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“A Ptolemaic workshop for boat construction and repair has been uncovered in the Sinai Peninsula.”

Six Old Kingdom mastaba tombs, two Old Kingdom shaft tombs and one rock-cut tomb with multiple burials that were previously unknown were discovered last month by the Qubbet El-Hawa Research Project (QHRP) in Aswan.”

Archaeologists working in Pompeii on Valentine’s Day found a fresco of Narcissus.

Construction work on the new subway in Rome has led to discoveries of military barracks and an ancient home.

An Israeli tour guide discovered a rare Bar Kochba coin while hiking near Lachish.

Haaretz premium: “A recent article by Dr. Milka Levy-Rubin . . . says the Dome of the Rock was built in order to restore Jerusalem’s place on the regional map of holy sites, not vis a vis Mecca, but rather as a rival to Constantinople, the Byzantine capital.”

The January 2019 issue of the Newsletter of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities is now online.

Federica Spagnoli provides a history of the pomegranate in the ancient Near East.

“The Schloss Karlsruhe Museum [in Karlsruhe, Germany] is hosting the largest exhibition ever held on Mycenaean Greece’s cultural history.”

James Hoffmeier: What was Atenism and why did it fail?

The Washington Post shares some of Kevin Bubriski’s photographs taken in Syria before the civil war broke out.

John DeLancey has announced an Israel tour that includes a sign-language interpreter. He also recently posted a 5-minute video on Life Lessons from the Elah Valley that includes some drone footage.

Shmuel Browns shares some photos he took at the Dead Sea at sunrise.

Ferrell’s favorite photos this week are of the Garden of Gethsemane and Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle

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An inscription written in the Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian languages has been discovered at Naqshe-Rustam, the royal necropolis of Persepolis.

Work on the sewer system in Kition, Cyprus, keeps revealing ancient remains from the Classical and Roman periods.

A decade of restoration work of King Tut’s tomb has been completed. The History Channel has many photos.

The vase that the British Museum realized was a mace is in fact a vase.

The BBC reports on several women whose interest in archaeology began with a childhood fascination with mummies.

Eisenbrauns is running a sale of 30-50% off of titles in the Duke Judaic Studies and Sepphoris Archaeological Report series.

Beit Shemesh and Kiriath Yearim are the subjects of discussion in this week’s The Book and the Spade.

Shmuel Browns shares several photos he took along the Alon Road in eastern Samaria.

If you have been to Israel before, answer a few quick questions to help Wayne Stiles as he puts together a video series to help travelers prepare for a Holy Land Tour.

It’s a slow week, so here’s a bonus quotation:

“My definition of archaeology, shared with students during almost forty years of teaching historical geography, is that archaeology is the science of digging a square hole and the art of spinning a yarn from it” (Anson Rainey, “Stones for Bread: Archaeology versus History.” Near Eastern Archaeology 64 (2001): 140.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis

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A tomb containing 50 mummies from the Ptolemaic era has been discovered in Minya, south of Cairo.

The latest documentary produced by Bible Passages is “The Power of Jesus in Galilee.” The 22-minute video was filmed on location.

The world’s first film in the Babylonian language has been released.

The latest video from the British Museum explains an Assyrian relief that depicts a battle with Elam.

In an 8-minute video, Luke Chandler explains Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah using the reliefs in the British Museum.

Carl Rasmussen is leading a tour that follows in the footsteps of Paul from his shipwreck on Malta to his martyrdom in Rome.

Now is the time to sign up for a summer excavation in Israel, including at Gath.

Lamia Al-Gailani Werr, one of Iraq’s first female archaeologists, died recently.

HT: Agade, Steven Anderson, Ted Weis

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Researchers are trying to understand the significance of triangles incised on the inside rims of basalt bowls from the Chalcolithic period.

A student on a school trip found a coin in Nahal Shiloh with the words “Agrippa King” inscribed on it.

The Washington Post reports on the excavations and controversy related to the first-century road that runs from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered tombs from the Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta.

Writing in The Ancient History Bulletin, Katherine Hall proposes that Alexander the Great died from Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Nir Hasson explains the background of the Shivta exhibit at the Hecht Museum (Haaretz premium).

Meet the priest who has taken care of the Church of Jacob’s Well in Nablus for the last 60 years.

Israel’s Good Name writes about his field trip to Nahal Rash’ash in eastern Samaria.

There are 28 days in February and 28 chapters in Acts, so we’ve decided to do a month-long tour of the book. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle

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The AFP was given a private tour of the “Tomb of the Kings” in Jerusalem, while discussions are ongoing with the French government on re-opening the site to the public.

Renovations of a shop in Paris revealed a large hidden painting of the city of Jerusalem.

The greatest threats to archaeology in Iraq are looting and uncontrolled building.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of a procession of the Roman elite at Ephesus.

Wayne Stiles looks at three reminders that come from Jesus’s ministry in Galilee.

Evan McDuff describes his experience in excavating Tel Dor.

Graham Chandler provides an interesting and well-illustrated look at ivory in the ancient Near East.

The latest episodes on Digging for Truth look at the relationship between ancient child sacrifice and modern abortion (part 1, part 2, part 3).

Scattered Finds: Archaeology, Egyptology and Museums, by Alice Stevenson, is now available in print or as a free pdf.

Bryan Windle has created two top ten lists:

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Steven Anderson

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Excavations of Qumran’s “Cave 53” have concluded without discovering any scrolls. The Times of Israel provides a good summary of the efforts of recent years.

Two clay horse figurines were discovered last month in northern Israel,” one near Kefar Ruppin and the other near Tel Akko.

Bible History Daily reports on the discovery of the Roman funerary busts in Beth Shean.

A Byzantine cistern discovered under a playground in Jerusalem may become a national site. The article references Ramla’s “Pool of Arches,” which you can read about here.

There are no parallels to the bearded male head unearthed at Abel Beth Maacah, writes Naama Yahalom-Mack in a detailed description of the object.

Following an outcry, the highway over Tel Beth Shemesh will be 20 meters wide instead of 80.

Ferrell Jenkins shares his favorite photo of a fisherman casting his net into the Sea of Galilee. 

John DeLancey has been posting daily for his current Biblical Israel Tour. For Day 12, they visited the City of David and the Old City.

An earthquake centered in Nazareth shook the Galilee region on Thursday night.

A record amount of snowfall on Mount Hermon has opened the site to a peak capacity of visitors.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer

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