fbpx

King David Museum Opened

A new museum of sorts has opened in the Old City.  From Arutz-7:

A rich mix of Jerusalemites came out on a brisk Jerusalem night in early March to celebrate the city’s newest museum: The King David Museum and Genealogy Center.  Located in the heart of the Old City, the museum is a celebration of the most celebrated king in Jewish history, the author of the Book of Psalms and a major subject of the biblical Book of Samuel. The museum tracks the unbroken Jewish connection to the city Jerusalem, that was first conquered and made the capital of Israel by King David. The permanent exhibition features artifacts from the first and second temple periods including earthenware, ceramics, coins, arrowheads, and more. There is also a section dedicated to printed matter about King David and the Temple Mount, featuring the first known printed book of Psalms, published in 1511, and a swath of original printings that date from 1696 to modern times. Another section of the museum features a series of jarred spices. Mixed together in the correct proportions, the spices were combined to create the incense that was offered daily in the Holy Temple…. The King David Museum and Genealogy Center is located at 19 Tiferet Yisrael Street in the Old City of Jerusalem. Opening Hours are Sunday- Thursday, 9 am – 9pm, Friday 9 am – 1pm. For more information, please call (02) 628-1502

The full story is here.

Share:
Leave a comment

Sea of Galilee Discovered

Officials today announced that the Sea of Galilee, famous in the New Testament as the location of Jesus’ ministry, has been discovered!  Reaction to the announcement was decidedly vocal in all quarters.  Evangelicals claimed that all of the Bible was hereby proven to be true.  One biblioblogger denounced the archaeologists as right-wing fundamentalists, asserting that no such body of water ever existed but the Bible is completely true nonetheless.  A Palestinian spokesman said that this is all just a plot to steal their land.  One Christian Zionist organization already had an appeal letter for funds in the mail.  60 Minutes had undercover reporters on the scene in hopes of finding an Egyptian scientist to explain how it must be a fraud.  A bulletin posted on Ron Wyatt’s website confirmed that they had already located Jesus’ footprints in the water.  The first chapter was released of a book by Robert Cornuke in which he claims that he found the footprints, just before being arrested.  Seasoned archaeologists noted wryly that great finds are always made on the last day of the season, whereas discoveries like this one are always made on April 1.

Sea of Galilee sunset from Hippos panorama, tb032807888
Sunset over Sea of Galilee from Hippos/Susita
Share:
Leave a comment

More Campsites and Bike Trails in Israel

I’ve always been struck by how few people in Israel are involved in recreational activities and how little developed the country is in that regard.  There are a lot of Shabbat bikers in the Shephelah, and during the fall and spring holidays, places like the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee are packed with campers.  But biking is dangerous on the roads, and campsites that have even water are few and far between.  The government has just announced a plan to make things better. From the JPost:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has launched two programs to encourage Israel’s citizens to get out and enjoy nature. During a special cabinet session held inside a cave at the Beit Shearim national park in the lower Galilee on Sunday morning, Olmert announced one plan to crisscross the country from North to South with bike trails and another program to upgrade dozens of camping sites. “We will… upgrade dozens of camping sites where people can enjoy the best conditions for an overnight stay, and all the necessary equipment, to change nature trips into… places where people can enjoy themselves. “We want to promote the popular sport. You, of course, know that I like exercising, [but] unfortunately, I can’t do what I want all Israel’s citizens to be able to – run, enjoy nature, ride bikes on the paths that will stretch from North to South for hundreds of kilometers,” the prime minister said at the opening of the meeting…. An interministerial committee headed by the Tourism Ministry will spearhead the project to turn Israel into a premier global destination for bikers. A total of NIS 100m. – NIS 20m. a year until 2013 – has been budgeted for the plan. The committee will have six months to present the initial plan for trails to be established as soon as possible and is expected to present a five year plan within a year. According to statistics presented at the cabinet meeting, there are 60,000 sport riders in Israel and bike sales go up 20% every year. The plan seeks to encourage biking by building an Israel Trail for biking from Metulla to Eilat, parts of which have already been constructed. Circular paths for family biking and more challenging rides will also be constructed, and urban biking as an environmentally friendly alternative to cars will be encouraged.

The full story is here.

Share:
Leave a comment

The "Jesus Tomb": One Year Later

A well-written review of the controversy about the “Jesus’ Tomb” has been published on National Review.  The author is Thomas F. Madden, a professor of history at St. Louis University, and he covers the events since the “discovery” last year in an engaging and humorous way.  The article begins:

A year ago the Discovery Channel delivered a cheery Easter message to America’s Christians: Jesus is dead – and we found his tomb.
After much fanfare and hype, The Lost Tomb of Jesus aired on March 4, 2007 to an audience of 4.1 million viewers. The documentary, which was directed by the journalist Simcha Jacobovici (better known as the host of The Naked Archaeologist) and produced by James Cameron (better known as the director of Titanic and True Lies), revealed that the Biblical account of Jesus’ burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and subsequent Resurrection was just wishful thinking. The truth, they claimed, was that the deceased Jesus was brought to his family tomb in Jerusalem, where he remained good and dead.
And Jacobovici and Cameron had the facts to prove it. For example, they revealed a stone ossuary (a repository for bones) that just possibly might have the words “Jesus, son of Joseph” on it. (The handwriting is poor, so scholars disagree on the actual inscription.) Another of the ossuaries has the name “Mary” on it. And another one is inscribed “Mariamene e Mara,” which — if you squint your eyes just right — looks like “Mariamne,” which was used by a writer more than 200 years later to refer to Mary Magdalene. Get it? That fits perfectly with the chronicle of ancient wisdom known as The Da Vinci Code, which asserts that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married! Even more startling, one of the other ossuaries bears the name “Judah, son of Jesus,” who must have been the son of Jesus and Mary (obviously born before Mary rushed off to have her daughter in Gaul, as The Da Vinci Code attests).

The rest is here.

HT: Joe Lauer

Share:
Leave a comment

Temple Mount Sifting Project: Video

I’ve mentioned the on-going sifting operation of the Temple Mount debris before (here and here), but I haven’t noted a relatively new video about the project.  The video is about 5 minutes long and gives a good overview of what they are doing and why.  If you’re interested in participating in the “excavation,” but don’t want to go alone, there’s a group going with the Associates of Biblical Research this summer.

Share:
Leave a comment
About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

Links
Notice

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. In any case, we will provide honest advice.