this one free for maximum exposure.)

Shimon Gibson reviews Eilat Mazar’s The Walls of the Temple Mount in a BAR article now online.

We don’t plan to write much on this blog for the next couple of weeks, but we’ll try to catch up on the most important stories when we do.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

The eleventh season at Khirbet el-Maqatir has concluded with word of a spectacular find that cannot yet be revealed. The team excavated several Roman-period silos, a first-century ritual bath, and an Iron Age house. The season at Tel Burna is coming along nicely. The First Week Wrap-up provides an overview of the known stratigraphic sequence of the site. The report for days 6-7 include a photo of a large monolith and a beautiful Iron IIB pavement. John Black shows how archaeological work in Jerusalem has undermined historical criticism of the Gospel of John. A Picasso drawing is being raffled to raise money to preserve the archaeological remains of Tyre. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo was recently closed to tourists by striking employees. Leon Mauldin illustrates Jeremiah’s message of the cursed man who will be like a “shrub in the desert.” He follows that up with a photo of a “land of salt.” Barry Britnell shows with photos why the Cilician Gates are important for Paul’s journeys. Douglas Petrovich provides a summary of his recent article that serves as a “John the Baptist” role for his forthcoming book, Evidence of Israelites in Egypt from Joseph’s Time until the Exodus. Southern pool of Bethesda
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Museums, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey

Possible Discovery of Dalmanutha

Ken Dark recently lectured at the University of Edinburgh on the archaeology of Nazareth and the Plain of Gennesaret (Ginosar). Summaries of these lectures are available online.

While I find highly dubious his suggestion that there was “no road between Nazareth and Sepphoris”—what sort of physical evidence would you expect to find for a road from an agricultural village of a few hundred people?—I am very interested in his claim to have discovered a “very large, but previously-unrecognised, Late Hellenistic, Roman-period, and later, settlement” between Magdala and Kibbutz Ginosar. He suggests that the site may be the Dalmanutha of Mark 8:10.

“About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.” (Mark 8:9–11)

Because the parallel account in Matthew 15:38–16:1 has “vicinity of Magadan,” some scholars believe that Dalmanutha was another name for Magadan/Magdala. Mendel Nun has proposed that Dalmanutha be identified with a small anchorage north of Magdala (Anchor Bible Dictionary 2:4). Dalmanutha may not be a proper name but simply the Aramaic word for harbor.

You can read the lecture summaries and see the bibliographic details at the blog of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins.

HT: Charles Savelle

Plain of Gennesaret from Arbel, tb032507715

Plain of Gennesaret (Ginosar) from Arbel. Is this the region of Dalmanutha?
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee