fbpx

Hebrew University Professor Amihai Mazar has recently been awarded the Israel Prize.  Mazar is the excavator of Tel Qasile, Tel Batash (biblical Timnah), and Beth Shean.  He is presently excavating Tel Rehov in the Jordan Valley.  Mazar’s book, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, has long been a standard in the subject.  Professor Mazar was my first archaeology teacher, and he gave me my first opportunity to volunteer in a dig at Beth Shean.  He represents the best of Israeli archaeology and is most deserving of this prestigious award.

HT: Aren Maeir

Share:

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is hosting a conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls with an impressive line-up of speakers.  More information is on the school’s website, but unfortunately no list of lecture titles is given.

Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls and Biblical Interpretation Conference

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, 2095 Appling Road, Cordova, TN 38088 (901)-751-8453
April 23-24, 2009

This conference will include world class archaeologists, authors, and researchers as well as Old and
New Testament scholars. The speakers will include:

  • Kirk Kilpatrick, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Dean of the Masters and Associates Program, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Jodi Magness, renowned author and the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism, University of North Carolina
  • Stephen Ortiz, Associate Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds and Director of the Charles C. Tandy Archaeology Museum, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Lawrence H. Schiffman, renowned author and the Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor in Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University
  • Michael R. Spradlin, President, Chairman and Professor of Evangelism; Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Practical Theology, and Church History, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Emanuel Tov, renowned author, Department of the Bible, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
  • James Clair Vanderkam, renowned author; and John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
  • Steven L. Cox, Professor of the New Testament and Greek, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

The registration cost is $25 for students, $30.00 for alumni, and $50 for others. Registration includes snacks and a banquet meal. Meal selections will be either beef, chicken or kosher. 

The conference and banquet will be held on the MABTS campus.

On April 23, the conference runs from 2:00 p.m. through 9:30 p.m. (the banquet will be from 5:45 through 6:45 p.m.) and on April 24, the conference runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For a registration form, click here.

To register and pay online, click here.

The Tyndale House blog notes that DVDs of the conference will be for sale for $39.95.

HT: Joe Lauer

Share:

For $30, tourists can excavate the ancient ruins of Maresha/Beit Guvrin for three hours.  The area is full of caves rich with ancient artifacts, and it is not uncommon for excavators to find many “treasures” in the exposure.  Usually these discoveries include Hasmonean oil lamps or pottery vessels, for recently volunteers uncovered a nearly intact inscription from the 2nd century B.C. 

Haaretz reports:

Three fragments of a Greek inscription, believed to be part of the “Heliodoros stele” were recently found at an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation at the National Park of Beit Guvrin.
The Heliodoros stele, dating back to 178 B.C.E. and consisting of 23 lines inscribed in limestone, is considered one of the most important ancient inscriptions found in Israel.
Dr. Dov Gera, who studied the inscriptions, determined that the fragments were actually the lower portion of “The Heliodoros stele”. This discovery confirmed the assumption that the stele originally stood in one of the temples located where Maresha-Beit Guvrin National Park stands today.
The new fragments were discovered in a subterranean complex by participants in the Archaeological Seminars Institute’s “Dig for a Day” program.
As published by Professors Cotton and Wörrle in 2007, this royal stone stele bears a proclamation by the Seleucid king, Seleucus IV (father of Antiochus IV). The contents of the stele shed light on the Seleucid government’s involvement in local temples, mentioning an individual named Olympiodoros, the appointed “overseer” of the temples in Coele Syria – Phoenicia, including Judea.
The order of the king was sent to Heliodorus, who was probably the same person mentioned in the book of II Maccabees. According to the story in Maccabees, Heliodorus, as the representative of King Seleucus IV, tried to steal money from the Temple in Jerusalem but instead was severely beaten as a result of divine intervention.

The rest of the story is here.  The Israel Antiquities Authority has a press release and two high-resolution photos.

HT: Joe Lauer

Maresha from west aerial, tb011606749ddd Maresha from west
Share:

The California Museum of Ancient Art has announced its Winter 2009 lecture series, “Digging into the Ancient World of the Bible.”

March 4, 7:30 p.m., Ronny Reich, “New Discoveries from the City of David.”

March 30, 7:30 p.m., Aaron Burke, “Egyptians and Greeks in Jaffa: A New Look at the Ancient Mediterranean Port.”

Both lectures will be held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.  The cost for adults is $15 (students $12) per lecture. 

Aaron Burke is Assistant Professor of Archaeology of Ancient Israel and the Levant at UCLA and he began excavations in Jaffa in 2007 or 2008.  Ronny Reich is well known to readers of this blog as the excavator of numerous important sites in Jerusalem. 

More information about the lecture series is available at the museum website (pdf file here).

HT: George Grena

Share:

The Departments of Archaeology and Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa would like to invite you to attend a conference on the subject:

“Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism and Ideology from the third to the first millennium BCE,” to be held at the University of Haifa, May 3-7, 2009.

The conference aims at discussing the political, military, cultural, economic, literary and administrative relations between Egypt, Canaan and Israel along the Millennia in the ideological level and in everyday life, according to literary and non-literary texts, plastic art, and archaeology.

Lectures:

Mrs. Ben Dor S.

Tel Aviv University, Israel


Shishak’s Karnak Relief, in Comparison to Triumphal Reliefs of the NK in Karnak and 
Medinet Habu

Dr. Ben Tor D.

Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel


Egyptian-Canaanite Relations in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages as Reflected by Scarabs

Dr. Binder S.

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia


The Egyptian Background to the Investiture of Joseph

Prof. Dr. Fischer-Elfert H. W.

University of Leipzig, Germany


A Fresh look at Palestine and Syria in Pap. Anastasi I: Toponyms, Archaeology and Literature

Dr. Gee J.

Brigham Young University, USA


The Export of the Egyptian Scribe

Dr. Gnirs A. M.

University of Basel, Switzerland


Narrativity in History: The Egyptian Brave Hero

Prof. Hasel M. G.

Southern Adventist University, USA

To be announced

Prof. Hoffmeier J.

Trinity International University, USA


Did Seti I Reestablish Egyptian Hegemony in Canaan?

Dr. Kahn D.

University of Haifa, Israel


One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Egypt and Mitanni during the Amarna Age

Mr. Kraim Z.

Tel Aviv University, Israel


Logistical units and supply in the Egyptian army in New Kingdom

Dr. Ladynin I.

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia


‘Neos Sesonchosis Kosmokrator’: The Theme of Lost and Restored World Domination and the 
Egyptian Propaganda Before and Under Alexander the Great

Dr. Lehmann G.

Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel


An Egyptian Interlude: Egyptian Imperialism in the Levant between the Assyrian and the Neo-
Babylonian Empire according to the Archaeological Evidence

Prof. Mazar A.

Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel


The Egyptian Garrison Town at Beth Shean in Light of the New Excavations (1989-1996)

Dr. Mizrachi Y.

University of Haifa, Israel


Hatschepsut – Founder of an Egyptian Emporium?

Dr. Morenz L.

University of Leipzig, Germany


Cultural Misunderstandings due to the Differences in the Egyptian versus the Canaanite 
Cultural Code

Dr. Muhlestein K.

Brigham Young University, USA


The Footprint of Levantine Influence in the Shipwrecked Sailor

Dr. Müller M.

Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany


A View to a Kill: Egypt’s Grand Strategy in her Northern Empire

Prof. Noegel S.

University of Washington, USA


The Ark of the Covenant and Egyptian Solar Boats: A Comparative Study

Prof. Ockinga B.

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia


The Names of Emmanuel in Isaiah 9:5

Prof. Oren E.

Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel


Egyptian administration on the Ways of Horus and Canaan during the reign of Seti II

Dr. Von Recklinghausen D.

University of Tübingen, Germany

To be announced

Prof. Dr. Schipper B. U.

University of Bremen, Germany


Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah in the 26th dynasty

Prof. Dr. Schneider T.

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada


“The Assyrian conquest in disguise: rewriting Egyptian history in the “Struggle for the 
Benefice of Amun”

Dr. Shirley JJ

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA


What’s in a Name? Military and Civil Officials in the 18th Dynasty Military Sphere

Prof. Shupak N.

University of Haifa, Israel

To be announced

Dr. Sweeney D.

Tel Aviv University, Israel


A Long Way from Home: Women from the Levant in Ancient Egypt

Prof. Tower Hollis S.

Empire State College, USA


Two Hymns as Praise Poems, Royal Ideology, and History in Ancient Israel and Ancient Egypt: A Comparative Reflection

Dr. Vogel C.

University of Mainz, Germany


This Far and Not a Step Further! The Ideological Concept of Ancient Egyptian Boundary 
Stelae

Prof. Warburton D. A.

    Université Lumière Lyon, France

Dr. Raedler C.

    University of Mainz, Germany


The End of the Egyptian Presence in the Bronze Age

Prof. Zertal A.

University of Haifa, Israel


El-Ahwat, a New Discovery on the Shardana and Egypt in the 12th century

The Sandal-shaped Enclosures in the Jordan Valley and their Egyptian and Biblical 
Connections

Tours:

Tuesday, May 5, 0700: “In the Footsteps of Thutmosis III”: Excursion to Wadi ‘Arah and Megiddo.

Wednesday, May 6, 1730: Visit to the Hecht Archaeological Museum in Haifa.

Optional Tour: Thursday, May 7, 0700: Departure to Jordan Valley excursion.

Conference price for non-lecturers: $250 per person for the entire conference (places must be booked
in advance with the organizing Committee, pending availability).

Additional information can be found at the conference website.

HT: Joe Lauer

Share:

A pdf version of this announcement is available here.

Tel Aviv University

Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities

Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology

Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures

Friends of the Institute of Archaeology


New Studies on the Negev and Its Surroundings

Dedicated to the Memory of Prof. Moshe Kochavi (1928-2008)

The Annual Symposium of the Sonia and Marco Nadler

Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University

Thursday, February 26, 2009, Hall 223,

The Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University Campus

14.00 Welcome Reception

Chairperson: Ze’ev Herzog (Tel Aviv University)

14.30 Greetings and awarding of the Institute stipends

14.45 In Memory of Moshe Kochavi

Ram Gophna (Tel Aviv University)

15.00-16.00 First Session

Chairperson: Itzhaq Beit-Arieh (Tel Aviv University)


*Qubur el-Walaydah: Results of the 2007-2008 Seasons
Gunnar Lehmann (Ben Gurion University of the Negev)


*A Philistine Cult Place in the Western Negev
Pirhiya Nahshoni (Israel Antiquities Authority)


*Reconstructing the Subsistence Economy of Iron Age Sites in the Negev Highlands: The 
Microscopic Approach
Ruth Shahack-Gross (Bar Ilan University and the Weizmann Institute of Science)

16.00-16.30 Coffee break

16.30-17.30 Second Session

Chairperson: Yuval Gadot (Tel Aviv University)


*Inside and Outside: Politics, Power and Social  Awareness in the Desert Frontier during the 
Iron Age
Yifat Thareani (Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew Union College)


*Ancient Agriculture in the Negev Highlands – A Reexamination
Gideon Avni (Israel Antiquities Authority), Yoav Avni and Naomi Porat (Geological Survey of Israel)


*The Land Behind Aqaba: Ayla and the Negev in the Early Islamic Period
Donald Whitcomb (The University of Chicago)

17.30 Third Session

Chairperson: Israel Finkelstein (Tel Aviv University)


*Historical Biblical Archaeology in Southern Jordan: A New Chronology for Iron Age Edom

Thomas E. Levy (The University of California, San Diego)

A special sale of Institute publications will be offered to symposium participants

HT: Joe Lauer

Share: