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Wednesday Roundup

The Mustard Tree is the latest video from SourceFlix.

This post has some inspiration for those interested in mapping historical events using Google Earth.

The example he uses here is the parting of the Red Sea, though I think he’s way off on the location.

A swarm of one million locusts moved from Egypt into Israel before spraying halted the invasion. Some Israelis gathered up sackfuls of the locusts to eat.

Ten years after its looting, the National Museum of Iraq is still not open to the public.

Art of the Ancient Near East: A Resource for Educators is available as a free download.

HT: BibleX, ANE-2, Jack Sasson

Tagged Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Archaeology Students Need Travel Scholarships

Classroom learning is valuable, but experience in the field is essential for students aspiring to careers in archaeology and ancient Near Eastern history. The costs for even a short summer excavation can be prohibitive for many students, and thus ASOR is sponsoring March Fellowship Madness in an effort to raise $10,000. This is a great opportunity to help needy students in a worthy effort. ASOR has pledged that 100% of all gifts will go directly to the scholarships, and if the goals of 100 donors and $10,000 are met, an additional $5,000 will be donated.

You can read all of the details and donate at the ASOR site. If half of this blog’s readers donated $25 each, they would more than double their goal today and 30 students would receive scholarships.

Tagged Excavations, Travels

Weekend Roundup

At Petra, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging laser) scanning and balloon-based 35mm photography are being used with other technologies to facilitate research and conservation.

Exploring Bible Lands is doing a series on the travels of the Ark of the Covenant, beginning at the Plains of Moab, crossing the Jordan River, and continuing on to Jericho, Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and now Shiloh.

JPost: “Wild animals will soon be able to safely cross bustling Route 1 when the Israel National Roads Company completes work on an ecological corridor at the Sha’ar Hagai interchange.”

This 40-second video clip with Eilat Mazar describing her discovery of the seal impression of a biblical figure could be a good way to get attention at the start of a lesson. The Jehucal bullae was discovered in 2005.

Popular Archaeology has a lengthy feature this month on the Egyptian fortress in Joppa.

Some very well-preserved leather shoes worn 2,000 years ago were recently discovered in Egypt.

Egyptian officials have rejected a proposal to rent out five of the country’s archaeological sites to international tourism companies.

For the broader world of archaeology, see the Archaeology Weekly Roundup at the ASOR Blog.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Egypt, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Conference: Temple and Cult in the Bronze and Iron Ages

Temples and Cult in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin During the Bronze and Iron Ages. Conference Marking the Retirement of Prof. Eliezer Oren and the Appearance of a Festschrift in His Honor
The Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Thursday, March 7, 2013.

Minkoff Senate Hall, Ayerton University center Marcus Family Campus, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva

10:00 Morning Session. Prof. Shmuel Ahituv, Chair

On Prof. Victor Avigdor Hurowitz z”l
Presentation of Festschrift – All the Wisdom of the East: Studies in Near Eastern Archaeology and History in Honor of Eliezer D. Oren, Orbis Biblicus et Orentalis 255, Fribourg and Göttingen, 2012

10:40 The Bronze Ages

Keynote Address: Gods and Rulers in Mycenaean Citadels: A Very Special Relationship. Prof. Josef Maran, University of Heidelberg (English)

Aspects of Temples and Cult in the Early Bronze Age in the Land of Israel. Prof. Pierre de
Miroschedji, CNRS, Nanterre (English)

The Cultic Precinct at Nahariyah: New Aspects of Cult during the Middle Bronze Age in the Land of Israel. Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (English)

13:30 Afternoon Session. Prof. Gunnar Lehmann, Chair

13:30 The Bronze Ages

Hathor in Canaan in Light of the Decorations on Jewelry Boxes. Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

The Temple Precinct at Megiddo; A New Look after Twenty Years of Excavations. Prof. David Ussishkin, Tel Aviv University

The Temple and the City: The Cases of Jericho and Batrawy in the Bronze Age. Prof. Lorenzo Nigro, Universita degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” (English)

Distribution of Cultic Implements in the Tel Haror Temple: Spatial Analysis. Pirhiya Nahshoni, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

15:30 The Iron Age. Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, Chair

Evidence for Cult and Religious Activity in the 9th and 10th Centuries at Tel-Rehov. Prof. Amihai Mazar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

The Arad Temple and its Cancellation: A Reevaluation. Prof. Zeev Herzog, Tel Aviv University

Popular Belief and Popular Art: Sacred Implements from the Favissa of a Philistine Temple at Yavneh. Dr. Irit Ziffer, Eretz Israel Museum
Summary and Conclusion. Prof. Eliezer Oren, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The full conference announcement is here. Lectures not marked as English will be given in Hebrew.

HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Lectures

Wednesday Roundup

10.5 Million Visits to the Western Wall in 2012 – The increase in tourism requires a doubling in restroom capacity.

Archaeology in Israel Update—February 2013 – Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg selects the top five stories of the month.

48 hours in the Negev – Onnie Schiffmiller provides a two-day itinerary beginning at Beersheba and moving south.

How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour – Wayne Stiles recommends ways to prepare mentally, practically, physically, and spiritually.

8 Tips to Maximize Your Holy Land Tour – Stiles follows up his preparation post with suggestions on what to do once you’re in Israel, including what photos to take and not take, how to keep up, and why you should ask lots of questions.

A “full house” at the Western Wall prayer plaza during the feast of Tabernacles. Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 3.

Tagged Jerusalem, Negev, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Arguments Against Locating Sodom at Tall al-Hammam

The proposal that Sodom has been found on the northeastern side of the Dead Sea has been around for a decade or so, but with the publication of an article by Steven Collins this month it will receive the widest hearing to date. I thought it might be helpful for readers of Biblical Archaeology Review to know where to go for another perspective.

The proposal that Tall al-Hammam is Sodom fails on at least two counts, and these are helpfully summarized by two experts in their respective subjects.

Geography Fail: Bill Schlegel, professor in Israel for 25 years and author of the Satellite Bible Atlas, explains why the biblical text does not fit the geography of Tall al-Hammam.

Chronology Fail: Eugene Merrill, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas
Theological Seminary and author of Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, shows in a recent Artifax article that for Tall al-Hammam to be Sodom one must deny all of the biblical dates before the time of the judges.

I’ve written about the issue several times as well:

Excavator Finds Evidence of Destruction at “Sodom” (Dec 2011)

Video: Search for Sodom and Gomorrah (Aug 2009)

Tall el-Hammam: Sodom, Abel Shittim, Abila, or Livias? (Jan 2009)

Sodom Identified? (May 2006)

One final point: the excavator of Tall al-Hammam insists that by identifying the site as Sodom he is supporting the historicity of the Bible. In fact, if his theory is true, we cannot trust the Bible for accurate details about times and places. Tall al-Hammam is certainly a significant site, but Sodom is surely to be found elsewhere.

Dead Sea northern end aerial from west, tb010703242

Northern end of the Dead Sea
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 4

Tagged Analysis, Dead Sea