Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Sarcophagus of Queen Helene on Display

The most impressive tomb in all of Israel from any of the biblical periods is the “Tomb of the Kings.” Despite its modern name, the tomb actually belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, a royal convert to Judaism from a Mesopotamian kingdom. Her tomb was constructed about a decade after the crucifixion of Jesus a few hundred meters north of the Garden Tomb. Gaining access to the tomb today is more difficult than the average tourist site, but it is well worth it.

Tomb of Queen Helene of Adiabene, aka Tomb of the Kings

One thing you will not see at the tomb, however, is Queen Helene’s sarcophagus. This 2,600-lb (1,200 kg) stone coffin was shipped to the Louvre following the tomb’s excavation in the 1860s. I’ve hunted around the French museum looking for this sarcophagus, but without success. The object has been safely stored in the basement for years and years. Nevertheless, the French were reluctant to loan the sarcophagus to Israel where people could actually view it. After a year of negotiation, the sarcophagus has arrived at the Israel Museum where it will be on display for four months as part of the exhibition, “Breaking Ground: Pioneers of Biblical Archaeology.”

Queen Helene is not mentioned in the New Testament, but there is a connection. Josephus (Ant. 20.2.5) writes that she supplied food for Jerusalem during the famine that is mentioned in Acts 11:27-30.

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Haaretz tells the story and provides a photo. For more about the tomb itself, including photos and links, see this page at BiblePlaces.com. Several years ago, archaeologists working in Jerusalem claimed that they located her palace in the City of David.

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums, New Exhibits

Weekend Roundup

To everyone who has written me asking how to visit the new excavations at Magdala, Tom Powers answers your question. He also provides a map showing the excavation and construction areas.
For the first time in 2,000 years, Babylonian texts have been read aloud. The readings by Cambridge University scholars are available online.

The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library for Logos Bible Software will no longer be on pre-publication discount after this week. Readers here may be particularly interested in the standard archaeological reference works by Mazar and Stern, but there are many valuable resources in this collection.

Raphael Golb was convicted of 30 counts of identity theft, forgery, and harassment.

Perhaps the weekend is a good opportunity for you to read my article on the location of David’s palace, if you haven’t already.

Tagged Dead Sea, Galilee, Resources

Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum Lecture Series 2010-11

From the DigSight Newsletter:

October 7, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Khirbet Qeiyafa 2010: Excavating in the Shadow of Alexander the Great, by Michael G. Hasel

(Southern Adventist University)

October 28, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Uncovering the Past: 50 Years of Biblical Archaeology, by William G. Dever (University of Arizona, emeritus)

November 16, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Ancient Coins of Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Stronghold on the Road to Jerusalem, by Yoav Farhi (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

March 16, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
In Search for Joshua’s Ai, by Bryant Wood (Associates for Biblical Research)

The museum lecture series is free and open to the public. All lectures are held in the Lynn Wood Hall building on the campus of Southern Adventist University. For driving directions and parking information, visit our website.

Tagged Lectures

Flight Tours over Israel with Google Earth

Google Earth is a fantastic tool that combines high-resolution aerial imagery with a “flying” engine so that users can travel anywhere in the world in seconds. The problem is that most people don’t know where they’re going. Jay Baggett is on the way to solving this problem for students and teachers of the Bible. His new website, Land of the Bible, features more than a dozen video tours through the 3-D landscape of Israel and Jordan.

After you get an introduction on the home page, you can see a list of the flights in the left sidebar.

You’ll notice that Jay has plans to create many more in the future. If you want a short tour, you can start with “David & Goliath,” which begins David’s hometown in Bethlehem and brings you down to the Elah Valley and the stage for the famous battle. As the video proceeds, the “tour notes” on the right make it clear what you are seeing and why it is important.

Fly-over tour at landofthebible.com

For a longer tour, click “From Dan to Beersheba.” This is a great way to get a feel for the whole land and how one site is related to another. If you want to “pick up the pace,” you can always click the “fast-forward” button; each click doubles the speed of the video.

Most of the tours are located in the “Pilgrim’s tour of Israel and Jordan.” Since most visitors see similar sites on the same basic route, this tour will be useful to many tourists even if they were not on Jay’s trip last year.

The videos require a Google Earth plug-in and they do not seem to work in Firefox. This is a great tool and I look forward to seeing the new fly-overs as Jay finishes them.

Tagged Technology, Tourism

Skeleton Wrapped in Gold Foil Discovered on Crete

This tomb in Crete dates roughly from the time of Kings Manasseh and Josiah. From the AP:

ATHENS, Greece — Greek archaeologists have found an ancient skeleton covered with gold foil in a grave on the island of Crete, officials said Tuesday.
Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis said his team discovered more than 3,000 pieces of gold foil in the 7th-century B.C. twin grave near the ancient town of Eleutherna.
Cemeteries there have produced a wealth of outstanding artifacts in recent years.
The tiny gold ornaments, from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.5 inches) long, had been sewn onto a lavish robe or shroud that initially wrapped the body of a woman and has almost completely rotted away but for a few off-white threads.
“The whole length of the (grave) was covered with small pieces of gold foil — square, circular and lozenge-shaped,” Stampolidis told The Associated Press. “We were literally digging up gold interspersed with earth, not earth with some gold in it.”

The full story is here. I have not seen any photos yet.

The archaeologists have produced a few videos of the excavation before this latest discovery:

The ruins are on the north slopes of Mount Ida, the mythical birthplace of the god Zeus.

Mount Ida from Phaistos, Crete

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Greece

Visit Ancient Rome with Google

How many times have you rushed through an ancient site, taking as many pictures as you could, but when it was all done you didn’t realize exactly what you saw? And when it comes time to label your photos or describe them to a friend, you’re at a loss? Google Street View could be a useful tool in your attempt to “remember” what you saw and where. The ambitious program is venturing not only into European cities, but their ancient ruins as well. Pompeii was put online last year and now work is underway for the ruins of ancient Rome. Once it is complete, you’ll be able to retrace the steps of your tour and make sure that you don’t confuse the Arch of Septimus Severus with the Arch of Constantine. BBC News has a 2-minute video describing the project.

Arch of Constantine, Rome

Tagged Italy, Technology