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Weekend Roundup

Bryant Wood has posted a summary of this season’s excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir.

Joe Yudin recommends a short, wet hike near the Sea of Galilee.

Wayne Stiles explains why Shechem is the “most important crossroads in central Israel.”

He has also created the best illustrated page on the first-century boat in Galilee.

Ferrell Jenkins has discovered a way to keep tabs on the water level in the Sea of Galilee.

The discovery of gold coins in Apollonia and Kiryat Gat has led to an increase in illegal digging at sites in southern Israel. (A longer article and photos are available in an IAA press release in Hebrew.)

Israel’s Attorney-General says that all construction on the Temple Mount must adhere to existing laws.

An individual has filed a complaint with Israeli police against the playing of soccer on the Temple Mount.

Matthew Kalman’s story on the trial of the James Ossuary and Jehoash Tablet from The Jerusalem Report is now available for purchase in Kindle format (with free borrowing for Prime members).

The ASOR weekly roundup is here.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Forgery, Galilee, Jerusalem, Samaria, Temple Mount

Picture of the Week: Cliffs Near Michmash and Geba

(Guest post by Seth M. Rodriquez. For an introduction to this series, see last week’s post.)

This week’s photo comes from Volume 2 of the revised and expanded edition of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands. It is entitled “Cliffs Near Michmash and Geba from Southeast” (photo ID #: tb092706140). However, the name of the picture does not do justice to the thrilling events that took place here in the time of King Saul.

First Samuel 13 tells us that shortly after Saul was crowned king, the Philistines had penetrated deep into Israelite territory. Normally the Philistines controlled only the coastal plains, but at this point in history they were attempting to gain control over the hill country as well. They were encamped at Michmash in the territory of Benjamin, in the heart of Israelite territory (1 Sam 13:5). Saul mustered his troops but suffered a defeat (1 Sam 13:6-7). He was in dire straits and his character was put to the test as he waited for Samuel to arrive and offer sacrifice on behalf of the troops (1 Sam 13:8). Saul cracked under the strain and offered the sacrifice himself, incurring God’s judgment (1 Sam 13:9-15). This chain of events only made matters worse and the Philistine army started spreading out from Michmash, gaining control over the heart of Saul’s kingdom (1 Sam 13:16-18).

This was the situation that Jonathan found himself in, yet unlike his father his character blossomed under such difficult circumstances. First Samuel 14 provides us with the story. The picture above shows the cliffs that separated the Philistine camp at Michmash and the Israelite camp at Geba. The modern name for this valley is the Wadi Suweinit. The cliffs on the left side of the photo led to Geba and the cliffs on the right to Michmash. The Bible refers to these cliffs in this way:

“Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.” (1 Sam. 14:4-5, ESV.)

The camps were only about a mile apart. There is a pass between the two sites at the head of the valley (near the top center of the photo) where the main road was and still is today. That strategic pass through the area was probably the reason the Philistine soldiers chose to camp at Michmash: if they camped close by, they could monitor and control the traffic through the pass.

However, instead of approaching the Philistine garrison on the main road through the pass, Jonathan decided to surprise the Philistines by scaling the cliffs. Verse 13 tells us that Jonathan climbed up to the Philistine camp “on his hands and his feet.” Amazingly, he takes only his equipment bearer with him: two soldiers against an entire garrison. His reasoning for the attack is a testimony to his great faith:

“Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” (1 Sam 14:6, ESV.)

In the end, God rewarded Jonathan’s faith by giving him the victory. He and his equipment bearer killed 20 soldiers and the rest were thrown into a panic (1 Sam 14:14-15), which provided the Israelites with an opportunity to win a great victory. (You can read the rest of the story here.) Many things have changed in the land of Saul and Jonathan over the last 3,000 years, but these cliffs still stand today as a silent witness of the faith and heroic deeds of Jonathan.

This photo is included in Volume 2, “Samaria and the Center” of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands can be purchased here.
For more on Michmash, Geba and the pass, go here.

Tagged Picture of the Week

Israel to Revive Jordan River

A Reuters report describes how the Jordan River has shrunk over the years but a new plan will bring the stream back to life.

Today, as a result of years of overtaxing for irrigation and drinking water, [the Jordan River] snakes irresolutely along the valley from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. As far as the eye can see, it is just a few meters wide.
“It’s five percent of what once flowed,” said Ben Ari, who is one of the rehabilitation project leaders. “You can easily walk across without getting your head wet.”
Almost all the water that feeds the river is diverted by Syria, Jordan and Israel before it reaches the south, he explained.
But for the first time, Israel — which is two-thirds arid and has battled drought since its establishment 64 years ago — has a water surplus.
This follows decades of massive investment in the country’s water infrastructure. It re-uses 75 percent of its wastewater, mostly for agriculture, and by next year, 85 percent of drinking water will come from desalination plants.
The Israeli government has chosen to use this bounty to rehabilitate the country’s rivers. The Jordan tops the list.

The rest of the story describes other ways that Israel plans to promote tourism in the area. The article does not mention the impact this may have on the Dead Sea.

HT: Charles Savelle

The Jordan River south of the Sea of Galilee

Tagged Jordan Rift, Tourism

More Evidence of Hellenistic Harbor of Ptolemais/Acco

In April 2009, Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of a harbor at Acco dating to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. More evidence has been uncovered in recent excavations, including a destruction layer and a slipway probably used for military ships. From the Israel Antiquities Authority:

According to Kobi Sharvit, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority Marine Archaeology Unit , “Among the finds we’ve discovered now are large mooring stones that were incorporated in the quay and were used to secure sailing vessels that anchored in the harbor c. 2,300 years ago. This unique and important find finally provides an unequivocal answer to the question of whether we are dealing with port installations or the floor of a building. In addition, we exposed collapse comprised of large dressed stones that apparently belonged to large buildings or installations, which was spread of a distance of dozens of meters. What emerges from these finds is a clear picture of systematic and deliberate destruction of the port facilities that occurred in antiquity”. Sharvit adds, “Recently a find was uncovered that suggests we are excavating part of the military port of Akko. We are talking about an impressive section of stone pavement c. 8 meters long by c. 5 meters wide that was partially exposed. The floor is delimited on both sides by two impressive stone walls that are also built in the Phoenician manner. It seems that the floor between the walls slopes slightly toward the south, and there was a small amount of stone collapse in its center. Presumably this is a slipway, an installation that was used for lifting boats onto the shore, probably warships in this case”. According to Sharvit, “Only further archaeological excavations will corroborate or invalidate this theory”.
The bottom of the ancient harbor was exposed at the foot of the installations. There the mooring stones were found as well as thousands of fragments of pottery vessels, among which are dozens of intact vessels and metallic objects. The preliminary identification of the pottery vessels indicates that many of them come from islands in the Aegean Sea, including Knidos, Rhodes, Kos and others, as well as other port cities located along the Mediterranean coast.

The story includes photographs of the ancient quay, a mooring stone, and an imported bowl. High-resolution images are available from the IAA here.

The city of Acco was known as Ptolemais in the Hellenistic and New Testament periods. It is mentioned once in the New Testament in connection with Paul’s return from his third missionary journey (Acts 21:7). You can read more about the city here.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Israel's Coast

Giveaway: Any Five Volumes of the Pictorial Library

Last month we gave away the Israel Collection of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands to two winners. This week we are going to let the winners select the five volumes of their choice.

Perhaps if you win, you will choose the Israel Collection, volumes 1-5. If you are more interested in the travels and writings of the apostle Paul, you might opt for Eastern and Central Turkey (vol. 9), Greece (vol. 11), The Greek Islands (vol. 12), and Cyprus and Crete (vol. 13), and Italy and Malta (vol. 14).

If your interest inclines more to the Old Testament and you’ve already purchased the Israel Collection, we’d recommend Jordan (vol. 6), Egypt (vol. 7), Lebanon (vol. 8), Eastern and Central Turkey (vol. 9), and Cultural Images of the Holy Land (vol. 17).

There are quite a few options, depending upon your particular interest. If you can’t decide, you can order the entire collection for a discount of 35% off the price of individual volumes. (And if you place an order this week and win the drawing, we’ll refund your complete purchase.)

We have one drawing from which we will select two winners at random. You may enter the drawing one time only. The contest ends on Friday.

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Tagged Giveaway

The Date of the Beginning of Iron II

In 1996, Israel Finkelstein proposed a significant lowering of dates in the Iron I-II periods in Israel.

This sparked a debate which has often been heated in part because Finkelstein’s conclusions entail a virtual elimination of the United Monarchy as described in the Bible. This is the result of Finkelstein’s dating of the end of the Iron I period, with its poor material culture and lack of monumental construction, to the time after David and Solomon lived.

In an article published in 2008, Amihai Mazar released the results of Carbon 14 studies at four sites where “it is agreed by all that these four destructions mark the end of the Iron Age I.” He reports the results as follows:

After eliminating clear outliers, we reached the following results (all in 68% probability) (see Fig. 3, upper line, for combined averages from these four sites):
End of Qasile X: 1039-979 B.C.E.
End of Megiddo VIA: 1010-943
End of Yoqne‘am XVII: 1045-997
End of Tel Hadar: 1043-979

Just to get a better handle on the matter, I pulled out my calculator to determine the middle of the range for each site: Qasile: 1009; Megiddo: 976; Yoqneam (Jokneam): 1021; Tel Hadar: 1011. So it’s safe to say, based upon these results, that the Iron I ended and Iron II began about 1000 BC.

With the calculator still handy, I tabulated the average of the four dates. It came out to 1004 BC.

That’s a familiar number to students of biblical history who know that (1) Shishak invaded Israel in 926 BC, the fifth year of the rule of Rehoboam, such that (2) Solomon died in 931 BC, after forty years on the throne following (3) David who died in 971 and ruled for 33.5 years in Jerusalem, or 1004 BC. This 1004 BC date was acknowledged by the Municipality of Jerusalem which celebrated the 3000th anniversary of the city in 1996 (mistakenly, because of the missing year “0”).

The Carbon 14 numbers provide nothing more than ranges, with varying amounts of probability, but I thought it curious that the average date of the numbers for the beginning of Iron II just happened to be the year that David began ruling in Jerusalem.

The above quotation is from page 114 of Amihai Mazar, “From 1200 to 850 B.C.E.: Remarks on
Some Selected Archaeological Issues,” pp. 86-120 in Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIa (c. 1250–850 B.C.E.). Volume 1. The Archaeology, ed. L. L. Grabbe.

A recent article that reveals the lack of precision in Carbon 14 dating is “The Four Pillars of the Low Chronology,” by Daniel A. Frese and Thomas E. Levy, pp. 187-212 in Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future.

Tagged 10th Century, Analysis