Discoveries Archives - Page 4 of 143

Weekend Roundup – Turkey

We are up to part four of a six-part roundup after my summer disappearance. Today’s focus in Turkey, tomorrow we’ll go to Greece and Italy, and the final post will cover everything that didn’t neatly fit in one of the categories.

What may be the world’s oldest calendar has been discovered on a stone pillar at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. Carl Rasmussen provides some explanation and photos.

Archaeologists excavated a Roman harbor facility in Parion, Turkey, that may have been used by the military.

Archaeologists found a pot of gold in a 3rd century BC house in Notion, Turkey.

A necropolis has been discovered in front of the Tokalı Church (Buckle Church) in Cappadocia.

“Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tablet with an early form of writing that preserves a furniture shopping list from around 3,500 years ago.”

Archaeologists discovered a Hittite seal with the inscription, “Whoever breaks this will die.”

“A pair of 1,500-year-old lady’s sandals with a sweet message in Greek was discovered during a dig in Istanbul.”

A temple of Mithras was discovered in southeastern Turkey.

New release: Antioch on the Orontes: History, Society, Ecology, and Visual Culture, by Andrea U. De Giorgi (Cambridge, $190)

John Drummond explains why Paul’s message was such a threat to the silversmiths in Ephesus.

CNN explains why Termessos, not far from Antalya, is well worth the drive up the mountain.

Turkey is so large and important that we have separate photo collections for Western Turkey (including the Seven Churches of Revelation) and Eastern and Central Turkey. If you prefer the verse-by-verse approach, integrating museum and historic photos, check out the Acts or Revelation volumes in the Photo Companion to the Bible.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Steven Anderson, Gordon Dickson, Mark V. Hoffman

Tagged Discoveries, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup – Egypt, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Persia

“An ongoing excavation in Damietta, Egypt, has uncovered 63 tombs from more than 2,500 years ago, alongside a trove of gold artifacts, coins and pottery.”

“During a diving expedition in the Nile River, archaeologists in Egypt discovered rock carvings featuring depictions of several ancient Egyptian pharaohs, along with hieroglyphic inscriptions.”

A new theory proposes that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids using “a hydraulic lift device that would have floated the heavy stones up through the middle of Egypt’s oldest pyramid using stored water.”

“Scientists have used state of the art 3D imaging technology to piece together the life—and probable death—of a 2.2 meter-long crocodile mummified by the ancient Egyptians.”

Smithsonian Magazine has a feature story on the ancient Egyptian port of Berenike and the latest discoveries.

Women have played an important but largely unrecognized role in Egyptology, writes Kathleen Sheppard. She has written an article for the BBC, looking at three female travelers who visited Egypt in the 1800s.

Twenty-six years after first retiring, Egyptologist Donald Redford has retired again.

Konstantinos Politis writes about Ghor al-Safi, the location of biblical Zoar.

A new Mesopotamian board game called Akkad is now raising support on Kickstarter.

You can play the Royal Game of Ur online.

Various theories have been proposed to identify a creature depicted on the staircase at Persepolis.

Bryan Windle is on Digging for Truth to discuss the archaeological evidence for Belshazzar.

BiblePlaces.com has created photo collections for Egypt, Jordan, and Persia (but not Mesopotamia). We do have a Photo Companion volume for Daniel, which includes both Babylonian and Persian material.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Steven Anderson, Gordon Dickson, Mark V. Hoffman

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jordan, Mesopotamia, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Ancient graffiti from the 6th century BC acted like a pirate map, leading archaeologists on a treasure hunt to the eventual rediscovery of the lost temple of the Acropolis of Athens.”

After being unaccounted for over 200 years, a fine bust of the Roman Emperor Caligula has been rediscovered and will be displayed again at the Strawberry Hill House.

David Moster has made a video to “unlock the secrets” of the 1,000-year-old Leningrad Codex. Specifically he explains how two of the “carpet illuminations” are to be read, based on the dissertation of Susan Schmidt.

“A sequence of letters belonging to an ancient alphabet has been discovered in a most unusual way — by someone scrolling through social media.”

“Religion at Work” is the topic of the latest issue of the journal Religion in the Roman Empire. All articles are open access

New release: An Asian American Ancient Historian and Biblical Scholar, by Edwin M. Yamauchi ($49; Kindle $10). The first 25% I’ve read covers a lot of fascinating ground.

New release: Eating and Drinking in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 67th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Turin, July 12–16, 2021, edited by Stefano de Martino, Elena Devecchi and Maurizio Viano (130 EUR; open-access pdf).

New release: The Neo-Assyrian Empire: A Handbook, by Simonetta Ponchia and Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi (De Gruyter, 654 pages, $182)

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of the one of the two tripartite temples discovered at Tell Tayinat.

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Ted Weis, Gordon Franz

Tagged Discoveries, Mesopotamia, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Monday announced the discovery of 33 archaeological tombs, dating back to the . . . the Greek and Roman eras near the Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan governorate.”

Mohy-Eldin E. Abo-Eleaz writes about foreign visitors to Egypt depicted in tombs in the reign of Thutmose III.

The Smithsonian Magazine has a feature article on the discoveries at Berenike on the shore of the Red Sea.

A new study shows that ancient Egyptian scribes suffered occupational bone damage.

The new study of radiocarbon dates from Jerusalem is the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Jodi Magness is on the Great Books podcast, produced by National Review, to discuss the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The latest issue of the Israel Exploration Journal includes articles on the Millo in Jerusalem, unique figurines from Judah, and forgotten papyri of the Judean desert. You can see the full table of contents here.

The May issue of BASOR has been released. The table of contents is online, but most of the articles require subscription.

New release: Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, volume 35, The Hillel Geva Volume (Israel Exploration Society, 775 pages, ₪400). The IES website has posted the table of contents, but the Hebrew articles are listed in Hebrew and I haven’t found an online listing in English (but here’s a text file). A few of the Hebrew articles I searched for were previously published in English. Geva’s contribution has been immense, and he is rightly honored by a whole host of scholars.

The Bible in Its Traditions is a website created by the École Biblique et Archéologique in Jerusalem that intends “to create the most extensive and helpful set of notes for the entire Bible” with “significant differences between different versions of the text of the Bible in the text itself, rather than in footnotes.”

Pool of Siloam, taken on June 23, 2024 by John Black

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Ted Weis, Gordon Franz

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A Canaanite shipwreck from the 14th-13th centuries BC was discovered off Israel’s northern coast in a natural gas company’s survey, making it the oldest shipwreck ever found in deep seas. “Its body and contents have not been disturbed by the human hand, nor affected by waves and currents, which do impact shipwrecks in shallower waters.”

A hoard of coins discovered in Lod provides evidence for a little-known Jewish revolt against Rome in the 4th century AD.

Jerusalem University College has posted its online fall course offerings, including classes on Egypt, Jerusalem, the Shephelah, and life and times of Paul.

Raphael Golb has written The Qumran Con: A Dead Sea Scrolls Memoir.

The Times of Israel interviews George S. Blumental about Israel Archaeological Proof, his new website “that compiles archaeological and historical documentation that shows the millennia of Jewish presence in the Holy Land.”

On the Biblical World podcast, Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer “respond to listener questions about how to raise your kids to be like Chris and Kyle, prophetic practices, 1 Cor 11, chambered gates, Pharisees, forgery scandal, the Coliseum and Jerusalem Temple, and much more.”

Stephen Compton believes he has identified Sennacherib’s siege camps at Lachish and other sites including Jerusalem. The primary article is published in Near Eastern Archaeology magazine (subscription required) and is more wide-ranging. The popular accounts focus on the Jerusalem camp, including Compton’s article at Popular Archaeology and reports at the Daily Mail and Ancient Origins. Live Science’s report includes some brief responses from top scholars. I’ll add two things: Ammunition Hill is a logical place for an invader’s camp, but it does not meet the criteria for Nob. Second, my analysis of the historical evidence is that Sennacherib never laid siege to Jerusalem. But the NEA article has much else of interest.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick

Tagged Discoveries, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A huge, circular monumental structure from the Minoan period has been discovered on Crete.

“A trove of perfectly preserved ceramics, burnt animal bones and a wooden chalice have been pulled up from a well in Ostia Antica,” the port city of ancient Rome.

“Polish archaeologists have discovered over 200 graves of monkeys, dogs and cats in an animal cemetery from the 1st and 2nd centuries in Berenike, Egypt.”

A fragment of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas dating to about AD 400 has been discovered in a library in Germany.

“A large study of plant, animal and human remains from an ancient site on the Syrian coast has shed light on what people ate more than 3,000 years ago and how they managed to survive through climate changes that brought periods of protracted drought.”

Owen Jarus identifies 32 significant shipwrecks from around the ancient world.

The latest issue of Archaeology Magazine includes a well-illustrated article on the “Assyrian renaissance.”

Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati denies claims that it is planning to sell rare books from the library’s collection.

If you woke up this morning looking for a way to save $595, you can do that by downloading the latest volume in the Medinet Habu publication reports.

Oliver Hersey explains why the Sinai Covenant is best understood in light of ancient marriage customs on the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast.

Walking The Text’s recommended resource of the month is A Week in the Life of Corinth, by Ben Witherington.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Gordon Franz, Wayne Stiles, Arne Halbakken, Mark Hoffman

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, Resources, Weekend Roundup