Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Fishing Ban in Sea of Galilee Explained

The recent sharp decline in the number of fish in the Sea of Galilee is the result of poisoning, overfishing, low water level, and birds, according to the Jerusalem Post. This article by Ehud Zion Waldoks is the best researched piece I’ve seen on the subject. Two hundred fishermen have licenses to fish, and the decision to ban fishing for two years has them up in arms. They don’t want government compensation of 2,000 shekels (about $530) a month; they want to fish.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the number of fish in the lake has dropped significantly in the last decade and especially over the last two years – so much so that there is now a significant chance that Lake Kinneret will cease to have fish in it at all if fishing continues as usual. If that were to happen, it would represent an ecological disaster and negatively affect water quality as well, according to the Water Authority. The Agriculture Ministry has attributed part of the decrease to overfishing and mass poisoning. The drastically lower water level of the lake in recent years has also contributed to the decrease, the Water Authority believes.

The full article is here.

Tagged Galilee

The Whereabouts of the Jaffa Gate Clock Tower

Between the years 1907 and 1922, Jaffa Gate was home to an imposing 40-foot (13-m) clock tower.

The Ottoman authorities erected the tower in honor of one of the anniversaries of Abdul Hamid. Not all were impressed with the addition. G. K. Chesterton described the timepiece as “an unnaturally ugly clock, at the top of an ornamental tower, or a tower that was meant to be ornamental” (The New Jerusalem [1920]).

Jaffa Gate, breach in city wall, mat04933

Jaffa Gate with clock tower, 1918-1922 Source: Jerusalem CD (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-04933)

Soon after the British took control of Jerusalem, the tower was dismantled. According to a 1922 report of the Pro-Jerusalem Society (cited in part here), the tower “has been bodily removed from the north side of the Jaffa Gate, which it too long disfigured, and is being set up again in fulfilment of a promise (less aggressively and shorn of its more offensive trimmings) in the central and suitable neighbourhood of the Post Office Square.”

Tom Powers has recently learned that the plan was carried out, and the clock tower was re-erected, in substantially different form, in Allenby Square. But it didn’t stay there long, for about a decade later, the tower was demolished. According to the Palestine Post (Sept. 27, 1934), the demolition was required by roadwork being done to relieve traffic congestion. (75 years later, roadwork to relieve congestion is still being done in the area!)

The photo below, unearthed from the Library of Congress archives by Tom Powers, shows the tower before its demolition.

Allenby Square with clock tower (1934) Source: Diary in photos, Vol. 1, Library of Congress

Tagged American Colony Photos, Jerusalem

Archaeology Conference in Honor of Anson F. Rainey

The following announcement was posted on several lists, including biblicalist. Most lectures are in Hebrew. Dr. Rainey’s astonishing career is surveyed on the Tel Aviv University website.

Bar-Ilan University The Faculty of Jewish Studies The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology and Tel Aviv University The Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures

The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology

Cordially invite the public to the 30th annual conference of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology:

“And They Went Up and Toured the Land” – in honor of Professor Anson F. Rainey on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Thursday, May 6, 2010, Mintz Auditorium, Building 403, Bar-Ilan University.

8:30-9:00: Registration and Refreshments

9:00-9:20: Greetings:

Prof. Haim Taitelbaum, Vice Rector
Prof. Avraham Faust, Chair, Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology
Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz, Chair, Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures

9:20-11:00: Session 1: Archaeology. Chair, Prof. Ze’ev Herzog

Yuval Gadot: The Central Coastal Plain in the Late Bronze Age – Geography, History and Archaeology
Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman: The Hanan Clan: Epigraphic Evidence for Iron Age Canaanite Continuity in the Northern Judean Shephelah
Avraham Faust: An Assemblage of Bullae from Tel ‘Eton and the Development of Administration in the Kingdom of Judah
Ze’ev Herzog: The Hezekiah/Josiah Cult Reform Debate: An Archaeological Perspective

11:00-11:30: Break

11:30-13:30: Session 2: Linguistics and Bible. Chair, Prof. Shlomo Izre’el

Israel Knohl: Merneptah’s “Israel” and Biblical “Israel”
Shawn Zelig Aster: Isaiah 31 and Relations Between Judah and Assyria During the Reign of Sargon II
Gershon Galil: The Book of Joshua: Formation and Historical Reliability
Daniel Sivan: The Case System in Northwestern Semitic Languages
Chaim Cohen: Four New Philological Notes Concerning the Languages of the El-Amarna Letters according to the Comparative Philological Method of Prof. Moshe Held z”l

13:30-14:45: Lunch Break

14:45-16:30: Session 3: Historical Geography. Chair, Prof. Joshua Schwartz

Ze’ev Safrai: Historical Geography, 35 Years after Ben-Arieh
Aren Maeir: The Identification of Philistine Gath, 25 Years Later
Oded Lipschits: Further Thoughts on the Ancient Name of Ramat Rahel
Yigal Levin: The Identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa – A New Proposal

16:30-16:50: Break

16:50-19:00: Session 4: History. Chair, Dr Boaz Zissu.

Dr. Paul Wright, Director, Jerusalem University College: Blessings and comments about Anson Rainey (in English)
Victor Hurowitz: Demonyms and Toponyms: Symbolism and Hermeneutics
Brian Schultz: A New Proposal for Tamar/Tadmor in 1 Kings 9:18 (in English)
Aaron Demsky: The Phoenician Connection of the Greek Sphinx
R. Steven Notley: Was the Galilee No Longer Jewish in the Days of Judah Aristobulus?

Closing Remarks – Prof. Anson F. Rainey

All papers will be in Hebrew unless English is specified.

Open admission. For information call 03-5318350 or use email address on the announcement.

Anson Rainey lecturing, Nov. 1963
Photo by David Bivin

Tagged Lectures

Thursday Roundup

Will Israeli tour guides be allowed to take their tour groups to Bethlehem and other West Bank sites?

The UK has banned images of the Western Wall from appearing in ads promoting tourism to Israel because it is deemed to be in “occupied territory.”

Terror warnings in Sinai have caused most Israelis to cut short their vacations.

Remember the Jerusalem model at the Holyland Hotel? It was moved to the Israel Museum a few years ago, when the property owners began to construct luxury apartment towers, obviously more profitable than what they made from entrance fees to the model. Israel is now reeling from charges of a new bribery scandal, this time alleging that former prime minister Ehud Olmert took hundreds of thousands of shekels in kickbacks in exchange for approving the apartment project.

If you try to bring your iPad along on your trip to Israel, it will be confiscated. (More here).

The 47th annual World Bible Quiz for Youth will take place in Jerusalem next week. Among the 46 competitors is the son of Israel’s prime minister. There’s also talk of reviving the Bible Quiz for Adults.

Tagged Jerusalem, Weekend Roundup

Free Photos: Jewish People in Early 1900s

The decisive winner of yesterday’s poll was the collection of images of Jewish People. You can now download these photos as a PowerPoint file, as jpg images, or both. Thanks for participating!

Jewish men of Jerusalem, 1898-1914

This photo is from the People of Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-06793).

Tagged American Colony Photos

Free Set of Images from People of Palestine

The week is off to a slow start in terms of news, so I thought I’d try something different. As you may recall, a few weeks ago we released the People of Palestine CD from The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. Tomorrow we’re going to give away one of the sets of photos from this CD and today you get to choose which one you would like. The one with the most votes will be posted here tomorrow. There’s no registration, no hidden fees, no fine print. One click to vote and one click (tomorrow) to download. If you want all of these images (plus more), the CD is available now for $15 with free shipping.

Tagged American Colony Photos