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Weekend Roundup

Tours of the ancient sites in Iraq will begin this summer. A nine-day tour costs $3,375.

Hamas plans to regulate the trade of antiquities in Gaza. Of 25,000 gold and bronze coins unearthed since 1990, 14,000 were sold on the black market.

The Washington Post has the best article I’ve read on the restoration of Jaffa Gate.

Christianity Today has a story on the discovery of the “Miracle Boat,” also known as the “Jesus Boat.” (Why not “Galilee Boat”?) The article also mentions the recent campaign to increase the number of visitors to the boat. My suggestion: lower the outrageous entrance fee.

Tourists can now bring their iPad to Israel without fear of it being confiscated by customs authorities.

Israel’s Tourism Minister is vowing to stop the country’s degrading treatment of visitors.

Leon Maudlin has been posting “two views” of Miletus, showing the dramatic differences in the ancient city in different seasons.

HT: Explorator, Paleojudaica, and Joe Lauer

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Tourist Shot in Church of Holy Sepulcher

From the Jerusalem Post:

A tourist visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem was shot by a policeman and seriously wounded Friday night after allegedly threatening visitors with a knife and attempting to stab a police officer.
Police said the incident began at closing time when two priests and a policeman walked among the visitors, asking them to leave. The man then allegedly drew a knife and threatened them. The policeman drew his sidearm and instructed the man to put down the knife. Other officers arrived on the scene and, when the man refused to lay down his weapon, sprayed pepper spray on him. The man then reportedly tried to run and was shot after threatening one of the policemen with his knife.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism

Jordanian Students Learn Archaeology

Students from the International Academy Amman recently were given hands-on experience in excavating the ancient city of Gadara (cf. Matt 8:28). From the Jordan Times:

Digging in trenches in northern Jordan was far from 18-year-old Aoun Jumaa’s definition of “fun”.
But after the International Academy Amman (IAA) student spent the past week excavating at Um Qais as part of his school’s community action and service programme, he said he has gained appreciation of the Kingdom’s “exciting” archaeology.
“I have been to Um Qais, but I have never seen it like this before,” he said.
The programme offers students the unique opportunity to explore their past and open up avenues for their futures.
The 20-odd students quickly learned that an archaeologist’s day is by no means an easy one. Starting at dawn, the students were in the trenches digging, cleaning and shovelling all morning, and after a short lunch break, they sorted and washed pottery shards and attended evening sessions on pottery identification and cultural interpretation.
Meanwhile, they devoted their evening hours to research projects, interpreting their finds and writing down their analysis, according to IAA teacher and programme coordinator Andy Daily.

The full article is here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Gadara nymphaeum with Sea of Galilee in distance

Tagged Excavations, Jordan

Ptolemaic Coin Hoard Found in Egypt

From the AFP:

Archaeologists have uncovered bronze coins bearing the image of ancient Egyptian ruler King Ptolemy III in an oasis south of the capital, the culture ministry announced on Thursday.
Also found by the Egyptian team were necklaces made of ostrich eggshell, it said.
The 383 items dating back more than 2,250 years were found near Lake Qarun in Fayum oasis, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Cairo, the ministry said in a statement, adding that they were in excellent condition.
The coins weighed 32 grams (1.12 ounces) each, with one face depicting the god Amun and the other the words “king” and “Ptolemy III” in Greek along with his effigy, the statement said.

You can see a photo of all the coins, stacked but uncleaned, here. Middle East Online has a photo of the discovery site.

HT: Joe Lauer

Lake Qarun, near location of discovery

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt

St. Paul’s Anchor Offer

If you hurry, you can get a special copy of The Lost Shipwreck of Paul by Robert Cornuke.

According to the email advertisement, you don’t want to miss this:

BASE Institute has in it’s [sic] possession a small piece of lead from anchor #3 of the 4 anchors believed to be from Paul’s Shipwreck. This unique offer will include Robert Cornuke personally taking the piece of lead and drawing the image of an anchor on the front page of the book. Also, a signature will be included by Robert Cornuke certifying that the lead transfer image is from the actual anchors as described in The Lost Shipwreck of Paul book.

Cornuke sounds like one of those televangelists.

In unrelated news, if you purchase the complete set of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands right now, the author will personally glue a few grains of sand to the CDs and his signature will certify that these are actual pieces of dirt from the land where Jesus walked. Don’t wait; order now!

For links to several articles on the Malta shipwreck, see here. For other previous appearances of the former policeman on this blog, see here, here, here and here.

Tagged Not an April Fool's Joke, Pseudo-Archaeology

DigSight, Winter 2010

The latest issue of DigSight is now available. DigSight is the quarterly newsletter published by the Institute of Archaeology of Southern Adventist University.

The eight-page issue features a summary of the papers presented on Khirbet Qeiyafa at the 2009 ASOR meeting, as well as a review of the debate on the Qeiyafa Ostracon. If you’ve had trouble keeping up, this is the place to start.

In the final article, Michael Hasel provides a well-written response to those sensational archaeological discoveries of arks and giants made by nurses and firemen.

Tagged Pseudo-Archaeology, Shephelah