Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The New York Times has a profile of the Carchemish excavations, including results from the first two
years. I particularly enjoyed Mr. Marchetti’s story of discovering an almost intact monolith lying on the surface on his first day on the site.

This Jerusalem Post article on Jesus and the Jordan River discusses both tourist sites on the northern and southern ends.

This Haaretz article on “Masada for runners” isn’t what I expected. (I wanted fastest times to the top; they tell you to run around the bottom.)

Google Street View now covers much of Israel, including “most of Israel’s large and medium sized towns, many villages in central Israel and the Galilee, and historical and tourist sites such as the Dead Sea, the coral reefs of Eilat, the Dead Sea, Megiddo, and many more.” It does not include Judea and Samaria.

“Museum staff in Manchester have devised a computer console which allows visitors to ‘handle’ ancient artefacts. The technology at Manchester Museum – the first of its kind in the UK – allows the public to virtually touch delicate objects which would normally be kept behind glass.”

Tyndale Tech has a great run-down of computer resources for Old Testament Studies.

HT: BibleX, Jack Sasson

Carchemish citadel and Euphrates River from north, adr1005191620

Carchemish citadel and Euphrates River from the north.
Photo from the fantastic Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.

Tagged Jordan Rift, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Shmuel Browns has photos of the Dome of the Chain now that the metal sheeting for renovations has been removed.

Lois Tverberg (“Our Rabbi Jesus”) suggests resources to help you learn about the life of a shepherd. I particularly like her first and last recommendations.

Leen Ritmeyer reports on the upcoming move of the Temple Institute in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Exploring Bible Lands has a great photo of the Jerusalem model (at the Israel Museum) covered with snow. You might want to subscribe to this newer blog while you’re there.

To return to familiar subjects, Leen Ritmeyer has photos old and new of Jerusalem in the snow.

A new book by Baruch Sterman, The Rarest Blue tells the 4,000-year-long story of the biblical blue tekhelet. Last week it was awarded the Book Prize for 2013 by the Jewish Journal.

Shepherd with sheep near Sede Boqer, tb042007446

Shepherd with sheep in Negev Highlands
Photo from Cultural Images of the Holy Land

Tagged Jerusalem, Resources, Temple Mount

Recent Excavation Reports

Horbat Hazzan and Horbat Avraq – A building from the late Iron Age was excavated along with several winepresses, columbaria, and a limekiln.

Jerusalem, Shuafat Ridge – Several miles north of ancient Jerusalem, archaeologists completed excavation of a farmhouse from the 8th-7th centuries BC.

Jerusalem, Qiryat Moriyya – Part of the low-level aqueduct that brought water to Jerusalem from Solomon’s Pools was exposed in Arnona.

Mount Tabor – An excavation near the Gate of the Winds revealed a portion of the Ayyubid fortification, built in 1212-1213 by the nephew of Saladin when the mountain was being contested by the Muslims and Crusaders.

Jaffa – Excavations of two areas in the modern flea market revealed a large pool “as well as pottery, glass vessels and coins dating to the Persian, Hellenistic, Late Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic and
Crusader periods.”

Columbarium from area near Horbat Hazzan.
Photo by IAA.

Tagged Excavations

Archaeological Archive of Israel Online

The first stage of the archive is now available online, but my first impression is not positive. The viewer is clunky and the server is slow. They’ve also made it difficult to save any of the files for personal study. Perhaps improvements will come; the project is certainly a worthy one. Here’s the full press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority:

The archaeological archive of Israel, which is administered by the Israel Antiquities Authority and amasses data on all of the activity of the archeological entities in the country, is computerized and will go online in the coming days. This is being underwritten with joint funding provided by the

“Landmarks” heritage program in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The scientific archive has its beginnings in the British Mandatory Department of Antiquities. It was
continued by the Israel Department of Antiquities and is managed today by the Israel Antiquities Authority, which invests considerable thought and resources in its operation. [Yes, they really said that about themselves!]

The first stage, containing tens of thousands of documents, photographs, maps and plans from the years 1919–1948 from Akko and Jerusalem, is already available for viewing online at www.iaa-archives.org.il. Most of this material was written in English.

Uploading the old and valuable material to the website required special preparations. In order to scan the material, the Israel Antiquities Authority engaged the services of ImageStore Systems Ltd. This is because the archival material is especially delicate and sensitive and cannot be scanned with industrial equipment; rather it can only be done individually and manually. The documents in the archive include texts photographs, maps, and plans etc. on many different kinds of paper.

According to Israel Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hausner and Reuven Pinsky, director of the heritage project in the Prime Minister’s Office: “The Mandatory archive constitutes the principal foundation of archaeological research of the past one hundred years. This program, as part of the Israel Archives

Network project for scanning and digitalization of the material on file in the archives, will make it possible for the public in general and particularly scholars in Israel and abroad to access these resources of knowledge”.

According to Dr. Uzi Dahari, Deputy Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The scientific importance of the archive is invaluable, and it is the only one of its kind in Israel and in the world. In Israel there are approximately 30,000 known and declared antiquities sites that constitute our cultural heritage – the largest and most important asset of the State of Israel. The Israel Antiquities Authority declares, treats, surveys, and researches the antiquities sites in the country. One of the many activities of the Israel Antiquities Authority is the management and running of the scientific archive. The Israel Antiquities Authority decided to transfer the archive to the digitalized media, in order to disseminate the information throughout the world”. To this end, all of the information was scanned and it was indexed according to rules that are suitable for research needs”.

According to Ephraim Reich, director general of ImageStore Systems Ltd., “We are proud to have been given the opportunity by the Israel Antiquities Authority to take a significant part in preserving this important information for the public. The utilization of advanced technology for the purpose of accessing enormous amounts of information that were stored until recently in libraries and archives not sufficiently accessible to the average user is a matter of utmost importance to ImageStore Systems Ltd. We are confident that this work will help preserve this important archival material for our benefit and that of future generations”.

Aerial photograph of Jerusalem, undated. From the Archaeological Archive of Israel.

Tagged Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Photo Resources

Copper Wash Basin Moved to Temple Exhibit

From Arutz-7:

The Temple Institute moved a giant copper laver, or wash basin, to the new home of its exhibit of Temple articles on Monday. A statement by the Temple Institute said the basin, which is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall and 2.8 meters (9.1 foot) in diameter is kosher for use in the Third Temple and can be used to purify 12 priests at once. The statement also said the new basin has advanced systems that make it possible to overcome certain problems in Jewish law, as was done at the time of the Second Temple.

See the full article for a photo. For more information about the background of the construction of the laver, see the website of the Temple Institute.

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Antiquities Theft at Shiloh

Arutz-7 reports on the theft of a vessel from Shiloh discovered a week ago.

An ancient vase that provided evidence that Shilo was sacked by Philistines has been stolen from the Shilo site. Avital Sela, who manages the site, told Arutz Sheva that once the vase was discovered to have been stolen, a complaint was filed with police. Sela explained that the vase, which was dated precisely to the year in which the destruction of Shilo was assumed to have taken place, "connected all of the Biblical pieces into one puzzle."

The full story is here.

Tagged Excavations, Samaria