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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Nearly 400 Roman forts across the northern Fertile Crescent have been identified through declassified satellite images.

Greg Beyer has written a short illustrated biography of King Sennacherib.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains what Akkadian is.

Three thousand photographs taken of Palmyra before its destruction by ISIS are being used in a UCSD project to create a digital model of the site.

Wayne Stiles is leading a 13-day tour of biblical Turkey that, unlike most such trips, visits all of the sites Paul traveled to on his first journey.

What route did Paul take when he left Berea in a hurry and went “to the coast” and on to Athens (Acts 17:14)? Mark Hoffman has scouted out the area and provides walking instructions for the possible paths. You can also use his maps to find your way in a car.

Breakthrough has produced a 20-minute documentary on the quest to decipher the scrolls from Herculaneum.

Jonathan Klawans makes a case that a relief of a goddess on display at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East is a forgery.

New release: Weights and Measures as a Window on Ancient Near Eastern Societies, edited by Grégory Chambon and Adelheid Otto (PeWe-Verlag, €65; free pdf).

A YouTube channel is using AI to recreate the sound of ancient languages.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Greece, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Technology, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Researchers at New York University have proposed that wind played a major role in the formation of Egypt’s Great Sphinx.

Nathan Steinmeyer writes about a new inscription from Elephantine that “might finally provide a glimpse of how Israelite religion developed after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.”

The sarcophagus of Ramses II will be going on display in three exhibitions in Australia.

Leon Mauldin reflects on Rehoboam’s journey to Shechem. He has also posted some photos of the tabernacle model at Timna.

Suzanna Millar and Sébastien Doane discuss the Bible and animal studies on the Biblical World podcast.

Bible Archaeology Report highlights the top three stories from the month of October.

Preserving Bible Times has just released Digging Deeper Video Series III: Familiar Passages, a collection of twenty two-minute videos featuring Doug Greenwold. You can also find it Spotify.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Museums, New Exhibits, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A lamassu from the reign of Sargon II was discovered at ancient Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad).

“Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an ancient cemetery that has stone sarcophagi, coptic jars and even a ‘Book of the Dead’ scroll.”

Study of an ancient Egyptian papyrus reveals that there were more venomous snakes in ancient Egypt than when Indiana Jones visited.

Michael Denis Higgins gives a history of the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, from present-day to the 4th century BC.

New release: Animals in Religion, Economy and Daily Life of Ancient Egypt and Beyond, by R. Pirelli, M. D. Pubblico, and S. Ikram (free pdf)

“Rock and soil samples taken from the area where the ruins of ‘Noah’s Ark’ are believed to be located in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı were examined, and the first results of the research were announced.”

The theater of Larissa, Greece, has been opened to the public for the first time, following two decades of restoration.

Archaeologists working on the island of Salamis discovered a partially submerged stoa along the east coast.

The British Museum will spend $12 million to update its online digital catalog.

ASOR webinar on Nov 2: “Of Statuary and State Formation: The Rise and Fall of Tell Tayinat-Kunulua,” by J. P. Dessel.

New release: Judicial Decisions in the Ancient Near East, edited by Sophie Démare-Lafont and Daniel E. Fleming (SBL Press, $50-$90)

eAkkadian is an online course book designed to help the student read Sennacherib’s prism.

“The Asia Minor Research Center is excited to announce the 2024 Biblical Field Studies in Turkey. This is a funded study trip for Bible scholars and teachers in the Majority World.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A team of archaeologists “has found the oldest-known example of the use of organic red pigments to color an object—in this case, beads” discovered in a cave on Mount Carmel.

Expedition Bible tackles the question of where Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is (and where it is not). I’m glad to see them address this issue in light of much foolishness which is circulating.

The Israel Antiquities Authority presented an online lecture series this week, “We Will Not be Defeated: From Crisis to Revival in the Archaeology of the Land of Israel.” All are available on the IAA’s Facebook page:

“The Early Challenges of the United Kingdom of Israel Facing the Edomite Frontier 3000 Years Ago,” by Tali Erickson-Gini
“The Kingdom of Judah Subsequent to the Assyrian Campaign of 701 BCE: From Darkness to Light,” by Joe Uziel
“The Jewish Settlement in the Galilee in and after the Great Revolt Against the Romans in 67 CE,” by Yardena Alexander
“From the Destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem to the Return of Zion,” by Yiftah Shalev

In the newest episode in the Flora & Faith series, Brad Gray looks at the Atad tree, central to Jotham’s parable in Judges 9.

Exhibition at the Met: Maxime Du Camp’s Photographs of the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa

Thomas West has created a list of the “25 best movies set in the ancient world.”

A statue of Cyrus the Great will be unveiled in Atlanta today.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Lectures, Movies, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Part of an ancient gateway believed to have been constructed by Cyrus the Great has been discovered near Persepolis.

A hoard of bronze coins dating to the 1st century BC or 1st century AD has been discovered at Alexandria Troas.

“An iron trident, believed to be used for fishing, dating to the 3rd or 4th century A.D. has been discovered in the ancient Aegean coastal resort town of Assos in northwestern Turkey.”

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient statue of a man and a statue of life-size wild boar at the sites of Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe in Turkey.

A Persian-era storage jar with finds similar to keşkek, the ancient dish of Anatolia, was discovered in northern Turkey.

“Some of the 3,500-year-old hieroglyphs discovered last year in the Yerkapı Tunnel in northern Turkey’s Çorum province have been deciphered.”

An augmented reality app “supported by Greece’s Culture Ministry allows visitors to point their phones at the Parthenon temple, and the sculptures housed in London appear back on the monument as archaeologists believe they looked 2,500 years ago.”

As a follow-up to his piece on walking from Corinth to Cenchreae, Mark Hoffman now provides detailed instructions and photographs for walking the route between Corinth and its western port at the Lechaion harbor. (That’s one more reason to start planning your next trip to Greece!)

Italian authorities plan to reduce congestion at Pompeii by promoting tourism to the nearby sites of Boscoreale, Oplontis, and Stabiae. They will reopen the Antiquarium, add free shuttles between the sites, and sell all-in-one tickets.

“Rome has launched an international design competition to create a New Archaeological Walk, reimagining the public spaces and pedestrian routes linking the city’s ancient Roman sites.”

In conjunction with the “Legion: Life in the Roman Army” exhibit opening in February, the British Museum blog gives an introduction to the subject.

New release: Cyrus the Great: A Biography of Kingship, by Lynette Mitchell (Routledge, $128; $53 Kindle)

The official portal of the Digital Ancient Near Eastern Studies Network, is now online.

“Open Educational Resources for the Ancient Near East” has received a recent translation of the Laws of Hammurabi.

“The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) is proud to announce that the number of external resource links, namely curated hyperlinks from catalogued cuneiform artifacts to their corresponding record in other digital projects and collections, now exceeds 400,000 individual links associated with more than 150 different online resources.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Museums, New Exhibits, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered hundreds of 5,000-year-old wine jars — some of which are still intact and contain traces of ancient wine — in the tomb of Meret-Neith,” an influential woman in the royal court during the First Dynasty.

A cemetery with important finds has been discovered south of Minya, Egypt.

The Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria has reopened after being closed in 2005 for renovations.

Ferrell Jenkins uses the location of Mount Sinai to encourage all to study more widely and deeply.

Bryan Windle has published an illustrated archaeological biography on King Ahaziah of Judah.

Archaeologists believe that archaeomagnetism can be used to distinguish whether mud bricks were fired in the kiln or destroyed in conflict or by accident.

The Paralytic’s Amazing Friends, by Doug Greenwold, is now available as an audiobook (free ebook with purchase).

Walking the Text’s Recommended Resource is israelbiblecenter.com, which features more than 60 digital courses on the Hebraic roots of the Bible.

Aaron Shust’s new song was written after the recent attack on Israel. The song calls prayer for the peace of the Jerusalem and the video was filmed on a cart ride through the Old City.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Resources, Technology, Weekend Roundup