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Lectures in Biblical Archaeology

The American Jewish University (formerly University of Judaism) is hosting the 18th and final series of lectures on biblical archaeology at their Los Angeles campus starting next week. The lectures are on Monday evenings, beginning at 8:00 p.m., and with a cost of $25 each. The lecture dates, topics, and speakers are:

October 15

Jerusalem in the Days of David and Solomon: What Do We See in Excavations and What Does It
Actually Mean?

Jane M. Cahill

October 22

Archaeology, History and the Patriarchs

Gary Rendsberg

October 29

The Exodus from Egypt and the Conquest of Canaan in Archaeology, Egyptology and the Bible:
What Do We Know for Certain?

James K. Hoffmeier

November 12

Death Styles of the Rich and Famous and of the Kings of Israel: An Archaeologist Examines the
Evidence and Arguments

Jodi Magness

November 19

Two Temples Stood in Zion: How New Excavations, Old Photographs, Recent Observations and
Ancient Texts Enable Us to See the Temples of Solomon and Herod

Leen Ritmeyer

November 26

The First Synagogues and Churches: What Can We Learn from Newly Excavated Sites About the
Beliefs, Organization and Origins of Early Christian and Jewish Groups?

Steven Fine

December 3

Cosmos from Chaos: the Creation of Heaven and the Search for Divine Presence in Israelite Religion

Ziony Zevit

This really is an outstanding program and if I didn’t have to jump on an airplane to attend, I would
go. If you have limited time or funds, the four that would be of most interest to me are Cahill,
Hoffmeier, Magness, and Ritmeyer. The last three have great books on their subjects which I
recommend to all. (Perhaps they would sign it if you brought it.) Those books are Hoffmeier, Israel
in Egypt ($30); Magness, Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls ($15); Ritmeyer, The
Quest ($60).

Tagged Lectures

Holyland 3-D CD: Free Update

Some of you may have the Holyland 3-D CD produced by Rohr Productions (Richard Cleave). This flyover program has been released in several versions over the last 5+ years, and is most commonly sold with the Holy Land Satellite Atlas. A major update is now available from SkylineGlobe. I haven’t had time to play with it myself, but a colleague is impressed with the improvements. If you have it and want to compare it with Google Earth or NASA Whirlwind and comment below, you’re welcome to do that. The steps to upgrade are these:

1. Install an earlier version (even as old as v. 2). If you don’t already have it, you can purchase the CD with an atlas here ($65).

2. Install the upgrade.

There are more details about the upgrade at Sunday Software.

Tagged Resources

Short, Informative Videos

Here’s a fun video about the new Herodian quarry. The maker is a cameraman of a more serious production crew, but he made a fun 7-minute video that gives you a good idea of the quarry’s size.

The archaeologist, Jon Seligman, is on-site to give a good explanation.

Some videos made by SourceFlix Productions are recommended, including:

The Beehives of Tel Rehov – includes an interview with archaeologist Amihai Mazar on location.

First Century Tomb – includes an interview with Shimon Gibson inside an ancient tomb.

Temple Mount Desecration – Gabriel Barkay explains and the video shows why this matters.

If you get tired of hearing archaeologists, you can watch the team’s two-minute “light-hearted” video.

Looks like they’re having a good time!

Recent Discoveries

A friend sends along some interesting news articles:

Archaeologists found evidence that bas reliefs and cunieform letters were painted in the Achaemenid royal tombs at Naqsh-e Rustam in Iran. Among these is the tomb of Darius the Great.

Renovations of a mosque at Luxor revealed architectural elements of an earlier temple of Ramesses II.

The Japanese have obtained permission to renew excavations of (the Turkish part of) Karkemish (aka Carchemish). They have to clear some mine fields, and work is expected to begin in a year-and-a-half.

Tagged Discoveries

Bad "Archaeology"

Eric Cline has a good op-ed on “biblical archaeologists” who are frauds. Entitled “Raiders of the faux ark,” the Boston Globe piece exposes some of the “discoveries” made by guys with no archaeological training whatsoever. It’s not only worthwhile to expose such “scholarship” for what it is (and Cline does this more thoroughly in his recent book, From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible), but he avoids making a mistake that many do – lumping all religious scholars in with the nut cases. The article in full is worth reading, but here is an important paragraph:

Religious archeologists and secular archeologists frequently work side by side in the Holy Land. Among the top ranks of researchers, there are evangelical Christians, orthodox Jews, and people of many denominations. It is not religious views that are the issue here; it is whether good science is being done. Biblical archeology is a field in which people of good will, and all religions, can join under the banner of the scientific process.

From reviews I’ve read, I think I would find more to disagree with in his book than in this article. A couple of evangelical writers are working on a book debunking some of the “amazing discoveries” made in the last few decades and I’ll mention it here when that gets closer to publication.

Tagged Analysis, Tomb of Jesus

O Jerusalem, the Movie

One of the most important events in the 20th century was the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. One of the most popular books about the battle between Jews and Arabs was O Jerusalem, a work of historical fiction by Collins and LaPierre. It is recommended reading for all. A movie based on the book and with the same title is coming out on October 17 and you can see the trailer here (and the official website is here). It’s hard to tell from a trailer whether the movie will be fair to the book or to the historical reality, and the movie is rated “R” for “some war scenes.” If nothing else, it makes me want to re-read the book.