A pair of scholars argue that “Azekah is the new name of Moresheth-Gath given to the city by Judahite rulers after taking control of the western Shephelah, not before the end of the ninth century BCE.”
“For the first time, ancient DNA has been recovered from the bodies of ancient Israelites living in the First Temple period.”
In his first Q&A, Chandler Collins answers questions about Jerusalem’s monasteries, the “palace of David,” and a proposed bema seat of Pilate.
In part 4 of the Flora and Faith series, Brad Nelson explains why Paul used the olive tree to explain the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church.
An article I wrote on Solomon’s coronation and coregency has been published in the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal. I argue that there were three stages in his coronation and that there is no foundation for a two-year coregency.
Lidar Sapir-Hen and Deirdre N. Fulton explore “the role of dogs in the social fabric of the Iron Age through a comparative study of the evidence from settlements.” They conclude from archaeological evidence that dogs served villagers as herders, guards, and occasionally hunters. The underlying journal article is also available.
“This fall, the Penn Museum will begin construction of its new $54 million Ancient Egypt and Nubia galleries.” Work is slated to be completed by late 2028.
“Close to 1,000 Levites from around the world converged on Jerusalem’s southern wall near the Western Wall to partake in a momentous reenactment of the ancient Levitical choir of the Temple.” The story includes a couple of short videos.
“Some 10,000 people marched to Joshua’s Altar on Mt. Ebal on Monday to demand protection for archaeological sites in the West Bank and protest against declarations of sites in the West Bank as ‘Palestinian heritage sites.’”
An inscription discovered in Jerusalem suggests that there was a guild of artisans that called themselves the “sons of Daedalus.”
Olivier Poquillon is the new director of the École Biblique in Jerusalem.
Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology Occasional Publications 1 features an iconographic study of the fresco in the Abbey of the Tomb of Mary in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, within the socio-cultural context of Crusader Jerusalem.
In celebration of his 45th wedding anniversary, Leen Ritmeyer shares how he met Kathleen and their early work together in the Byzantine monasteries in the Judean wilderness. He includes many photos and drawings.
HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Explorator
Head of Athena from Tel Naharon, 2nd century AD; as displayed in the Israel Museum before this week’s vandalism
“A cave containing the remains of a young woman who was likely a courtesan during the Hellenistic period has been discovered near Hebron Road in Jerusalem, along with a well-preserved, rare bronze mirror.”
Gershon Galil claims that he has deciphered a fragmentary inscription from the time of Hezekiah that was discovered in Jerusalem forty years ago (Hebrew version here). (I wouldn’t recommend trusting Galil’s judgment on anything these days. So far the story is only covered by Ynet; if other outlets cover this, they will surely include responses from other scholars.)
The latest episode in “Faith Journeys with God in the Land” with John DeLancey was filmed at the Pool of Siloam earlier this year.
Erez Ben-Yosef was on the What Matters Now podcast to discuss his theory about the beginnings of the United Monarchy. The Times of Israel article includes a transcript.
Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, the seventh and final commemoration in the biblical calendar, begins today. TheTorah.com has an article on the etrog as the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“Temples for the Egyptian god Amun and the Greek goddess Aphrodite were found off of Egypt’s coast by a team of archaeologists.”
“A new Indo-European language was discovered during excavations in the Boğazkale district of Çorum, which is home to Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites.”
The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.
