BiblePlaces Blog - Page 223 of 560

Weekend Roundup

The recent snowfall in Jerusalem was the heaviest December storm since 1953. Haaretz has the latest.

Where is Mount Sinai in Arabia (Galatians 4:25)? This is the final article in Gordon Franz’s series challenging the arguments of Robert Cornuke.

Can you trace the presence of God on earth throughout history? Wayne Stiles begins with the Garden of Eden and the tabernacle and goes from there.

Emek Shaveh posts some details on the forthcoming seven-story visitors’ center to be constructed in the Givati parking lot below the Dung Gate of Jerusalem. (Scroll down for the English version.)

The Cyrus Cylinder is wrapping up its tour of the U.S. and heading for India.

Miriam Feinberg Vamosh describes life for the wealthy in New Testament times.

Ferrell Jenkins reviews the new Zondervan Essential Atlas of the Bible.

David Livingston, founder of the Associates for Biblical Research, died recently. In honor of his life,
ABR has posted an issue of Bible and Spade devoted to his years of service.

Ferrell Jenkins asks, If not Tell Hesbân, where is Heshbon?

The National Museum of Iraq remains closed to the public. This is one Iraqi journalist’s tale of trying to get an explanation.

Wayne Stiles recommends the Top 5 Gifts for Bible Lands Study.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Two Major Snow Storms in Jerusalem

With a foot of snow on the ground already, Jerusalem is bracing for a weekend storm that is estimated to be triple the size of the last one. The city’s mayor, Nir Barkat, said that that the city is facing “a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen.” Some highways are closed and residents are being urged to stay home. From the Jerusalem Post:

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the next storm will likely strike in the early evening and last throughout tomorrow. “There are still hundreds of abandoned cars to deal with and it will be closed again during the next storm,” he said. “Police units are working to secure the city and will make patrols throughout the storm.”
Sprung added that residents and visitors should not leave their homes and are asked to check on and assist disabled and elderly neighbors.
“We need everyone to stay off the roads, secure their homes and wait until this next storm passes tomorrow,” she said.
[…]
Some 2,000 stranded motorists in the capital and on the highways leading to the city were rescued by police, IDF and Border Police forces.
[…]
We are currently using all means available to save the people stuck in the storm. Only after the weather calms will we be able to open all of the roadways in the city,” Barkat said Friday morning, adding that the city was facing “a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen.”

The story includes more details and 8 photos of the recent storm. For scenic shots of Jerusalem in the snow some years ago, see our page here.

Photo of the Judean wilderness from the Mount of Olives
Photo from the Jerusalem volume

Tagged Jerusalem, Weather

Picture of the Week: Nahr el-Kalb

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

In our everyday lives, most of us feel far removed from the biblical world. The stories of Israelites and Judeans, Assyrians and Babylonians, and Jews and Romans seem like they happened long ago in a far off place. And yet every now and then you run across something that makes you think about how connected we are with those times. Our picture of the week is one such example.

We continue our series on obscure sites in the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands with a photograph of some of the inscriptions at Nahr el-Kalb (a.k.a., Dog River) in Lebanon. There is a limestone cliff near the end of the river, and the inscriptions carved on that cliff are a virtual “Who’s Who” of military leaders who have passed through the area in both ancient and modern times. In the map below, you can see the site’s location along the coast of Lebanon between Byblos and Beirut. (Thanks again are due to A.D. Riddle for the map graphic.)

There are numerous inscriptions on this cliff, ranging from 1276 BC to AD 2000. These inscriptions commemorate the actions of Ramses II (Egyptian pharaoh in 13th c. BC), Esarhaddon (Assyrian king in 6th c. BC), Caracalla (Roman emperor in 3rd c. AD), Proculus (Phoenician governor in 4th c. AD), Barquq (Mamluq sultan in 14th c. AD), Napoleon III (French emperor in 19th c. AD [not to be confused with his uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte]), and others. Not all of the inscriptions are about military victories. Some of them just commemorate road improvements or the construction of a bridge. Yet the fact that leaders from various times and places all carved inscriptions in this place over the course of over 3,000 years is quite remarkable. This site provides us with a visible link between the modern day and all of the historical periods from the time of the ancient Egyptians onward.

For example, in the photograph above (taken by A.D. Riddle) you can see four inscriptions clustered together (click on the photo to enlarge). The one on the left was originally an Egyptian stela carved by the army of Ramses II in the 13th century BC. In AD 1861, this space was re-used by Napoleon III to commemorate the French intervention in the war between the Druze and Maronites. The two inscriptions to the right of Napoleon’s were carved by the ancient Assyrians (the man in the picture is looking at one and the other can be seen directly behind him). The texts of these two stelae have not endured the ravages of time, but the relief of an Assyrian king can still be seen on one of them. These inscriptions date to sometime in the Iron Age. Above the Assyrian stelea, you can see an inscription carved by the British Desert Mountain Corps during World War I, which records their military victories at Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo in 1918.

So in this one photograph we have the armies of ancient and modern nations represented. The juxtaposition of ancient Egypt and Assyria with the French and British reminds us that we are all part of an unbroken string of history. We are not so far removed from the ancients as we think.

This photograph and map, along with over 700 other images, are included in Volume 8 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, and is available here for $34 (with free shipping). Further images of the inscriptions at Nahr el-Kalb can be found here at LifeintheHolyLand.com, and photographs from nearby Byblos can be seen here on BiblePlaces.com.

Tagged Obscure Sites, Picture of the Week

Deal Signed To Replenish Dead Sea

From The Washington Post:

On Monday, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority agreed on an ambitious plan to begin refilling the ancient salt lake with briny water pumped from the Red Sea — and relieve local shortages of fresh water at the same time.
In the first stage of what could become a massive joint initiative, private investors will be asked to finance construction of a large desalination plant in Jordan, on the Gulf of Aqaba. The plant would suck billions of gallons from the Red Sea and convert it to drinking water that would be shared by Israel and Jordan. Israel, in turn, would increase the amount of water it sells to the Palestinian Authority by as much as 30 million cubic meters a year.
Billions of gallons of “reject brine” — essentially, super-salty water created by the desalination process — would be pumped via a new, 100-mile pipeline and discharged into the Dead Sea, in quantities hoped to be large enough to buy some time and slow the lake’s disappearance.
[…]
Much about the project remains to be worked out. Bids from private investors will be solicited next year, with estimated construction costs for the plant and pipeline running anywhere from $500 million to about $1 billion. The sensitive issue of fees for the water and the exact routing of the pipeline remain to be negotiated.
The first drop of brine would probably not be deposited into the Dead Sea before 2017.

Such a project has been discussed for many years, but this is the first agreement that I am aware has been signed. The Washington Post includes more details, background, and a map of the area. For more general info and photos on the Dead Sea, see this page.

Dead Sea view of lake from above PEF Marker, tb011703401

View of Dead Sea from approximate level of water 100 years ago
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Dead Sea

Weekend Roundup

Robert Deutsch is suing the Israel Antiquities Authority for $3 million.

Leen Ritmeyer points to a Washington Post article and detailed graphic of the Temple Mount.

Seth Rodriquez shares an animated map that shows who controlled the Middle East from 3000 BC to present.

The story of Eilat Mazar’s discovery of gold coins and medallion near the Temple Mount and how she kept it secret is recounted by Israel HaYom.

The Egyptian Museum is open, but King Tut is all alone, according to an update in the Washington Post.

The first winter storm in Israel brought snow to Mount Hermon and a rise in the level of the Sea of Galilee.

HT: Jack Sasson

Graphic from The Washington Post

Tagged Egypt, Forgery, Museums, Resources, Temple Mount, Weather, Weekend Roundup

Jewish-Christian Conflict on Mount Zion

The Caspari Center Media Review summarizes a recent report in Maariv on antagonism between Jews and Christians on Mount Zion.

The area surrounding King David’s tomb on Mount Zion has become a conflict zone between Christians and Jews, reports Ari Galhar. The monks from Dormition Abbey, which is adjacent to the tomb, claim that the Jews who frequent the place “spit on priests and nuns, spray-paint graffiti on the walls, stand in front of the church and curse the Christians, calling out ‘Death to Christians and Jesus is a monkey,’ and hold events on Saturday evenings with loud music.” The Jews, on the other hand, claim that a secretary and priest from the Abbey, both from Germany, “harass the Jews in that place for anti-Semitic reasons, especially because of the priest’s German background.” They also claim that Christians removed two mezuzot from the entrance to the tomb and also removed prayers books, which they then threw away “in order to hurt us.” An effort has been made to mediate between the two sides in recent weeks. One mediator explains that much of the blame can be placed on both Jewish and Christian delinquent youth who have been stirring up trouble on purpose. The church held a special meeting on Monday with representatives from the president’s office, the mayor’s office, the Ministry of Interior, and the police, where they expressed their grievances. According to the mayor’s office, the next step will be to hold a similar meeting with the Jews who frequent the tomb.

Passageway leading to David’s Tomb from Dormition Abbey
Photo from Jerusalem volume

Tagged Jerusalem