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“The Book of the Dead in 3D” will open later this year at Berkeley’s Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology. The interactive display will use virtual reality headsets to provide an immersive tour of Egypt’s death culture.

A robot captured 9 hours of video footage in traveling through the shaft of the Great Pyramid, discovering at the end a small chamber with elaborate symbols, but not yet solving the question of how the pyramids’ construction relates to the stars.

More has been published about the large animal cemetery located at the Roman port city of Berenice, Egypt.

The Alexander mosaic discovered at Pompeii will undergo a six-month process of restoration.

A man with a metal detector found a 2nd century AD Roman coin in British Columbia.

Mid-Atlantic Christian University and the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, NC have partnered together to exhibit artifacts from Khirbet el-Maqatir, March 19 to November 13. The exhibit is entitled “Joshua, Judges, & Jesus: An Archaeological Journey Through the Bible.”

Preserving Bible Times’s 2 Crowns film premieres on March 29 (reservation required, but there is no charge). Watch the trailer here. Pastors can sign up for a sneak preview on March 22 here.

Sidnie White Crawford will be lecturing on “Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran: A New Synthesis” on Mar 17, 11:30 am (EDT; Zoom link). Her book on the subject is on Amazon.

With Palm Sunday approaching, Wayne Stiles looks at the road descending down the Mount of Olives and the walls on either side of it.

Clyde Billington is on The Book and the Spade this week, talking about olive oil, DSS DNA, and bananas.

Accordance Bible Software is offering a number of historical and cultural resources on sale now, including the American Colony Collection, Views That Have Vanished, Cultural Images of the Holy Land, and Carta’s “Understanding” Series.

George Bass, often called the father of underwater archaeology, died on March 2. His article on “The Development of Maritime Archaeology in The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology is online.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Explorator, Charles Savelle

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An 11-year-old on a family hike in the Negev discovered a rare fertility figurine dating to about 500 BC.

Haaretz (premium) has a story about the debate over whether the Lachish gate shrine was a shrine, and if so, if it was desecrated by a toilet.

A new book by Idan Dershowitz argues that the scrolls of Moses Shapira, long believed to be forgeries, are actually the earliest Dead Sea Scrolls and were a “pre-canonical antecedent” of Deuteronomy. The book is available on Academia. Christopher Rollston argues that the scrolls are forgeries. Drew Longacre concurs.

A notice from the Hazor Excavations team indicates that foreigners will be permitted to volunteer in Israel this summer with proof of vaccination. The Gath registration webpage confirms this.

My new reflection on the Garden of Gethsemane is now available to members of Jerusalem Perspective.

The New York Times runs an obituary for Hershel Shanks.

Jerusalem University College has announced its newest program: The Christian Movement in the Mediterranean, with a two-week voyage tracing Paul’s voyages in the Mediterranean.

New: Ancient Israel’s Neighbors, by Brian R. Doak (Book 1 in Oxford’s Essentials of Biblical Studies series).

The early-bird discount for the Infusion Bible Conference ends on April 9. The topic is “Paul and His Roman World,” and the new location is Nashville.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Explorator

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A statue of Ramesses II has been placed in the Grand Hall of the Great Egyptian Museum so that the rays of the sun will illuminate it on February 22 and October 22 each year.

Closing on March 14: “Queen Nefertari’s Egypt,” at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Carole Raddato provides a list of the top 5 archaeological sites in Lebanon.

The British Museum identifies the top 10 historical board games, beginning with the Royal Game of Ur.

Duncan Howitt-Marshall explains how the ancient Greeks set us on the path to Mars.

Police recovered a rare bronze plate with a decree from Emperor Tiberius.

The renovated mausoleum of Emperor Augustus in Rome has reopened after being closed for many years.

Tyler Rossi writes about portraiture on ancient Roman coinage, noting that Julius Caesar was the first living person depicted on a Roman coin. Was this why he was assassinated?

in AramcoWorld’s well-illustrated article “The Quest for Blue,” Tom Verde explains that the color blue, while pervasive in nature, is much harder to reproduce and required considerable ingenuity in the ancient world.

Now in paperback from Oxford University Press: Archaeology and the Letters of Paul, by Laura Sarah Nasrallah.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Ted Weis, Paleojudaica

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Archaeologists working near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount have discovered the largest collection of ancient dice ever found.

The seventh issue of the newsletter of the Department and Institute of Archeology at Tel Aviv University includes reports on fieldwork at Azekah, Masada, and Jerusalem, along with other articles on research and laboratory work.

I don’t know that the claim of it being the oldest water tunnel is true, but the Balama tunnel near Jenin is certainly interesting and little-known.

A rare sighting of a sperm whale off Israel’s coast was made several weeks ago near Nahariya.

I am happy to see my old friend Jeroboam II getting some attention this week, as he is featured in the latest archaeological biography by Bryan Windle.

Three upcoming meetings of The Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times:

The Clinton Bailey Archive of Bedouin Culture is coming to the National Library of Israel. The collection includes a wealth of information about ancient Bedouin tribal cultures, including audio recordings, videos, and photos.

Joel Kramer joins Sean McDowell for a Q&A on the Bible and Archaeology.

New release: The Moses Scroll: Reopening the Most Controversial Case in the History of Biblical Scholarship, by Ross K. Nichols, illustrated by Daniel M. Wright

HT: Agade, Steven Anderson, Explorator, Ted Weis, Paleojudaica, Arne Halbakken

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A nearly intact 4-wheel ceremonial carriage has been found near Pompeii. Here’s a 3-D view and here’s a short video.

“Pompeii has completed a major restoration on a large fresco in the garden of the House of the Ceii, bringing back to life its intense colours, with the help of laser technology.”

A cemetery recently iscovered in Larnaca, Cyprus, was in use from the 12th century BC to the Roman period.

David Hendin provides a primer on silver shekels and half-shekels from Tyre, including addressing the difficult question of why these coins were chosen for use in the Jerusalem temple.

Discoveries in a tomb at Achziv may reflect the ancient “victory song” tradition evidenced in the accounts of Miriam, Deborah, Jephthah, David.

Drones equipped with multispectral cameras are providing clues of the path followed by water canals dug 2,000 years ago in Spain to support Roman-era gold mining operations.”

Pope Francis will be leading a prayer service at the ancient site of Ur. Iraqis hope the visit will help to bring back tourists.

The IAA website reviews the exhibition, “Owning the Past: From Mesopotamia to Iraq at the Ashmolean Museum.

David Moster explains what is the Bible’s most mispronounced letter, and how that plays out in the names of Jerusalem, Jericho, and other names.

The spring issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on the Holy Sepulcher, the “face of God,” and Auja el-Foqa.

Pinar Durgun provides tips for searching online museum collections.

Al Hoerth died in October. The Book and the Spade brings back an interview with him from 2006.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Chris McKinny, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick

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On their first day back to sifting, the Temple Mount Sifting Project discovered their first pur, just in time for Purim.

This Times of Israel article has some drone footage that clearly shows the damage to the Mount Ebal altar site. The article details the firestorm that erupted. The Jerusalem Post argues for protection for the site.

Conservators are injecting the stones of the Western Wall with grout to help them withstand the effects of weathering.

Erez Ben-Yosef and Elisabetta Boaretto are interviewed on the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel about Solomonic copper mines and radiocarbon dating.

Aren Maeir’s MOOC on “Biblical Archaeology: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Judah” returns on March 8. This will be the fourth run, and the course is free.

Online on March 6: A Virtual Tour of Israel: Haifa, a Shared City. Free registration is required.

Chris McKinny continues his discussion of historical geography and archaeology at sites in central Israel including Gezer, Masada, Qumran, Jericho, Shiloh, and Caesarea.

Dumbest tradition ever: After conquering the Promised Land, Joshua asked God if he could go to Mesopotamia to die.

Bible Archaeology Report’s top three for February: “something deciphered, something discovered and something damaged.”

In light of the oil disaster on Israel’s shore, Shmuel Browns shares a series of Coastline photos.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Chris McKinny

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