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Israel’s Capital City of Samaria Neglected and Vandalized

One of the most important sites from biblical times is neglected and deteriorating today. Samaria, the third and most significant capital of the kingdom of Israel, is prey to looters and vandals, as reported in yesterday in an article by the Associated Press.

“Sebastia, the archaeological site, is abandoned without any control from 2000. It’s 13 years,” said Osama Hamdan, a Palestinian architect who has coordinated the restoration works of Crusader-era buildings with [Carla] Benelli. “A lot of destruction of cultural heritage in this area has happened.”
He said statues, vases, coins and glasses have all been taken by looters.
Weeds grow freely among the archaeological ruins, sticking out from the ancient stones. Plastic bottles and food bags are littered at the bottom of the staircase that leads to a Crusader cathedral – also site of a mosque – where the tomb of John the Baptist is said to be located in the village of Sebastia. Finely decorated stone Roman tombs in the center of the village are smashed and abandoned.
At a Byzantine church dedicated to John the Baptist, located in the Israeli-controlled part, graffiti hailing the Hamas militant group is spray-painted on a column. The Islamic expression of faith – “There is no god but God” – is written in Arabic over the entrance.

The full article is here.

HT: Charles Savelle

Roman basilica of Samaria
Photo from Samaria and the Center

Tagged Samaria, Tourism

Herod Exhibit Virtual Tour Online

The Israel Museum has created a virtual tour of the Herod the Great exhibit in which you can “walk” through the nine galleries, viewing the reconstructions, listening to audio explanations, and watching several video pieces. The gallery is loosely arranged after the journey of Herod from the place of his death in Jericho to his burial at Herodium. Herod’s relationship with Rome is featured, and Ehud Netzer is honored. A photo of the reconstruction of upper and lower Herodium is valuable.
In particular I would recommend the two (silent) videos:

Herod’s Buildings in Jerusalem provides some excellent footage from the Jerusalem model now on the grounds of the Israel museum. This video could be used effectively in the classroom.
A time-lapse video of the reconstruction of the upper story of Herod’s mausoleum reveals just how much work was involved in this museum exhibit.

The Herod exhibition has been extended to January 4, 2014.

HT: Jack Sasson

Limestone Greek inscription with drachma donation for Herod's Temple from Jerusalem, 21 BC, tb122200095

Greek inscription mentioning donation for Herod’s temple in Jerusalem, 21 BC. Now on display in the Hecht Museum, Haifa.

Tagged Herod's Tomb, Museums

Picture of the Week: Qumran Caves

(Post by Seth M. Rodriquez)

This seems to be a week where Hebrew scrolls are in the news more often than normal (see here, here, and here), so our picture of the week focuses on the Qumran caves where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. If you have ever studied the Dead Sea Scrolls, you have probably heard statements such as “The Copper Scroll was found in Cave 3,” or “The Habakkuk Commentary was discovered in Cave 1,” or “Cave 11 contained 30 scrolls.” The scrolls are even labeled using the cave number as part of the reference, such as 2Q3 from Cave 2 at Qumran and 11Q19-20 which was found in Cave 11 at Qumran.

Yet with eleven caves in the area with written texts, it quickly becomes difficult to keep them all straight. Fortunately the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands is available to help walk you through the location of each cave, provide pictures of the outside of each cave (and sometimes pictures from within!), and helpful commentary on which scroll was found where. It is a great way of exploring the caves without the cost of traveling to the Dead Sea, without hiking through the blistering heat of the desert, and without any of the risks involved in climbing onto the edge of steep cliffs with loose gravel below your feet. (Thanks for doing all the legwork, Todd!)

The picture above is a prime example of the resources available in the Qumran Caves collection in Volume 4 of the PLBL (click the image to enlarge). The site of Qumran is to the right, outside of the frame. The photographer is facing west, looking at the edge of the hills of the Judean Wilderness. In the shot, you can see six out of the eleven Qumran caves: Caves 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. (Please note that the image above includes the labels from one of the PowerPoint® slides. The photograph by itself without any labels is also provided in the collection.) Much of Caves 7 through 10 have eroded away, but their positions can still be seen. Cave 4 yielded a large number of scroll fragments and is typically the one photographed in Bible dictionaries and other reference works.

The value of a shot like this becomes apparent when you are trying to give a lecture to your students on the Dead Sea Scrolls. With a picture like this, you can easily explain the arid terrain, the difficulty of reaching the caves, and their relative positions to one another. Within the collection, each cave is photographed from various angles so that you can get a feel for its size and shape.

The collection is also useful if you are planning a trip to the site. I only wish I could have had these pictures and diagrams with me the last time I visited Qumran so that I could pick out the location of each cave while standing there. The PowerPoint® notes even include instructions on how to get to some of the harder to reach caves when you are on-site (although the reader is cautioned against visiting Caves 1 and 2 because of the difficult terrain).

So whether you are preparing for a lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls, are packing for a trip to Israel, or just want to learn more about the place where the scrolls were found, the PLBL offers a valuable guide to the Qumran caves.

This photo and over 1,500 others are available in Volume 4 of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and is available here for $39 with free shipping. For additional photos and information on the Qumran caves, visit this page on the BiblePlaces website.

Tagged Picture of the Week

Wednesday Roundup

Gary Byers summarizes the result of the first week of excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir. He thinks it may have been the best first week of finds at the site. Shimon Gibson will be resuming his excavations on Mount Zion from June 16 to July 11. Volunteers are welcome. A list of papers for the Noah’s Ark conference at Sirnak University in Turkey has been announced. Among the list is this one by Gordon Franz: “Did Sennacherib, King of Assyria, Worship Wood from Noah’s Ark?” Don Wimmer, director of excavations at Tall Safut in Jordan, died last week. Worsening conditions at the Cairo Museum are causing concern. The Green Scholars Initiative Series on Early Jewish Texts is a new book series to be published by Brill and led by Emanuel Tov. Scholars are using artificial intelligence programs to help reassemble more than 100,000 manuscript fragments from across the Mediterranean world. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written the latest Archaeology in Israel Update—April 2013. Luke Chandler is leading a tour of Italy this fall. The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.) is now marked down 78% to $90. Until Friday. HT: Jack Sasson, Bill Soper Preserved ruins of Pompeii
Photo from Pictorial Library, Italy and Malta

Tagged Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Technology, Turkey

Dead Sea Scrolls for Sale

By the Associated Press:

Parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are up for sale — in tiny pieces.
Nearly 70 years after the discovery of the world’s oldest biblical manuscripts, the Palestinian family who originally sold them to scholars and institutions is now quietly marketing the leftovers — fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss safe deposit box all these years.
Most of these scraps are barely postage-stamp-sized, and some are blank. But in the last few years, evangelical Christian collectors and institutions in the U.S. have forked out millions of dollars for a chunk of this archaeological treasure. This angers Israel’s government antiquities authority, which holds most of the scrolls, claims that every last scrap should be recognized as Israeli cultural property, and threatens to seize any more pieces that hit the market.
“I told Kando many years ago, as far as I’m concerned, he can die with those scrolls,” said Amir Ganor, head of the authority’s anti-looting squad, speaking of William Kando, who maintains his family’s Dead Sea Scrolls collection. “The scrolls’ only address is the State of Israel.”
Kando says his family offered its remaining fragments to the antiquities authority and other Israeli institutions, but they could not afford them.
“If anyone is interested, we are ready to sell,” Kando told The Associated Press, sitting in the Jerusalem antiquities shop he inherited from his late father. “These are the most important things in the world.”

The article continues to describe recent purchases by Azusa Pacific University, Southwestern Seminary, and the Green Collection. For the largest available fragment the dealer is asking $40 million.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Qumran Cave 1, location of discovery of first Dead Sea Scrolls
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 4

Tagged Dead Sea, Museums

Weekend Roundup

Barry Britnell has the scoop on the forthcoming update to Google Maps and he shares some impressive examples.

Following the discovery of the mosaic near Bet Qama, Miriam Feinberg Vamosh provides a “flying [mosaic] carpet”-themed itinerary through Israel.

Matti Friedman follows up on an article in Biblical Archaeology Review to find out whether wooden beams on the Temple Mount might date back to the time of Solomon’s or Herod’s temples.

Smithsonian magazine reports on the Rise and Fall and Rise of Zahi Hawass.

Two months of excavations annually for the last 56 years is not enough, so a Turkish team will join the Italians and excavate the ruins of Hierapolis year-round.

Phase 2 of Eilat Mazar’s Ophel Excavation is now underway.

The University of Liverpool’s second annual conference on Archaeology and the Bible focused this year on “Egypt and the Bible” with lectures by James Hoffmeier and others.

HT: Daniel Wright, Jack Sasson

The ruins of Hierapolis
Photo from the Pictorial Library, Western Turkey

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Lectures, Temple Mount, Turkey