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It has been noted on the ANE-2 list that the 5th (Supplement) volume to the New Encyclopedia of vol5Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEH) is off the press.  The book is co-published by the Israel Exploration Society and the Biblical Archaeology Society, which should make it easy to buy in either the US or Israel.  Neither site yet has it listed for sale.  When it becomes available, I’ll note it here.  I commented on the original set previously here.

Update (4/8): The Israel Exploration Society has a 4-page pdf file describing the new volume.  On this side of the ocean, Eisenbrauns has it listed for sale (but not yet shipping).  The volume is 600 pages and costs $150 (which is the same as the price for the entire 4-volume set).

Update (4/9): The Biblical Archaeology Society is selling it now for $120 plus $10 shipping.  The first 25 orders get a free copy of The City of David, Revisiting Early Excavations (reg. $150).  There doesn’t seem to be a way to indicate if you are in the first 25 or not, so I would assume that once 25 orders have been taken, they will remove the red print of the special offer so as to not mislead customers into thinking that they might qualify.

Update (4/16): BAS has extended the special offer to the first 115 orders.  For those more advanced in their interest of archaeology in Israel and Jerusalem, this is a great deal.

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The first excavation in Israel to have a running blog is the The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog.  But it’s been several years and no one else seems to have caught on.  Until now.  The Tel Dan Excavations has started a new blog.  At this point, the blog looks more like a website, with static pages but not daily updates.  Presumably, with the start of the season this summer, they’ll keep us regularly informed of the progress. 

Permit me one comment on the recruiting banner, as they encourage volunteers to sign up.  The slogan says, on top of the graphic: “The 2008 season begins June 22!  Will you find the missing pieces of the David inscription?  Mail your volunteer application soon.”  That’s certainly a tantalizing suggestion.  Even though it’s been 14-15 years since the three fragments were found, there certainly could be more.  And if more are discovered, you can bet that many of the scholarly theories about the Tel Dan Inscription (TDI) will be cast aside.  In fact, here’s something that I had not picked up on until research last week.  Perhaps you know that the TDI was probably written by the Aramean king Hazael and it mentions his killing of King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah.  This appears to contradict 2 Kings 9 which says that Jehu, not Hazael, killed these two kings.  But here’s what I didn’t realize: the contradiction entirely hangs on two hypothesized words and letters in the TDI (they are reconstructed because the fragment breaks off at these points).  In other words, we only know that it says “I killed Jehoram” because scholars hypothesized the words “I killed.”  Of Ahaziah, it says “killed Ahaziah,” but the “I” is reconstructed.  Whether this is a reasonable or unreasonable guess, it is only a guess.  I sure hope they find more fragments.  Maybe it’ll be you.

Dan marketplace and Iron Age gate, tb052907121
Iron Age gate and plaza at Dan
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There are a number of stories I’ve noted over the past week or so that may be of interest.

The Philistine city of Gath has been “civilized” with the creation of a new national park.  I think they should have called it the Gath National Park, instead of the Tel Zafit National Park, as no one seriously questions the identification any more.  The site is now off-limits to 4-wheel drive vehicles (that makes it a climb to the top!) and signs are posted around.  See the Official/Unofficial Gath Blog for details.

A special exhibit this summer will feature a long portion of the Isaiah Scroll.  The first 28 chapters (8 feet; 2.3 meters) will be displayed at the Shrine of the Book from May 13 to August 15, 2008.  The Isaiah Scroll was once on display in the center of the exhibit, but because of stress on the manuscript, it was replaced by a replica many years ago.

You don’t have to go anywhere to see these 12 stunning photos of Egypt from National Geographic

(HT: Dr. Claude Mariottini).

The biographer of Kathleen Kenyon recently gave a lecture on the archaeologist at Baylor University.  This link is to a (flawed) news report and not the lecture itself.  I mentioned the biography itself before here.

Here’s a good little article on the excavations in the City of David around the possible palace of David.  If you’ve kept up on the story, you won’t find anything new here, but it is an informed presentation.  CBN has another, less helpful, tourist visit to the City of David. 

(HT: Joe Lauer)

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I’ve heard talk about a golf course planned on Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee for years, but this JPost article makes it sound like it’s getting closer to realization.  (Interpreted for those unfamiliar with the Israeli system, that means that there are now less than 472,325 legal obstacles remaining.)  
Here are a few numbers mentioned in the article:

2: Number of 18-hole golf courses in Galilee

150: Cost of the ultra-luxury resort (in millions of dollars)

8: Cost of water treatment plant already built (in millions of dollars)

The official website: www.israelbythesea.com

There will also is a golf course planned for Eilat, and JPost has a computer-generated image of what it might look like.

This blog post title is an allusion to the idea that Arbel may have been the mountain on which Jesus withdrew to pray (Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12).  I should trademark it and trade it to the developers for one of the gazillion-dollar memberships.

Sea of Galilee and Arbel cliffs panorama, tb0221007888sr
Arbel and the Sea of Galilee from the west
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The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago has just published an 88-page book on the looting in Iraq in the aftermath of the war.  From their website:

Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past
Edited by Geoff Emberling and Katharyn Hanson, 2008 With an introduction by Professor McGuire Gibson, this up-to-date account describes the state of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad and chronicles the damage done to archaeological sites by illicit digging.

The book can be ordered for $30 or downloaded in pdf format for free.  An exhibit of the same name opens at the Oriental Institute on April 10.

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The most important city in Galilee in the 1st century A.D. was Tiberias.  Founded by Herod Antipas in 20 A.D. and named after the emperor, Tiberius, the city served as the capital of the region.  In the New Testament, the Sea of Galilee is several times referred to as the “Sea of Tiberias,” indicating the city’s importance.  But for two reasons most Christian tourists to Israel don’t know much about it.  First, there is no record that Jesus ever visited the city.  None of his miracles or sermons here, if he did any, are written down.  Second, Tiberias today is the largest city in Galilee, and modern populations and ancient ruins don’t like each other.  But in the last few years, excavations of the ancient city have been taking place in areas not yet covered by apartment buildings and shopping malls.  This week, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced a plan to open an archaeological park to feature the Roman city.  The press release is posted in full here with a few photos, and some extracts are posted below.  The Jerusalem Post has the story in briefer form here.

Berko Park is slated to be magnet that will attract tourism from Israel and abroad to Tiberias and will expose the public at large to Tiberias’ glorious past, through all of its history which has its beginnings in the Early Roman period 2,000 years ago….
Berko Park extends across an area of approximately 100 dunams and is replete with ancient remains of the city of Tiberias that date from the time of the city’s establishment by Herod Antipas in the 1st century CE until the time of the Fatimid dynasty in the 11th century CE….
It is anticipated that the work in this part of the park will be finished this coming summer. Within the framework of the future expansion of Berko Park the Roman theater, which is located at the foot of Mount Berenice, is slated to be excavated. The theater is built of stone, is of imposing in size and faces east, thus those seated in it viewed the Sea of Galilee opposite them, the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon. The planners envision that this ancient and impressive theater will be used once again in modern times for the  presentation of grandiose performances….
Berko Park is part of a more extensive area where there are important archaeological finds that are all expected to be included in a large archaeological park in which there are ancient buildings that were previously excavated and that stand exposed today in the area. Included among them are the beit hamidrash that is ascribed to Rabbi Yochanan, which was exposed in the area of Tiberias’ waste water purification plant, the Anchor Church on Mount Berenice, another Byzantine church structure that was recently uncovered, the cardo, the marketplace, the aqueduct and the water reservoir. The city of Tiberias and the Israel Antiquities Authority will continue to act to rehabilitate and conserve these ancient structures, and to include them in a wide-scale tourism program.

Tiberias from south, tb022107066
Tiberias and Sea of Galilee from south
Previous stories about Tiberias on this blog report on the Roman theater and the ancient church.
HT: Joe Lauer
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