Todd Bolen, Author at BiblePlaces.com

Herod, Gath, and Free Maps

National Geographic is promoting its upcoming special on “Herod’s Lost Tomb” with a number of special features on its website, including photos, reconstructions, video clips, and a game.

HT: BibleX

The Gath expedition has produced a DVD of the 2008 season with dozens of photographs and a couple of PowerPoint presentations. You can get it for $15 including shipping.

If you’ve ever needed a quick, colorful map of a biblical site, bibleatlas.org can help. When you arrive at the website, you may be put off with a block of apparently endless text. Don’t give up though – simply search for the name of your city, click the link, and you’ll have a map. Click the map box itself and you can get a high-resolution version of the region. The maps are made using BibleMapper (which we’ve praised before here), and the quality is excellent. To summarize, on the positive side: incredibly fast, pre-made maps, with liberal usage allowances. On the negative side, it gives maps labeling cities, not events. The Bible Atlas is part of a much larger site, Biblos.com, which has many free resources, and more coming.

Tagged Herod's Tomb, Resources, Shephelah

Jehoash Inscription: Five Scholars Claim Authentic

The Jehoash Inscription is a total fraud and everyone knows that, according to some people.

Apparently these five scholars didn’t get the memo, as they conclude that the inscription is authentic.

The Bible and Interpretation has the article. Here is the abstract:

A gray, fine-grained arkosic sandstone tablet bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew from the First Temple Period contains a rich assemblage of particles accumulated in the covering patina. Two types of patina cover the tablet: a thin layer of black to orange iron-oxide-rich layer, a product of micro-biogenic processes, and a light beige patina that contains feldspars, carbonate, iron oxide, subangular quartz grains, carbon ash particles and gold globules (1 to 4 micrometers [1 micrometer = 0.001 millimeter] in diameter). The patina covers the rock surface as well as the engraved lettering grooves and blankets and thus post-dates the incised inscription as well as a crack that runs across the stone and several of the engraved letters. Radiocarbon analyses of the carbon particles in the patina yield a calibrated radiocarbon age of 2340 to 2150 Cal BP. The presence of microcolonial fungi and associated pitting in the patina indicates slow growth over many years. The occurrence of pure gold globules is evidence of a thermal event in close proximity to the tablet (above 1000 degrees Celsius). This study supports the antiquity of the patina, which in turn, strengthens the contention that the inscription is authentic.

This isn’t the last word, but that’s the point. Scholars must be allowed to study this inscription without desperate-sounding people trying to silence those they disagree with.

The best indication of the inscription’s authenticity that I know and understand (which doesn’t include archaeometric evidence) concerns the “obvious” linguistic error in the inscription. It doesn’t make sense that someone brilliant enough to do so many things right on this inscription would make such an obvious mistake. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t know everything about how Hebrew was used in the 8th century.

The Bible and Interpretation has published much more on this inscription in previous years.

UPDATE (11/17): The more scientific version of this article was mentioned previously here.

Tagged Forgery, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Beautiful Earring Found in Jerusalem

From the Associated Press:

A luxurious gold, pearl and emerald earring provides a new visual clue about the life of the elite in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. And its discovery was a true eureka moment for excavators. The piece was found beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. It dates to the Roman period just after the time of Jesus, said Doron Ben-Ami, who directed the dig. The earring was uncovered in a destroyed Byzantine structure built centuries after the piece was made, showing it was likely passed down through generations, he said. Archaeologists came upon the earring in a corner while excavating the ruins of the building under a parking lot. "Suddenly one of the excavators came up shouting ‘Eureka!’" said Ben-Ami. The find is eye-catching: A large pearl inlaid in gold with two drop pieces, each with an emerald and pearl set in gold. "It must have belonged to someone of the elite in Jerusalem," Ben-Ami said. "Such a precious item, it couldn’t be one of just ordinary people." Archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who was not involved in the dig, said the find was truly amazing, less because of its Roman origins than for its precious nature. "Jewelry is hardly preserved in archaeological context in Jerusalem," he said, because precious metals were often sold or melted down during the many historic takeovers of the city.

The story continues here. Arutz-7 has a similar story.

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem

Conference: New Studies on Jerusalem

The Ingeborg Rennert Center, The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, The Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University invite you to the 14th Annual Conference of The Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies

“NEW STUDIES ON JERUSALEM”

Thursday, November 13, 2008

8:20 gathering

8:45 opening remarks:

Prof. M. Orfali, Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University

Prof. J. Schwartz, Director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies

Prof. A Faust & Dr. E. Baruch, conference organizers

Session 1 – 9:00- 10:30

Chair: Aaron Demsky

Eilat Mazar
The Stepped Stone Structure in the City of David in Light of the New Excavations in Area G

Moshe Garsiel
The Elah Valley’s Battle, the Duel of David’s and Goliath and Why Goliath’s Head and Weapons End
Up in Jerusalem

Avraham Faust
Sennacherib’s Campaign to the Judean Highlands and Jerusalem: A New Perspective

Tsvika Tsuk
“And Brought the Water to the City” (2 Kings 20, 20): Water Consumption in Jerusalem in the
Biblical Period

Discussion

Break

Special Discussion- 10:50-11:40

Shlomo Bunimovits & Avraham Faust
The Archaeology of the Biblical Period in the Twenty-First Century: Towards a New Dialogue
between Archaeology and the Bible

Discussion

Break

Session 2 – 12:00- 13:50

Chair: Ben-Zion Rozenfeld

Joseph Patrich
On the Chamber Called House of Stone (beth even), Which was Facing the Northeast Corner of the
Temple Building (birah) (Mishnah, Parah 3:1)

Michael Ben-Ari
Recollections of the Temple: Between Yavne and Lod and Between the Ideal and the Real

Ehud Netzer
How to Handle the Different Reconstructions of the Temple and its Surrounding Courts

Joshua Schwartz
The Temple Cult Without the Sages: Prolegomena on the Description of the Second Temple Period
Cult according to Sources of the Second Temple Period

Yehoshua Peleg
The Pre-Herodian Sanctified Temple Area and Outer Court.

Discussion

Lunch Break

Session 3 – 14:50-17:00

Chair: Hanan Eshel

Eyal Baruch
The Palatial Mansion in Jerusalem: Class and Ideology

Yuval Shahar
The Concept of the Temple Mount in the Second Temple Period

Ram Bouchnick, Nimrod Marom & Guy Bar-Oz
“Rams from Moab and Ewes from Hebron”: Herd Maintenance Strategies in the Late Second Temple
Period in Jerusalem

Zachi Zweig
New Information from Various Temple Mount Excavations from the Last Hundred Years

Yair Talmor
Between the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nea Church – The Religious Space of Byzantine
Jerusalem

Discussion

Break

Session 4 – 17:20- 19:10

Chair: Yvonne Friedman

Peretz Reuven
“A Female Slave from the Harem Who Became the Mother of the Caliph”: a Suggestion to Connect
an Unknown inscription from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Mother of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir.”

Nissim Dana
The Prophet Mohammad’s Night Ascent to Heaven: A Review of the Passage in the Qur’an and in
Other Islamic Sources

Shelomo Lotan
The Symbolism of Jerusalem and the House of King David in the Teutonic Military Order Medieval
Heritage

Josef Drory
The Contribution of Franciscan Documents for Esteem of the Local Minorities’ Rights in Mamluk
Jerusalem

Oded Shay
The Beginning of Historical Documentation and Modern Archives of the General Population in
Jerusalem at the End of the Ottoman Period

Discussion

The conference proceedings (app. 400 pp. including 2 articles in English and 20 articles in Hebrew,
with English abstracts) will be on sale during the conference.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Jerusalem, Lectures

Prosecution Struggling at Forgery Trial

The San Francisco Chronicle reported about a week ago that the Israeli government’s case against alleged forger Oded Golan is near collapse. The Israeli judge was rather harsh with the prosecution.

After all the evidence we have heard, including the testimony of the prime defendant, is the picture still the same as the one you had when he was charged?” District Court Judge Aharon Farkash pointedly asked public prosecutor, Adi Damti. “Not every case ends in the way you think it will when it starts. Maybe we can save ourselves the rest.

The Daily Mail reported:

Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash told prosecutors trying Israeli collector Oded Golan: ‘Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artefacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?

The primary artifacts in question are the James Ossuary and the Jehoash Inscription. The Israel Antiquities Authority has maintained that the inscription, or part of the inscription, reading “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was added to an ancient ossuary. These artifacts and others are alleged to have come out of the workshop of Oded Golan, or that of his Egyptian friend, Marco Samah Shoukri Ghatas.

I do not know if these two artifacts are ancient, though based on what experts have told me, I think they probably are genuine. If one or both are proven to be fraudulent, it won’t affect anyone’s beliefs in the accuracy or non-accuracy of the Bible.

What bothers me and others is the attempt by some professionals and some non-professionals to silence discussion on the issues. Because 60 Minutes did a report on the subject, the case must be closed. Because the Israel Antiquities Authority produced a report on the items, scholarly interaction on the matters is apparently inappropriate. Wrong!, says the judge.

If the judge isn’t convinced after hearing far more evidence than you or I or probably any other expert not at the trial, then I dare say that any conclusions claiming these artifacts were forged were based on less than all of the evidence. This makes it all the more disturbing that those who made those conclusions are the ones who would deny further discussion. Some lessons:

Scholars have agendas. Very few are unbiased.
The loudest ones usually have the most to lose. Discoveries tend to confirm the Bible (name the last one that provided clear evidence that the biblical record was inaccurate), and with each (authentic) discovery, the ground is eroding from underneath them
Refuse to listen to those who say the case is closed. Patience is a virtue. There is no need to rush to judgment when important scholars dissent from the majority view.

Tagged Forgery

King David’s Water Tunnel in Jerusalem

Last week Eilat Mazar announced that she had discovered a water channel connected to the building she has identified as the palace of King David. Based on the tunnel’s date, location, and characteristics, she believes that she has identified “with high probability” the shaft used by David’s men to conquer Jerusalem. You may recall the story:

On that day, David said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the tsinnor to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies” (2 Samuel 5:8).

The Hebrew word tsinnor is usually translated “water shaft.” For many years, this shaft was identified with a 40 foot (13 m) vertical shaft near the Gihon Spring. More recent excavations have suggested that this shaft was not accessible during the time of David.

The story gets the press-release-rehash in the Jerusalem Post and Arutz-7. The Trumpet, because of its close relationship with Mazar, has two photos. Haaretz apparently wrote their story before the press release and has some strange information about the water system:

But Mazar believes the water system served to purify David’s warriors, first among them his chief of staff, Joab, after the city had already been conquered.

She says that purification was necessary because the Bible states they had to fight against the “blind and the lame,” and in so doing would have become impure. She notes the use in the relevant verse of the Hebrew root naga (touch) in relation to the “gutter,” a word usually involving matters of purity.

Here are just a few thoughts (based on the articles, not the minimal information above):

It seems that this channel was discovered at the end of the last season of excavation, and much more work is required.

Both ends of the tunnel are currently blocked, so it is not clear where the tunnel begins or ends.

The tunnel runs north-south, that is, roughly from the area of “David’s palace” towards the Temple Mount, all within the city fortifications. This does not seem to fit the type of passageway that would be needed to conquer the city.

Oil lamps from the end of the First Temple period (c. 600 B.C.) were found, but it’s not clear how Mazar knows the tunnel was in use in the time of David. It’s usually easier to date the end of use of a water system than the beginning.

The attempt to also connect the tunnel with refugees fleeing from Jerusalem in the days of King Zedekiah seems stretched.

Both identifications of the tunnel to the Bible (David and Zedekiah) strike me as the sort of “biblical archaeology” that Bible believers like myself wish would go away. By that I mean, you find a tunnel and without knowing where it begins or where it ends, you assume that it must be the very one that is mentioned in a famous story in the Scriptures. How is it that such archaeologists, working in a very restricted area, always happen to find exactly what they are looking for?

The solution is not to refuse to make connections to the Bible, nor to deny that the Biblical record is historically accurate, but instead to carefully study all of the evidence, avoiding unwarranted and premature sensationalistic headlines. It goes both ways; more often it is scholars on the other side who use a scrap of evidence as complete and compelling proof that the biblical story is false. Abuses on one side do not justify abuses on the other.

Tagged Analysis, Discoveries, Jerusalem