BiblePlaces Blog - Page 119 of 560

Weekend Roundup, Part 3

“Newly deciphered Egyptian symbols on a 3,400-year-old limestone ostracon from Luxor’s Tomb of Senneferi appears to be the first written evidence of the ABC letter order of the early Semitic alphabet.” The BASOR article on which this story is based is available here to subscribers.

A well-preserved Egyptian tomb at Saqqara belongs to a general who served Rameses II.

“Egyptian archeologists say they have discovered parts of a huge red brick building dating back to the Greco-Roman period north of Cairo.”

Live Science reports on how Egyptian archaeologists rescued two massive carvings from looters.

“After almost three months of study, a new geophysics survey has provided conclusive evidence that no hidden chambers exist adjacent to or inside Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.”

Cyprus returned 14 items to Egypt that were stolen in the 1980s.

Over 3,600 items illegally smuggled into the US were returned to Iraq in an official ceremony.

The April 2018 newsletter of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has been published.

With the discovery of 92 cuneiform tablets, archaeologists working at an ancient Assyrian site now
know that they are excavating the lost city of Mardaman.

An Assyriologist studying cuneiform tablets taken from Hobby Lobby by the federal government discovered evidence for a lost Sumerian city.

The National Museum of Iran has contributed 1,110 inscribed objects to the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.

Saudi Arabia has begun a new program to study archaeological sites in the region of al-Ula, including the Nabatean city of Madain Saleh.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Mesopotamia, Persia, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

An Israeli government grant of $17 million is intended to expand excavations and strengthen tourist infrastructure in and around the City of David.

Lazarus’s tomb in Bethany is the first site to benefit from Virtual Reality glasses in a new “Accessible Palestine” initiative.

ABR’s first week at Shiloh is in the books, and you can read a summary of the discoveries from the 11 squares here.

At Neot Kedumim, “Israel’s foremost food archaeologist” Tova Dickstein is working to understand the biblical diet. If you sign up for one of her biblical cooking workshops, you’ll be learning more about Ezekiel’s “bread” and less about hummus and falafel.

A man has been arrested for illegally excavating near the traditional site of Akeldema.

Eilat Mazar is interviewed on the Land of Israel Network (one hour).

Mordecai Aviam is on The Book and the Spade, talking with Gordon Govier about his dream of “Finding Bethsaida.”

In the month of May, Wayne Stiles looked at the geographical and practical significance of the story of Ruth, the Burnt House in Jerusalem, the Levitical cities, the Jabbok River, and the Plains of Moab.

Ferrell Jenkins has written a series on the Arabah (introduction, northern end, Tamar, Keturah, Ezion Geber, and copper mining) and a shorter series on the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park (#1, #2, and #3).

Israel’s Good Name stays on the move: Gamla II, Tel Gezer, and Jerusalem’s Binyanei HaUma Archaeological Dig.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Charles Savelle, Pat McCarthy

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Samaria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

I am home. I can’t say any more about it now, but those who follow our work will benefit from my trip in the months and years ahead. On to the first installment of what really amounts to a roundup for the month of May:

“Three extremely rare Jewish-minted coins dating from the 4th century BCE were recently discovered by the Temple Mount Sifting Project.”

“The study of four donkeys found buried under the houses of Canaanite merchants in the ancient city of Gath is giving archaeologists new clues about early international trade between ancient Egypt, Canaan and Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago.”

Infrared analysis has allowed researchers to view previously unknown text of some Dead Sea Scroll fragments.

“The Temple Mount Sifting Project takes its show on the road with a pilot program in which it uses dirt to connect students to the past and future of the Jerusalem holy site.”

A Bar Kochba Revolt coin discovered near Modiin suggests more widespread support for the rebellion than was previously believed.

An article in The Times of Israel addresses the sensationalized headlines about discoveries at Tel ‘Eton as well as some criticism from Israel Finkelstein.

David Gurevich looks at how archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem in recent decades affects our knowledge of the Great Revolt.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem (which now allows photographs) has a new exhibit on the biblical tekhelet (blue).

Some scientists are calling for higher-resolution satellite imagery to be made available for Israel.

Mariusz Rosik interviews me about my photography work, including the new Photo Companion to the Bible. If you prefer the Polish translation, you can find it here.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem, Museums, Photo Resources, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

New Opportunity: Institute of Biblical Culture

The Institute of Biblical Culture has just launched, and they are registering now for courses beginning in the fall. These live online courses are taught by Jewish and Christian professors on subjects such as biblical literature, biblical archaeology, and biblical backgrounds. You can start here, or go straight to the list of classes being offered this fall.

Here’s one suggestion: you can take a course on Rabbinic Literature, including Mishnah and the Talmud, from a rabbi. The early bird discount ($100 off) ends on Friday.

Tagged Lectures, Opportunities

No Roundups in May

I’m traveling this month, and thus I don’t expect to be able to compile any weekend roundups until June. It’s possible one of us contributors will write something in the meantime, but you can expect us to return to a more normal schedule in about four weeks.

Tagged Weekend Roundup

New: ESV Archaeology Study Bible

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the ESV Archaeology Study Bible for several years now, as the publisher contacted me at an early stage about including some of our photos in it. Now that the project is completed, I am very pleased to see the results. I think this will be a very useful study Bible for many.

Let’s start with the numbers. In addition to the ESV Bible text, the reader gets to enjoy:

2,000+ study notes
400+ color photographs
200+ maps and diagrams
200+ sidebars
15 articles

That’s a lot. To take it on a smaller scale, I counted 15 sidebars accompanying John 1–7, including Bethany and the Place of Jesus’ Baptism, Stone Vessels and Ritual Purity, The Temple Mount, Herod’s Temple, etc.

You get a sense for the helpful background information included in the sidebars by looking at those for 1 Corinthians, including Celibacy in Antiquity, Greco-Roman Sacrifice, Roman Banquets, the Isthmian Games, Meat Markets, and House Churches.

Wherever you flip in the Bible, you find abundant explanatory information. I’m doing some work on the post-exilic period and I see these helpful articles:

Ezra: Zerubbabel’s Temple
Nehemiah: Topography of Jerusalem
Esther: Darius’s Foundation Record at Susa

I didn’t expect to see much for the Psalms, but I was very wrong—nearly every page is half-filled with study notes. I am very impressed.

Who is responsible for all of this?

John Currid was the editor for the Old Testament and David W. Chapman was the editor for the New Testament. They were helped by a couple of dozen scholars who wrote study notes and articles. Here are a few names that may be familiar to our readers:

Steven M. Ortiz: Joshua, Judges, Ruth
Lawrence T. Geraty: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Boyd Seevers: Isaiah–Daniel
Paul H. Wright: Matthew–Luke
Mark Wilson: Acts, Revelation
Articles written by Barry Beitzel, Larry G. Herr, Barry Beitzel, Gerald L. Mattingly, and others

As you would expect from Crossway, the approach is generally conservative. Regarding the difficult issue of the Conquest, I think that some conservative scholars who have worked for years on this issue will be disappointed that their research was essentially ignored. It will be interesting to see what reviewers say about this.

Did I mention that there are many maps and charts? The maps are similar to the ones in the well-known ESV Bible Atlas, but of course in a study Bible like this, you get them right in the text where you need them, without the need to pull your atlas off the shelf.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic resource, and I’m very grateful that our team could contribute some of the photographs. Those who tell us that we should make our photos into a book are now going to hear this reply from me: buy the ESV Archaeology Study Bible!

Tagged Resources