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Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A bust of Alexander the Great has been discovered in a church on the island of Cyprus.

The recent claim that the Polish Center of Archaeology had found the tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria, Egypt, is a hoax.

The new museum in Antioch on the Orontes will open soon with the world’s largest display of mosaics.

The “Roads of Arabia” exhibit is now in Kansas City at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Until July 6.

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology has launched an interactive online 3D object library. Direct link here.

Logos has three new collections available at pre-publication discount for those interested in seals of the biblical world:

The ASOR Weekly Roundup is here.

HT: Jack Sasson, Ted Weis

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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

I’ll start with my favorite article of the week: a review of recent excavations at the base of the Temple Mount’s Western Wall. You already know about the chisel, but you may not have heard about the smooth stone, the use of mortar, or the exposure of the valley floor. The Israel Hayom article failed to check with expert Leen Ritmeyer, but you can see his reaction on his blog.

Wet sand is the trick for cutting the pulling power in half when dragging pyramid stones across the Egyptian desert.

One chapter at a time, Ferrell Jenkins is taking us through a series in Visualizing Isaiah. This week he arrived at Isaiah 40 and he shares a couple of shepherd illustrations.

Now online: Leen Ritmeyer’s recent lecture, “Does the Byzantine Church at Khirbet el-Maqatir Reflect the Sacred Architecture of the Temple in Jerusalem?”

The Wall Street Journal summarizes events in the last few weeks that have led scholars to recognize the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife as a modern forgery.

The BBC has a video inside the new replica of King Tut’s tomb. Not everyone is pleased.

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Pictorial Library of Bible Lands New Features: Site Index

(Post by A.D. Riddle)

In May of 2012, a major revision of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands was announced on this blog.
It was a significant moment in the life of BiblePlaces.com, and the culmination of years of work. The number of volumes increased from 10 to 18, and the number of total photographs increased from 5,854 to 17,683. Apart from these statistics, however, many other improvements were made and some brand-new features were added, all of which make the collection more user-friendly.

We have already described the maps which debuted in the revision of the Pictorial Library (see part 1 and part 2). In this post, we want to highlight another brand-new feature: the Site Index.

The Site Index is a pdf document which provides (1) the primary name for each site that is used in the image filenames, (2) the volume and region where the site is located in the Pictorial Library, (3) a list of alternate names and spellings for the site, and (4) latitude and longitude coordinates for the site.

The importance and usefulness of this new feature can best be illustrated with some examples.

Perhaps you are teaching or studying Acts 21, and you need some photographs of Ptolemais (Acts 21:7), but you do not find any images with Ptolemais in the filename. With the Site Index you can quickly find Ptolemais, and see that it is found on Volume 1: “Galilee and the North”, in the folder/PowerPoint “Plain of Asher.” The Old Testament name of the city is Acco, and that is the name used for all of the image filenames. You will also see other historical names for the site such as Tell el-Fukhkhar and Acre, which might become important for doing further research. (In a future post about Google’s free program Picasa, we will mention another very easy way to find sites by other names, such as Ptolemais.)

Entry for Acco/Ptolemais in the Pictorial Library Site Index.

Another example concerns placenames which are shared by more than one site. For example, the Pictorial Library contains photographs of two sites in Israel named Achzib, one located on the Plain of Asher and the other in the Judean Shephelah (foothills).

Entries for Achzib in the Pictorial Library Site Index. 

Similarly, there are two sites in the Pictorial Library named Apollonia, one in Greece (Acts 17:1) and the other in Israel. The Site Index can help the user sort out these kinds of things, and make sure you are looking at the right site.

Entries for Apollonia in the Pictorial Library Site Index.
Finally, the coordinates for the site can be copied and pasted (simply, without any need to format or edit them) into a map program, such as Google Maps or Google Earth, so you can find where the site is located. (We will return to this last topic in a future post about using the Pictorial Library with Picasa.)
Note: The Site Index is a distinct document from the Image Index, both of which are included in the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
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Wednesday Roundup

Archaeologists working at Omrit have revealed the discovery of an Assyrian seal from the reign of Sargon II. The story is reported at Haaretz and on Ferrell’s Travel Blog.

The remains of 50 mummies from the New Kingdom period have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Haaretz is reporting that “a team of Spanish Egyptologists may have found one of the earliest-known pictures of Jesus Christ, in a 6th-century tomb unearthed in Upper Egypt.”

The Colosseum of Rome is getting its “first top to bottom cleaning in 2 millennia. The scrub-down began in December and is slated to cost $35 million before its completion in 2016.”

Former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass is under investigation for illegally amassing a fortune of $14 million.

National Geographic: “A study of Cold War spy-satellite photos has tripled the number of known archaeological sites across the Middle East, revealing thousands of ancient cities, roads, canals, and other ruins.”

The pillaging of Syria’s antiquities is now a full-time business for some. The Christian Science Monitor talks to some of those involved.

Is the Abba cave in Jerusalem the burial place of the last Hasmonean king? Haaretz presents the case for this identification. Joe Zias rejects it.

There’s a new open-access journal of interest: Science and Technology of Archaeological Research.
The editors are looking for submissions.

Accordance has a new series of 6 introductory Bible atlases published by Carta (OT, NT, archaeology, kingdoms, people, geography). For the first week only, the price is reduced to $79.99.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer, Mark Hoffman

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Artifact of the Month: Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III

(Posted by Michael J. Caba)

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III was made in c. 827 BC in ancient Assyria. It is about six and a half feet tall and a full photo is shown to the left. It is made of fine grained black limestone and it refers to both King Jehu and King Omri. These Israelite kings are also referred to frequently in the Bible (cf. 1 & 2 Kings). The obelisk was found in 1846 in Nimrud (ancient Calah) and is now on display in the British Museum.

The obelisk has the overall shape of a ziggurat with the top being finished with narrowing stepped platforms. Each of its four sides has 5 panels that show individuals bringing tribute to Shalmaneser. The inscriptions tell of Shalmaneser’s military victories and cover 31 years of his reign.

The following photo is a close-up of one of the panels showing an Israelite (either King Jehu or an emissary) bowing to the king of Assyria. The cuneiform text reads: “Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri….” 

Of interest to Biblical studies is the fact that Jehu apparently decided not to resist the Assyrians as one of his predecessors, King Ahab, had decided to do as previously noted at this post Kurkh Monolith. Instead of resistance, he decided to bring tribute and make peace for which he likely received the protection of Assyria from his nearby foe, Hazael of Damascus. Within a few years, however, it would become abundantly clear that Jehu had made a poor choice (cf. 2 Kgs 10:32-33).

 (Photos: BiblePlaces.com. Significant resources for further study: The Context of Scripture, Volume 2, pages 269-270; Lost Treasures of the Bible by Fant & Reddish, pages 119-124.)

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Samaria in 15 Minutes

In my experience, the most important area of the biblical land that people know the least about is the hill country of Samaria. Its importance is reflected in the fact that it is easier for me to list biblical people who were not in this area than it is to name those who were.

Why is this region generally less known? Most tour groups avoid it. Yes, it is possible to come to Israel and not see Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, and Ai. In fact, I would estimate that 95% of tourists never see these major sites.

I can’t recommend a tour group that will take you there (though if any tour operators would like to recommend a tour, they are free to do so in the comments below). But I can suggest you watch a short video that will help you to understand this region and its historical significance.

In just 15 minutes, you’ll learn about:

  • The capital city of Samaria
  • The Trans-Samaria Highway
  • The Wadi Fara
  • Shechem
  • Mounts Gerizim and Ebal
  • Shiloh
  • Ai

The video includes a historical review of major events, including Jacob’s dream at Bethel, Joshua’s battle at Ai, the tabernacle at Shiloh, Jeroboam’s capital, Baal worship at Samaria, the chariots of fire at Dothan, and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

Photos and on-location video bring the area to life. This video and others in the series are produced as commentaries for the Satellite Bible Atlas, but the atlas is not necessary to understand the videos. The video was created by Bill Schlegel and includes clips of some of his friends and students. It also makes good use of photos from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 2.
15 minutes gets you a great education on this most important biblical region.


For best results, play the video in full screen and change the quality to HD.

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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