Uncategorized Archives - Page 50 of 555

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The Jerusalem Post has more about recent excavations that exposed part of Jerusalem’s Old City wall without a foundation but instead relied upon a “wonder of engineering”—a carefully calculated amount of earth packed against the base of the wall.

A new study of a fortress in Upper Galilee identifies it as the center of a local chiefdom in approximately 1100 BC. The underlying journal article may be purchased here.

A Crusader-era castle in northern Israel is being transformed into a mini-hotel.

With the Dead Sea level dropping more than 3 feet each year, the Israeli government is considering setting a level below which it may not fall.

“A soon-to-be-released docu-series will present a rare and researched look at one of the most perplexing Biblical topics: Nephilim (giants).”

Now online: Coin Deposits in Ancient Synagogues in Late Antique Palestine: A Digital Dissertation Project, by Tine Rassalle

“The Seventeenth International Orion Symposium, ‘(Con)textualPerspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls,’ will take place from February 28 to March 3, 2022, online.”

National Geographic has released a special issue on “The Dead Sea Scrolls: 75 Years Since Their Historic Discovery.” Amazon’s “look-inside” feature has the table of contents and some photos, including one they printed upside-down.

Harry Moskoff believes that there are temple treasures hidden in the Vatican, and he tells stories of various people who allegedly saw them.

Kyle Keimer and Chris McKinny interview Andrew Lawler in the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast.

I am back for part 2 of “Esther in Susa” on Digging for Truth. In this episode we focus on discoveries related to the Bible in King Xerxes’s palace.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick, Explorator, Keith Keyser

Tagged Dead Sea, Dead Sea Scrolls, Galilee, Jerusalem, Persia, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“More than 18,000 inscribed pottery ‘notepads’ are uncovered in the long-lost Egyptian city of Athribis, including shopping lists and lines written by students as a punishment”

The Khufu Boat Museum has been demolished, now allowing an unobstructed view of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Joyce Tyldesley gives a fascinating account of the discovery of the famous Nefertiti bust, how it ended up in Germany, and why it has never been returned to Egypt.

Timed with Friday’s release of the movie, Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting story about how Agatha Christie’s love of archaeology influenced Death on the Nile.

Turkish Archaeological News reviews the discoveries made in Turkey in the month of January.

“A Tunisian history enthusiast is making dye from sea snail shells inspired by a school project decades ago on ancient Carthage and the purple coloring that brought fabulous wealth to the classical world.”

“Archaeologists in southern Italy announced last week that they unearthed two helmets, fragments of weapons and armor, bits of pottery and the remains of a possible temple to Athena at an archaeological excavation of the ancient Greek city of Velia.”

Andrew Knight-Hill has created a 18-minute instrumental composition featuring “beach soundscapes and choral works sung from portions of the ancient flood myth poem Atra-Hasis.”

Paul Collins questions whether the Sumerians were a distinct ethnic people group.

A 6-minute BBC video looks at the decipherment of cuneiform.

K. Lawson Younger is the guest on the Biblical World podcast, discussing parallelomania, Arameans, and ancient conquest accounts.

John DeLancey’s new book is now out: Connecting the Dots: Between the Bible and the Land of Israel. You can read my endorsement there. The pre-order discount has been extended to Feb 19, and shipping is free.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Steve Ulrich, Keith Keyser

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A new study authored in part by Chris McKinny and published in the Journal of Biblical Literature identifies the millo of Jerusalem with the fortifications around the Gihon Spring. The JBL article requires purchase, but Bible History Daily has a summary.

Henri Gourinard is writing a guidebook on the Emmaus Trail, and he provides a brief introduction to the trail for Bible History Daily.

A new Israeli reality TV show named “My Trip is Better” will pit five tour guides against each other in a five-day competition.

“Location, location, location” – Brad Gray explains the significance of geography in his “Lenses of Context” series for Walking the Text. The 20-minute episode includes many photos and maps.

Foreign archaeologists are returning to Gaza to restore archaeological sites and to train Palestinians in conservation (3-minute video).

“Thousands of rare antiquities were confiscated . . . in a complex pre-dawn operation in the Nablus area on Monday following a months-long undercover investigation.”

NY Times: “For 10 days, a photojournalist drove across Jordan from north to south, visiting several of the country’s most treasured sites. Here’s what he saw.”

The Bible Mapper Blog has just posted its 100th map. The latest free maps include:

I join Henry Smith on the latest episode of Digging for Truth to talk about Queen Esther in Susa (25 min). In this first part of a two-part series, I describe the excavations of Susa, the layout of the city, and highlights of my visit to Iran.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Steve Ulrich, Keith Keyser

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Persia, Samaria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

This Year’s IBC: John: His Life, Legacy & Last Words

The dates, locations, and subject of this year’s Infusion Bible Conference have been announced. The topic is “John: His Life, Legacy & Last Words.” Here’s a brief description:

The Apostle John is unquestionably one of the central characters of the New Testament. He was a disciple. He was the caretaker of Mary after Jesus’s death. He was a pastor to the churches in Asia. He was a writer who penned a gospel and three epistles. And then there’s Revelation. Something about this man led Jesus to entrust him with the final words in Scripture. He’s seen a vision of the end and has words for us in the present. In a sense, John is the Church’s first elder statesman. He was there in Galilee with Jesus in the beginning, and he’s there in Asia at the end of the first century leading and guiding the Church.

90% of John’s gospel includes material that doesn’t show up in the other gospels. And there’s a reason for that. He’s writing last. He’s got a specific audience in Asia, and he’s had six decades for the Jesus story to simmer in his memory and heart. Many of us don’t realize how multi-dimensional his life was and how critical it was to the expansion of the Jesus movement. As a result, we misunderstand and misinterpret things he wrote, and also miss out on so much of what he was saying.

The conference will be held twice in August:

August 8-10 in Franklin, Tennessee
August 15-17 in Parker, Colorado

The three-day conference is loaded with short talks on everything you can think of and a lot more. The conference faculty this year is Brad Gray, Cyndi Parker, Brad Nelson, and Randy Smith—all who have traveled extensively in the biblical lands. One of the conference favorites is the IBC Notebook which includes detailed notes on all of the presentations as well as additional resources.

I’m planning to bring my wife to the Tennessee conference (during which time we will celebrate our 30th anniversary). Kris Udd will be at the event in Colorado. I think that the topic of John is a perfect follow-up to last year’s focus on Paul, and I hope I’ll see many of you there. As I have said here before, this is the best conference I know of for backgrounds of the Bible.

Registration is now open.

Tagged Lectures

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Egyptian shipwreck which proves the Greek Historian Herodotus was correct about the observations he made about Egyptian vessels nearly 25 centuries ago.”

“Evidence of ancient hybrid camels has been uncovered by archaeologists who were working to restore a temple in northern Iraq damaged by ISIS.”

Plans have been approved for a Museum of Underwater Antiquities in Piraeus, the ancient harbor of Athens.

“The attitude towards ancient theatres has changed” in Greece and work has been carried out on about 40 theaters in recent years.

The AP has some photos of the recent snowfall in Athens and Istanbul.

Magnesia’s “stadium of 30,000 seats is one of the most imposing and well-preserved ancient stadiums in Anatolia.”

“Ancient Egyptian wisdom and literary texts legitimize the domination of men over women, give advice regarding constraints on women, but also recommend avoiding women who are strangers or women who are adulterous.”

“The Lapis Niger is an ancient sanctuary and a remnant of the Comitium in Rome, that some Romans believed was the venerated sacred tomb of the city’s legendary founder, Romulus.”

David Moster has posted a new video in which he explains how a real “secret code” in the Bible identifies a biblical place.

Carl Rasmussen has a few open spots on his May tour of Turkey, Greece, and Patmos. The itinerary looks outstanding.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Construction work in the Gaza Strip has uncovered a Roman cemetery. There have been reports of looting.

Ongoing work at a quarry near Bethlehem has destroyed about 100 meters of a 1st-century aqueduct that brought water to Solomon’s Pools. There are calls on the government to stop the destruction.

Haaretz (premium) runs a short story about the Gal On Citadel, a Canaanite fortress in the Shephelah between Gath and Lachish. But, as Moshe Gilad writes, “it is advisable not to have too high expectations.”

Schoolchildren hiking in Nahal Besor discovered a coin with the head of Roman Emperor Valentinian I.

The latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East podcast questions whether there were really two synagogues in Magdala.

Peter Feinman surveys what prominent Egyptologists in the last century have thought about Israel’s exodus from Egypt.

Pharaoh Hophra ruled Egypt when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, and he is the subject of the latest archaeological biography on the Bible Archaeology Report.

A series of videos featuring Alexander Schick discussing the history of the Bible, Tischendorf, and the Dead Sea Scrolls is being released this month as the “focus series” by the Historical Faith Society (membership required).

On The Book and the Spade, John DeLancey discusses what’s new for tourists in Israel after returning from his first tour following Covid shutdowns.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Egypt, Exodus-Conquest, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Judah, Negev, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup