Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Rolling Stone Tombs in Jerusalem

I remember hearing some years ago that archaeologists have discovered only four tombs in Jerusalem with round rolling stones. In doing some research, I have learned that there are at least six. Rachel Hachlili’s book on Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices and Rites in the Second Temple Period says this:

A round rolling stone [golel], closing the entrance was found in several rock-cut tombs [in the cemetery of Jericho], dated to the end of the first century BCE and the first century CE. At the door a slot was cut to hold a round stone; the stone was rolled into the slot away from the entrance.
The following tombs in Jerusalem were sealed by means of rolling stones: the Tomb of Helene [the Tomb of the Kings], Herod’s family tomb, the Nicophoria tomb (east of Herod’s family tomb), a tomb on Mt. Scopus, a tomb in the Kidron Valley, and the Hinnom Valley tomb. Similar rolling stones were discovered at a tomb at Horvat Midras and at the cemetery of Hesban (page 64; quotation modified by the addition of a paragraph break and elimination of parenthetical material).

Rolling stone tombs have also been identified near Kiriath Jearim (Abu Gosh), Michmash (Mukmas), and Megiddo.

This looks like a great book, but when it’s published by Brill, you have to be satisfied with reading it in the library.

View from inside “Herod’s family tomb” with rolling stone (photo source)

Tagged Jerusalem, Tomb of Jesus

Springs in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea not only has freshwater springs along its shore—En Gedi, Ein Feshka, Ein Bokek—but underneath the water’s surface as well. From the Jerusalem Post:

A Ben-Gurion University research team has discovered a series of deep freshwater springs that spring from the floor of the Dead Sea and help replenish the body’s dwindling water supply, while a German group has meanwhile pinpointed new types of microorganisms growing in fissures on the saline seafloor near the springs, the university announced on Wednesday.
[…]
Dead Sea groundwater springs have been known and visible for decades as they produce ripples on the water surface, but the current research has given scientists to the ability to study springs that are hidden from the eye, according to the statement.
Much like the Dead Sea itself, the springs have been around for thousands of years, and while it is “uncertain” whether they’ve existed quite as long as their host body of water, they have been there “for a very long time indeed,” Laronne told The Jerusalem Post.
The springs, he continued, can be found at locations within the sea as deep as 30 meters down, and the largest spring observed thus far was 15 meters in diameter – with some spring systems totaling hundreds of meters in length.

The full story is here. The Arutz-7 report is here.

Hot spring on shore of the Dead Sea

Tagged Dead Sea

Wednesday Roundup

Excavations at the Central Bus Station of Beersheba are turning up remains from the Byzantine city.

The southern steps leading to the Temple Mount may have been used by worshippers singing the 15 Psalms of Ascent, writes Wayne Stiles. Not so, argues Leen Ritmeyer, former architect of the excavations. “There are, however, more than 15 steps, in fact, there are 27 at the eastern end and 31 at the southern end.” I don’t think that is correct, and I do know that if you read Psalm 120 at the bottom of the staircase and advance by two steps (to the broader steps) for the next psalm, you’ll be reading Psalm 134 at the top of the staircase. Perhaps that’s just coincidence. Of course, the psalms could be sung in many places as the pilgrim came up to Jerusalem and the temple to worship.

Southern steps leading to Double Gate of Temple Mount

Shmuel Browns reports that the public can now walk from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount via the (now underground) first-century street and drainage channel.

If you’re tired of going to the Dead Sea and seeing scantily-clad men, there is now hope. A beach was dedicated on Monday for separate bathing. If they’d only open a third section for the men in Speedos, we would all be happy.

A one-minute video at the Jerusalem Post shows the highlights of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.

An automated ticket-selling machine is now in operation at the Giza Pyramids.
Zahi Hawass’ successor has resigned.

A Roman villa and a Byzantine mansion are being excavated in Antioch of Pisidia.

If you’ve ever wondered what the Israel Antiquities Authority looks like, Leon Mauldin has a picture of her. 🙂

Tagged Dead Sea, Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Negev, Turkey

Rare Find: Student Map Manual

If only…

I needed these a few years ago, but there were none to be found. Not under rocks, not under bushes, not under sycamore-fig trees. One of my students was teaching a class in Europe and bought every loose copy he could find on the internet. (Indeed, that put him on my black list.)
Eisenbrauns has not only come up with some copies of the Student Map Manual, but they’re selling them for $3 each. It’s the “Deal of the Day” which I believe expires mid-day tomorrow (9/21).

You might want to purchase one if:

You want to do a serious study of historical geography that involves marking maps.
You want to re-do your serious study (that wasn’t so serious because you were young, dumb, and in a hurry) when you went to study at the Institute of Holy Land Studies/Jerusalem University College or the Israel Bible Extension.
You heard stories of this great work but never had a chance to purchase one.

You might want to purchase more than one if:

You want to teach a course using this classic work.
You want each of your kids and grandkids to have a copy.

There are newer works out that aim to replace this (a big cheer to the folks at Biblical Backgrounds here), but this work retains a value that I don’t think will ever be completely replaced.

Note that in order to do the markings you will need a copy of James Monson, The Land Between. Amazon has a few used copies of this, starting at $4.

A map from one of the two Student Map Manuals I marked. This depicts the events in Joshua 10.

Tagged Resources

New Site: Bible and Archaeology

Bible and Archaeology is a virtual museum of many of the most important artifacts, sites, and ancient texts related to the Bible. Three features make this online exhibit particularly helpful.

The photos can be viewed in high-resolution. For one example, the image of the Merneptah Stele is the best I’ve seen.
The artifacts are listed in chronological order. That makes it easier to find what you’re looking for, even if you don’t know the correct name (is it the Dan Stele or the Tel Dan Inscription?).
Each photograph has a brief explanation of the significance of the artifact and its relationship to the Bible. You can do do additional research if you desire, but the description provides the basics.

Note: it may be user error, but I had better success viewing the some of the high-res images in the Chrome browser than in Firefox.

The Gallio Inscription, before it was put on display in the Delphi Museum

Tagged Museums, Resources

How To Spell Bible Places

In the old days, if you wanted to know how to spell something, you looked it up in the dictionary. If you were looking for a technical term or a proper noun, you might require a specialized dictionary.

Because the names of biblical sites are transliterated from other languages, and because time and tradition play a role, one often cannot say that there is “one right way” to spell a place name. In the
case of biblical site names, there are several approaches to determining the best spelling.

The first approach is to check with the authorities. I have often used the NIV translation as my standard. Recent scholarly Bible dictionaries are also good resources.

A second approach is to determine what is most popular. I’ve used Google on many occasions to see which form is more widely used. Since what is “correct” in spelling is largely a matter of usage, this is less problematic than it might first appear.

Another approach combines the best of the other two methods. By searching the scholarly literature, one can determine which is most widely used by the experts. Since my goal, in the projects I am working on, is to use names that are most common in the field, this has proven to be a worthy approach.

By how does one search the work of experts? I use Logos 4 to search my entire library for a given spelling of a word. I confess that I owned the program for a year before I gave this a try, having been so traumatized by searches in Logos 3 that seemed to take weeks and months. But Logos 4 is almost as quick as Google. Because my library contains many of the best reference works in biblical history and geography, I have instant access to the way that the experts spell a word.

So how does one spell Beth Shean, Beersheba, or Michmethath? Opinion is often divided, but knowing who and how many prefer a spelling usually helps me to make a good decision. Here is what I found by running searches on some more popular terms.

Beth Shan or Bet Shean?
- The older sources tend to prefer the latter, while the newer works favor the former.
En Gedi or Ein Gedi?
- The former gets 1,700 hits and the latter 500.
Succoth or Sukkoth?

The former is the place name; the latter is an autumn feast.

Beersheba or Beer Sheba?

(The former gives 4,800 hits and the latter 3,700. Many Bible dictionaries prefer Beer-Sheba.)

Elath or Eilat?

The biblical name is the former; the modern city is the latter.

Medeba or Madaba?

My Logos library is consistent with the former but notes that Wikipedia uses the latter.

Michmethah or Michmethath?

The latter has the clear edge.

Here is a screenshot of what a Logos search looks like for “Beth Shean.”

You can use this approach also to identify clear misspellings. No one would claim that Meggido is correct, despite the fact that this spelling can be found in ABD, ISBE, EDB, HALOT, some issues of BA and BAR, commentaries in Hermeneia and NIGTC, and Neusner’s translation of the Talmud.

(One can hope that publishers in the future will take advantage of computer technology to reduce misspellings.)

I’m happy to have found a new, quick method to determine the best way to spell names of biblical sites in English. If you don’t already own a library in Logos or the Mac program Accordance, I wouldn’t claim that it’s worth investing in one just for this, but for those who already committed, this may be a useful tip. Google Books may be another alternative, although I have not checked to see if they include the resources I would consider most authoritative.

Instructions for Logos users: Open program. Click the “Search” button. Make sure “All Text” and “Entire Library” are selected. Then type in search term. Wait 0.59 seconds.

Tagged Analysis