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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

There is so much going on that I’m going to start the “Weekend Roundup” today and continue it tomorrow.

Shmuel Browns has posted many photographs of the “Church of Zechariah” at Khirbet Midras that was announced a few days ago. These photos (here and here) reveal just how well-preserved the mosaic floor is.

In his interview on the LandMinds show, Leen Ritmeyer explains how he determined the location of the original Temple Mount.

On his blog, Leen Ritmeyer addresses “Tunnel-vision politics in Jerusalem” with some helpful photos and a diagram.

Zahi Hawass has an update on the state of Egyptian antiquities. He is a very important man, as he himself observes, “I am the only source of continuing truth concerning antiquities….I am the guardian of these monuments that belong to the whole world….I want everyone to relax, and know that I am here.”

“An ancient church mentioned in the Bible has been discovered in western Turkey.” This claim from the excavators of Laodicea is false. The Bible describes a group of people who met for worship in
Laodicea in the first century (Rev 3:14-22). The archaeologists found a building where Christians met in the fourth century.

This article in Jewish Ideas Daily points out some of the irony of Ahmadinejad welcoming “home” the Cyrus Cylinder. I wonder what the chances are that it will ever be returned to the British Museum.

I encourage you to pray for Anson Rainey who is very ill and hospitalized now in Petah Tikva.

Visiting information was posted on the Agade list (or you may contact me).

HT: Joe Lauer, Daniel Wright, Agade

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

American Colony Collection Compared

The American Colony Collection, recently released as a module for Accordance Bible Software, is the subject of a video that highlights some of the value of the photographs and compares them with the PhotoGuide 3 collection. You can watch the video below or access the podcast here. (Those reading this in an email or feedreader may need to click through.)

David Padfield (website) has found the collection to be valuable in both formats:

I’ve used the photographs from the American Colony Collection since you first made them available. While I have over 30,000 photographs of the Bible lands that I have shot over the years, the congregation where I preach enjoy those old photographs every bit as much as the modern ones — there is something about the “feel” and “character” of the old photos that is lacking in modern photos.
I just purchased the American Colony Module from Accordance and all I can say is WOW. The module makes the photos so much more useful than they were before. I used to spend a lot of time looking for a photo, but the search capabilities of Accordance make it a snap. You have done an amazing job with these photos and I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Tagged American Colony Photos

Arms Raid Nets Antiquities Collection in Galilee

From the Jerusalem Post:

Police officers stumbled on a large stash of jugs and coins dating back from the Second Temple era in the Galilee village of Mazara on Thursday, during an arms raid. The archeological finds were kept in a yard belonging to family suspected by police of keeping arms. "We’re looking to see how it got to this yard," a Galilee police spokesman told The Jerusalem Post. After finding the artifacts, a representative of the Israel Antiquities Authority was called out to the scene, and he dated the findings to the Second Temple period, the spokesman added.

Mazara (Mazra’a) is an Israeli Arab village located near the coast, midway between Acco and Nahariya. The Jerusalem Post has five photographs of the loot.

Tagged Galilee

Byzantine Church Revealed at Khirbet Midras

A large public building that was turned into a church was recently excavated at Khirbet Midras in the Shephelah. The area was populated in the Second Temple period and is well known for a beautiful rolling stone tomb (since destroyed by vandals).

The archaeologists are suggesting that the church commemorated the burial place of the prophet Zechariah. Given that the sources for this appear to date nearly 1,000 years after Zechariah’s death (c. 500 BC), it may be best to regard this as a dubious Byzantine tradition. Some of the overstated wording of the IAA press release suggests that this claim is going to be the basis for reconstruction and promotion of the site. From the press release:

A public building of impressive beauty dating to the Byzantine period, in which there are several construction phases, was exposed in the excavation. In the last two construction phases the building was used as a splendid church. However, based on the results of the excavation and as evidenced by the artifacts, it seems that this church is built inside a large public compound from the Second Temple period and the Bar Kokhba uprising which was used in the first construction phases of the compound.
The church, in its last phases, was built as a basilica, at the front of which is a large flagstone courtyard from which worshippers passed into an entry corridor. Through a shaped opening one enters into the nave where there were eight breathtaking marble columns that bore magnificent capitals which were specially imported from Turkey. At the end of the nave is a raised bema and on either side of the nave are two wide aisles. All of the floors in the building were adorned with spectacular mosaic floors decorated with faunal and floral patterns and geometric designs that are extraordinarily well preserved. Located behind the bema are two rooms, one paved with a marble floor and the other that led to an underground tomb devoid of any finds. Branching out beneath the entire building is a subterranean hiding complex in which there are rooms, water installations, traps and store rooms. This complex belongs to the large building from the Second Temple period which the Byzantine church was built into. Among the artifacts discovered in the hiding complex are coins from the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba uprising (132-135 CE), stone vessels, lamps and various pottery vessels that are characteristic of the Jewish population from the settlement at that time.
As previously mentioned, researchers who visited the site are of the opinion that this place is the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah. Ancient Christian sources identified the burial place of the prophet Zechariah in the village of Zechariah, and noted that his place of burial was discovered in 415 CE. The researchers believe that in light of an analysis of the Christian sources, including the Madaba Map, the church at Horbat Midras is a memorial church meant to mark the tomb of the prophet Zechariah. This subject will be examined and studied in the near future.

The full story and the two photos posted below are available at the IAA website (also at the MFA website).

Byzantine church at Khirbet Midras.
Photos courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Shephelah

Graffiti at Western Wall Plaza

This may be a first. From Ynetnews:

A man chanted anti-Israel slogans upon arriving at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday and spray-painted a pro-Palestinian writing on a nearby wall. The man, in his 30s, was immediately seized by ushers stationed in the area and was later detained for questioning by the police. "A guy of Russian descent, a Hebrew speaker, arrived and began shouting, ‘End the occupation’ and ‘Fascists’," Yigal Levy, the Western Wall Heritage Fund’s operations manager told Ynet. "He pulled out a green spray can and wrote the word ‘Palestine’ in huge letters on the northern wall just next to the Western Wall." Levy added that the man, who committed the act under pouring rain, appeared to be mentally ill.

The full story is here. Arutz-7 reports on it here.

Tagged Jerusalem

Wadi Qilt Map

I stumbled across this photo recently and thought that some of my readers might find this map of the Wadi Qilt (Nahal Perat) environs to be helpful. This is a great area for hiking, but I’d avoid it in the hottest part of summer.

Wadi Qilt near Ein Perat

Tagged Travels