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Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“A first ever First Temple-era gold granule bead was discovered during wet sifting of earth from the Temple Mount by a nine-year-old.”

Jamie Fraser and Caroline Cartwright give a very interesting account of the discovery and excavation of an olive oil factory in Gilead.

Israel’s Good Name shares his adventures at various sites in the western Jezreel Valley.

Leen Ritmeyer uses archaeological and textual sources to locate the Music Chamber in Herod’s temple.

Though most don’t believe that it is Mount Sinai, Har Karkom is home to 40,000 rock engravings.

According to Jeffrey Chadwick, the width of a gate at Gath is the same dimensions as the height of giant Goliath.

The release of Ken Dark’s new book has put in the news again the author’s theory that he has identified the house believed by the Byzantines to have been the house of Jesus.

“Visiting Sepphoris” is the latest video tour hosted by John DeLancey.

COVID restrictions have helped researchers excavating an underwater site off Israel to develop methods that will make future undersea excavation more precise and efficient.

A doctoral dissertation proposes that a silver shortage in Israel in the early Iron Age led to the creation of an alloy composed mainly of copper.

The next ASOR Zoom webinar: Eric Meyers, “Early Synagogues, Jesus, and Galilee—A Jewish Perspective,” on Dec 13, 7:30 EST.

Yesterday we released the Photo Companion to 1-2 Corinthians. These two volumes include 2,500 images.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Keith Keyser, Ted Weis, Ferrell Jenkins, Alexander Schick, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Lectures, Negev, Philistines, Photo Resources, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

An analysis of ancient teeth shows that people in ancient Israel suffered lead pollution (Haaretz premium; or see Aren Maeir’s website). The underlying journal article is here.

“The restoration of a soot-filled ancient Egyptian temple has revealed the previously unknown names of ancient Egyptian constellations.”

“The skeletal remains of what is believed to have been a rich man and his male slave fleeing the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago have been discovered in Pompeii.”

An ancient marble statue of Hermes was discovered beneath a street in Athens.

A study of the theater at Epidaurus has determined that it is “the most perfect theatre in the world in terms of aesthetics and acoustics.”

Cyprus plans to renovate 19 historical monuments this year.

Petra is the latest stop in John DeLancey’s video series.

“Ancient Egyptian Architecture Online provides vetted and standardized architectural drawings of a selection of ancient Egyptian buildings. These represent architecture from modest workmen’s houses to temple complexes, dating from the Old Kingdom through Late Antiquity.”

A new digital platform allows visitors to tour ancient Olympia virtually.

In a new series focused on problems faced by the seven churches of Revelation, Ferrell Jenkins first considers the worship of Artemis at Ephesus.

Mark Hoffman links to a collection of chronologies, genealogies, and maps of the biblical world by Ian Mladjov.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, G. M. Grena, Charles Savelle, Explorator, Ted Weis

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Mediterranean Islands, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The Tel Burna team has begun a survey of Khirbet ʿAter, a likely candidate for biblical Ether.

Bruno Soltic created a video on “Tel Burna – Week on a Dig,” featuring interviews with Itzick Shai, Steven Ortiz, Chris McKinny, and others.

Registration has now opened for next summer’s excavations at Tel Burna and Gath.

Sepphoris was an important city near Nazareth, and Wayne Stiles looks at its possible place in Jesus’s youth.

Bill Barrick posts about his visit to Sepphoris on a recent research trip, and he includes many photos.

Archaeology magazine has a feature on the dye industry at Tel Shikmona near Haifa.

Israel21c has identified “Israel’s best ancient toilets.”

Three individuals were arrested on suspicion of stealing antiquities from ancient Megiddo.

“In the hills of Timna in the Arava Desert, just north of Eilat, lies a secret lake that has become a magnet for some adventurous Israelis unable to travel abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Hebrew University has just released the first three volumes in the Tel Rehov final report series (scroll to the bottom).

Shalom Paul died earlier this week.

Israel’s Good Name made a number of outings this year to the Yavne dunes, finding it an ideal place for spotting birds, snakes, and other wildlife.

I am excited about this book forthcoming from Barry Beitzel: Where Was the Biblical Red Sea? Examining the Ancient Evidence. Beitzel defends the traditional location and shows why the Gulf of Aqaba hypothesis is impossible.

The Infusion Bible Conference (formerly the Institute of Biblical Context Conference) has just announced that the 2021 conference will be held in Franklin, Tennessee. This year’s topic is “Paul and His Roman World.”

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, G. M. Grena, Charles Savelle, Explorator

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Negev, Philistines, Resources, Sad News, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

More than 100 sarcophagi from the Ptolemaic period have been discovered at Saqqara in Egypt.

“More than 200 years after the rediscovery of an Egyptian temple [at Esna], a German-Egyptian research team has uncovered the original colors of inscriptions that are around 2,000 years old.”

CT scans are providing new information about two Egyptian mummies buried in the Roman period.

The American Research Center in Egypt has released two new virtual tours: the C-Ware Vessel and the KV 55 Coffin.

A 17 million euro renovation at the Giza Pyramids includes a new visitor center, an electric bus, and a restaurant.

Archaeologists working in southern Turkey have dubbed a newly discovered mosaic “the Mona Lisa of Kadirli.”

Mathematical models to determine the missing lengths of ancient scrolls are untrustworthy. The underlying journal article is here.

On this week’s The Book and the Spade, Jeffrey Kloha provides a virtual tour of the revised Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of the Bible.

Logos has released an audio version of the Hebrew Bible, read by Abraham Shmuelof, available for free.

Ferrell Jenkins shares a map and photographs illustrating the island of Patmos, the place of John’s exile when he wrote the book of Revelation.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis

Tagged Egypt, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Technology, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have discovered a fortified building in the Golan Heights that dates roughly to the time of David and may have belonged to the kingdom of Geshur.

A cache of gold coins dating to the early Islamic period have been unearthed near the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem.

Expansion of Beit El threatens to destroy remains of an ancient village.

Excavations at Caesarea Philippi (Banias) revealed a 2nd or 3rd century AD altar with a Greek inscription written by a pilgrim to the god Pan.

Bryan Windle has found a number of photos to illustrate the brief reign of King Jehoiachin, in his most recent archaeological biography.

A new film (in Hebrew) claims that the united kingdom was based in Israel, not Judah, and began in the 8th century, not 10th, based on Israel Finkelstein’s excavations of Kiriath Jearim.

Wayne Stiles looks to Ziklag for the secret of David’s spiritual success.

John Delancey’s latest video visits the City of David.

New from Eisenbrauns:

Ashkelon 7: The Iron Age I, by Lawrence E. Stager, Daniel M. Master, and Adam J. Aja.
Scribal Tools in Ancient Israel: A Study of Biblical Hebrew Terms for Writing Materials and Implements, by Philip Zhakevich.
(Use coupon NR20 for 30% off)

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Golan, Jerusalem, Negev, Resources, Samaria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Sinclair Bell writes about Imperial Rome’s passion for chariot racing. The article includes some beautiful illustrations, some of which come from a new documentary on the subject.

A new study shows that ancient Egyptian scribes added lead to their inks to help their writing dry.

“An Egyptian archaeological mission working in the al-Ghuraifah area in Minya Governorate has uncovered the tomb of a royal treasury supervisor.”

Free lecture on YouTube: “Tutankhamun’s Life, Death, and Afterlife: New Evidence from Thebes,” by W. Raymond Johnson (available until Nov 21).

Zoom lecture on Nov 10: “Citron Detectives, Nomadic Acacias, and Pomegranate Physics: Some Puzzles and Solutions in Biblical Ethnobotany,” by Jon Greenberg, a Biblical and Talmudic ethnobotanist.

The Israeli TV series “The Holy Land in the Eyes of History” is now available online in some countries (but not the US), with subtitles in English.

Smithsonian Magazine explains the Athenian background of ostracism, in which inscribed potsherds (ostraca) were cast to exile a political candidate from the city for the next decade.

Newly launched: PEACE: a Portal of Epigraphy, Archaeology, Conservation and Education on Jewish Funerary Culture, covering from antiquity to the 20th century.

The Winter 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Herod’s throne niche at Macherus and a private archive discovered at Maresha.

Denny Sissom’s The Bridge to the New Testament is on sale now with discount code WINTER2020.

Tutku has announced its list of tours in 2021 and 2022, including discounted trips for professors to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Jordan.

Claude Mariottini provides an introduction to the city of Susa.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Persia, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup