Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Radar Imaging Reveals Hyksos Capital

The Hyksos controlled Egypt from roughly 1650 to 1550 BC and it was likely one of their rulers who was the pharaoh “who knew not Joseph” and put the Israelites in slavery (Exod 1:8). From Discovery News:

Radar imaging in Egypt’s Nile Delta has unveiled the outlines of a buried city that was the stronghold of foreign occupiers some 3,500 years ago, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Monday.
Discovered by a team of Austrian archaeologists in Tell el-Daba in the northeastern Nile Delta, the ruins belong to the southern suburban quarters of Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos kings who formed Egypt’s 15th dynasty.
Known as the “rulers of foreign countries” (probably of Asiatic roots), the Hyksos infiltrated Egypt and came to dominate the Nile valley for over a century during the Second Intermediate Period (1664-1569 B.C.).
From their strategic capital, Avaris, these foreign rulers are credited with introducing horse-drawn chariots into Egypt and controlling the lucrative trade routes with the Near East and the Mediterranean world.

The full article is here.

HT: Ferrell Jenkins

Tagged Egypt, Technology

ESV Bible Atlas

My first impression of this new atlas came from the weight of the box on my doorstep last night.

This atlas weighs even more than the ESV Study Bible, and it probably weighs more than any two atlases on my shelf. What makes it so heavy?

175 full-color maps
70 photographs
3-D re-creations of biblical objects and sites
indexes
timelines
65,000 words of narrative description
a CD with searchable indexes and digital maps
a removable, 16.5 x 22-inch map of Israel

Don’t miss the significance of 175 maps. That means you see many events and perspectives mapped out that you probably never have before (see Ritmeyer’s comment below).

Another phenomenal resource of this atlas are the reconstruction drawings. Some of these were published in the ESV Study Bible, and they are even more appealing on glossy paper. They are also easier to find, as you do not have to page through large sections of the Bible to find what you’re looking for.

James Hoffmeier (see below) says the photographs are brilliant, and I am delighted to have contributed a large number of these. It is a real pleasure to see some of my favorite images presented in such an attractive book.

Many readers here will be thrilled that the atlas includes a CD with the maps. Many publishers never release the digital version, and those that do usually make you buy it separately (I have too many books that I’ve had to buy twice). I love Crossway’s commitment to being generous to its customers and I hope that it becomes the new standard.

Price: $35, with free shipping(!) from Amazon. With the CD, removable map, and full-color imagery, the book is worth much more.

Conclusion: Highly recommended

Still not convinced? What if you were offered a CD with 125 biblical maps for only $35? I get requests for such all the time. I don’t know where to find one for $135, let alone $35. Until now.

And they’ll throw in a massive book and an attractive wall map for free.

Many scholars are impressed, including James K. Hoffmeier and Leen Ritmeyer.

“This Atlas is a wonderfully illustrated tool to aid the layperson, student of the Scripture, or pastor who wants to dig deeper and gain new insights and appreciation of the setting, context, and message of the Bible. The text is easy to follow, pictures are brilliant, and maps are incredibly useful as the reader moves through the related narratives. I highly recommend this marvelous resource.”
—James K. Hoffmeier, Professor of Old Testament & Near Eastern Archaeology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
“I had the privilege of being involved in the production of drawings based on the latest research for the ESV Study Bible. It is a joy to see these drawings plus the original ESV Study Bible maps, woven together with numerous new maps, brilliantly evocative photographs and useful indexes to make up the new Crossway Bible Atlas. This volume will become an indispensable companion for Bible students, fulfilling every expectation you might have of such a tool. Particularly innovative is the use of terrain imagery to facilitate the reader’s understanding of such Biblical viewpoints as that of Abraham from Hebron over the cities of the plain or Moses from Mt. Nebo.”
—Leen Ritmeyer, Archaeological Consultant

Update (6/23): Leen Ritmeyer notes that you can view 45 pages of the atlas here.

Tagged Resources

Weekend Roundup

Yesterday was the first day of excavation in the history of Tell Burna (Bornat). They have already uncovered fortifications. Maybe one of these days someone will go back to Azekah. There must be treasures untold there.

Last week’s LandMinds show was entitled “Mystery: Who Built Ramat Rahel?”

The Wall Street Journal runs a brief article on the display on James Henry Breasted at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

Hershel Shanks has written an autobiography, but it is entitled Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider. My bet is that it’s an interesting read. Whatever you think of his ideas and approach, Shanks has had a significant impact on biblical archaeology. The NYT has a brief article in connection to the book’s release.

Logos Bible Software has a prepublication special entitled “Travels through Bible Lands Collection” (now $130). The description claims that “these fifteen volumes embody some of the best travel writing of the nineteenth century.” That could be, though I’ve never heard of the majority of the authors or titles.

Perhaps you didn’t know that you could subscribe to the BiblePlaces Blog on the Kindle. This blog is reviewed in that context at the Kindle Blog Report.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Judah, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Radiocarbon Study and Egyptian Chronology

From Science magazine:

Just when did Egyptian pharaohs such as King Tut and Rameses II rule? Historians have heatedly debated the exact dates. Now a radiocarbon study concludes that much of the assumed chronology was right, though it corrects some controversial dates and may overturn a few pet theories.
“This is an extremely important piece of research that shows clearly that historical dating methods and radiocarbon dates are compatible for ancient Egypt,” says Kate Spence, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Egyptian records, such as the writings of the 3rd century B.C.E. historian Manetho and inscriptions found at key sites such as Saqqara and Karnak, provide what are called “floating chronologies” because they are internally consistent but not anchored to absolute dates. On the other hand, they sometimes refer to astronomical events whose dates can be calculated today. Thus, scholars are confident that they are not wildly off the mark. But it’s difficult to be precise. For example, the first known pyramid, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was built as a tomb for King Djoser, and historians usually put the beginning of his reign between 2667 and 2592 B.C.E. But one recent paper by Spence, based on astronomical calculations, put it as much as 75 years later. Radiocarbon dating has been too imprecise to resolve these contradictions because in this period it usually has error ranges of between 100 and 200 years.
[…]
One major controversy remains unresolved: the timing of the massive eruption of the volcanic island of Thera in the Aegean Sea, which transformed the history of the eastern Mediterranean and has important implications for understanding the relationship between Egypt and the Minoans, another powerful culture of the time. Previous radiocarbon dating suggests that the eruption took place at least 100 years before the New Kingdom began, which the new dating puts at no earlier than 1570 B.C.E. But radiocarbon and historical dating by University of Vienna archaeologist Manfred Bietak’s team at Tell el-Dab’a in Egypt has concluded that the Thera eruption took place during the New Kingdom era.

The full article is here.

HT: Joe Lauer, who provides a list of related articles

Tagged Egypt, Technology

Omrit Excavations 2010

Excavations at the site of Omrit in northern Israel are wrapping up for the summer, and from the photos posted on the unofficial blog, it looks like they made some impressive discoveries this year.

In particular, note the beautifully frescoed wall near the earliest temple.

Omrit is not far from Caesarea Philippi (Banias), and the excavators have suggested that Herod’s temple was located at Omrit instead of Caesarea Philippi. A series of temples have been found at
Omrit, dating from approximately 50 BC to AD 360. For a brief review, see this post.

Thanks to Roi Brit for the tip.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee

Questioning the Identification of the Magdala Synagogue

Tom Powers began to comment here on yesterday’s post on Magdala, but it grew to such length that he put it up on his own blog. Tom questions the present identification of the synagogue to the first century.

However, I must ask certain questions about the present find, especially in relation to the other synagogues long dated to the late 2nd Temple period in this country – and there are only a handful: Masada, Herodium, Gamla, Jericho, and perhaps one or two others. For one thing, what other synagogue from this period has a mosaic floor (of any kind or design)? What other synagogue lacks stepped benches around the periphery of the hall? What other synagogue has a decorative carved stone set into the middle of the floor? In short, everything about the Magdala structure seems to be an anomaly – if it is what the archaeologists claim.

These are good questions. Typically mosaic floors from this time period are found in houses or palaces, not in synagogues. Other synagogues have benches on the walls, including the 1st century synagogues at Masada and Gamla (for a reconstruction and photo of the latter, see here).

Tom is not questioning the date of the building (contra the post title; see update below), but rather whether this building is in fact a synagogue. It is a curious fact that archaeologists too often tend to find exactly what they’re looking for. Might this be a public building, not necessarily religious in nature? Tom questions whether the inscribed stone with a menorah is a sufficient basis for the synagogue identification. One further question in that regard is what periods the site was occupied.

You can read Tom’s whole post here.

UPDATE: Tom has kindly informed me that I have misrepresented his post. Indeed I have! I read what I expected rather than what he wrote. I apologize to him and to my readers. The above post has been corrected. In case it is not clear above, Tom questions the function of the building, not its date, as I previously stated.

Magdala synagogue

Carved stone in Magdala synagogue. Photos courtesy of Gordon Franz.

Tagged Analysis, Excavations, Galilee