James Tabor, who made the initial suggestion to study a certain area for bathroom activity at Qumran, comments on the discovery on his Jesus Dynasty blog. He includes an aerial photo showing the location of the latrine area. Here is another photo which also shows the area of the latrines in relation to the site. The rocky outcropping would have provided privacy from anyone in the vicinity of the settlement.
HT: Paleojudaica
The 2006 report of the Hazor excavations is now online. Though the season was cut short by the war with Lebanon, the excavators made good progress and the report reflects that. If nothing else, you’ll love the beautiful aerial photo of the Solomonic gate and surrounding excavations.
HT: The ABR Newsletter (not online, but subscribe here).
I count myself a member of the Google Earth fan club. The latest update to the software gives you the ability to overlay historic maps over the globe. Of interest to biblical studies is the “Middle East 1961” map, which is a combination of two maps from Keith Johnston. This map itself is interesting, but maybe no more than that because the detail is so limited. The map covers a large swath from Turkey to Afghanistan. A more detailed map like the Survey of Western Palestine would be more useful.
To view this map, or others such as Lewis and Clark 1814, Asia 1710, or Buenos Aires 1892, you must first install the most recent version of Google Earth. Then in the “Layers” section, under “Featured Content,” choose the Rumsey Historical Maps section.
For more on this development, see the ZDNet blog or the comments by the map owner, David Rumsey, on the Official Google Blog.
Scholars have long debated the identity of those who lived at Qumran. Most believe that the site was inhabited by Essenes, an ascetic group that separated themselves from the corruption of Jerusalem and the Temple. There at Qumran they eked out an existence and copied scrolls by night. Even in recent months the consensus theory has been challenged by those who believe that Qumran was a place of pottery manufacture.
Results from a recent study of the soil around Qumran strengthens the majority view. Israeli paleopathologist Joe Zias found remains of human excrement about 500 meters north of the site. The intestinal parasites in the remains prove that the remains were of human origin, and the burial of the feces indicates that they aren’t from Bedouins, as the latter do not bury their excrement. It seems unlikely at best to suggest that pottery makers or inhabitants of a Roman villa would travel such a distance to relieve themselves, and thus this discovery supports the Essene hypothesis.
The results of the article will be published in Revue de Qumran, but the Jerusalem Post has the best synopsis online. The story is quite fascinating and it would have been a perfect article for Biblical Archaeology Review, but the poor relationship between Shanks and Zias precludes such a possibility.
Zias goes further in the study to suggest that the short life expectancy of the Qumranites (as evidenced in a study of the cemeteries) was the result of their sanitary practices. The Qumranites would pick up parasites as they walked through the defecating field which would then be passed on to everyone through the daily immersions in the ritual baths.
The article in Nature ends with this non-sequitur from Zias:
If his theory is correct, it might therefore carry a lesson about religious fundamentalism, Zias adds. “It shows what happens when people take biblical things too fundamentally or literally, as they do in many parts of the world, and what the ultimate consequences are.”
The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem has a special lecture series running through April 2007. The topic is “The Bible: A View from the 21st Century – Literary Genres,” and it is advertised as addressing these questions:
How did ancient Israel’s law resemble that of its neighbors? Who was a false prophet? What makes the writing of history in Ancient Israel unique? And more… Join us as leading Bible scholars will analyze the various literary genres of the books of the Bible, their content and their form.
The lecture schedule posted so far is as follows:
November 15, 2006
Lecture I in the Hebrew series “The Bible, A View from the 21st Century – Literary, Genres”:
The Bible – Beginning of the Jewish “Big Bang”
Prof. Yair Zakovitch, Hebrew Univ.
Lecture in Hebrew
November 22, 2006
A Chalcolithic Cemetery in Palmachim: Features of a Peripheral Site in the Center?
Amir Gorzalczany, IAA
Lecture in Hebrew
November 29, 2006
Lecture I in the English series “The Bible, A View from the 21st Century – Literary, Genres”:
The Bible – Beginning of the Jewish “Big Bang”
Prof. Yair Zakovitch, Hebrew Univ.
Lecture in English
December 6, 2006
Lecture II in the Hebrew Series “The Bible, A View from the 21st Century – Literary Genres”:
Teachings and Commandments; Laws and Statutes: Features of Biblical Law
Dr. Baruch Schwartz, Hebrew Univ.
Lecture in Hebrew
December 13, 2006
Antiochus IV and the Levant: the Wider Context of the Macchabean Revolt
Dr. Gerald Finkielsztejn, IAA
Lecture in Hebrew
December 27, 2006
Lecture II in the English Series “The Bible, A View from the 21st Century – Literary Genres”:
Teachings and Commandments; Laws and Statutes: Features of Biblical Law
Dr. Baruch Schwartz, Hebrew Univ.
Lecture in English
January 3, 2007
Lecture III in the Hebrew Series “The Bible, A View from the 21st Century – Literary Genres”:
History Writing in Israel: Scope, Origins, Forms, and View
Prof. Sarah Japhet, Hebrew Univ.
Lecture in Hebrew
The lectures are free with museum entrance.
Yesterday afternoon I took my archaeology students to help with the on-going sifting operation from the Temple Mount debris. They have made some remarkably discoveries in the two years that they have been methodically sifting the material.
The archaeologist in charge is Gabriel Barkay, who has been involved in Jerusalem archaeology for the last 40 years. He suggested yesterday that the current project may take him the rest of his life. They have searched less than half of the debris so far.
Last week a major find from the same material was announced in the journal of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. An inscription from a monumental arch with the name of the Roman general Silva was discovered by the Muslims during the earth’s removal, but it only became known to a few archaeologists several years ago. The inscription is about 3 feet long by 2 feet high and, according to Barkay, was part of a hence unknown Roman triumphal arch in the vicinity of the Temple Mount. Haaretz has more details.
For more about the project, see the Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction website. The author, Zachi Zweig, tells me that a new website is coming with up-to-date information.
