Discoveries Archives - Page 41 of 142

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 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

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A border stone from the Roman period was discovered in the Golan Heights with a Greek inscription reading, “A border stone between Amatiya [or Amatira] and Kfar Nafah.”

Archaeologists have uncovered remains of a Byzantine church that was constructed in Caesarea Philippi in about the year 400 on top of a Roman temple to the god Pan.

A gem stone featuring a portrait of the god Apollo was discovered in debris sifting of soil coming from an ancient drainage channel in the City of David.

$40 million will be spent to upgrade the Tower of David Museum, with a plan to double the size of the current museum, including the addition of seven new galleries, a new sunken entrance visitor center outside the Old City walls, and a multi-sensory experience in the Kishle excavations. Some photos of the renovation work are available here temporarily.

Scholars are still unconvinced by Simcha Jacobovici’s claim that nails found in Caiaphas’s ossuary were the ones used to crucify Jesus.

Some archaeologists at Tel Aviv University are interpreting some new archaeological discoveries to suggest that the Manasseh was a hugely successful king who was turned into a scapegoat by the biblical authors (Haaretz premium).

E-Strata is the new Newsletter of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. The issues feature the latest new stories, interviews with notable figures, reports on recent publications, and more.

Bryan Windle highlights the top three reports in biblical archaeology this month.

Aren Maeir shares his experience of harvesting olives at Gath.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Golan, Jerusalem, Museums

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Leen Ritmeyer suggests that a couple of recently discovered arches on the Temple Mount may belong to a gate leading from the Court of the Women into the Music Room.

Archaeologists have discovered a copper-ore smelting furnace in Beersheba from the Chalcolithic period, making it the oldest known to date.

Opposition is increasing toward Jerusalem’s plan for a cable car to the Old City.

Tourism to the Holy Land has completely stopped for the first time since the Franco-Prussian War. This article in Haaretz (premium) describes the effects on the industry, renovation projects underway, and prospects for the future.

John DeLancey’s newest video provides a tour of the Jerusalem model at the Israel Museum.

GTI Tours has begun a new podcast, with interviews with Gary Burge on the Fifth Gospel, Brad Gray on Jesus’s baptism, and more.

Eric Cline talks about the story of the excavations at Megiddo in the 1920s and 1930s on The Times of Israel podcast.

Bryan Windle pulls together a lot of detail and good photographs in his archaeological biography of King Jehu.

Wayne Stiles looks at Israel’s journey through the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai to see how God works through painful journeys.

Ginger Caessens will be leading an intensive study tour of Jordan in June. I have recommended this many times in the past and continue to do so.

New: A Christian’s Guide to Evidence for the Bible: 101 Proofs from History and Archaeology, by J. Daniel Hays.

Steven Anderson’s research on the identifications of Darius the Mede is now posted online in a very easy-to-read format, presenting the major views and objections to each.

HT: Agade, Explorator, Carl Rasmussen

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Negev, Resources, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working at Azekah may have found traces of the Assyrian siege ramp used to conquer the city in 701 BC.

“The Waqf filled in a hole that opened in the Temple Mount floor with concrete on Tuesday, raising concerns that possible archaeological findings may now be lost.” Zachi Dvira at the Temple Mount Sifting Project offers his thoughts on the possible significance of the now-filled opening, along with some rare photos of underground areas of the Temple Mount.

The Israel Museum has re-opened “with a coronavirus-safe approach that includes half-hour capsule tours of the museum’s permanent and current exhibits.”

Gordon Govier writes about the summer excavations in Israel that were not, and those that were.

Lawrence Schiffman writes on discoveries made in 2020 for Ami Magazine.

Usha, an ancient village in western Galilee, is the subject of a 6-minute news piece on Israel Daily. (Note: add “the Sanhedrin Trail” to your bucket list.)

Zvi Koenigsberg looks at the possible connection between the site(s) of Gilgal and the strange phenomenon of “footprints” on the eastern side of Israel.

Dan Warner is on The Book and the Spade this week talking about the Gezer water tunnel.

Biblical Israel Ministries and Tours has just released a brand-new resource that features beautiful aerial footage of more than 55 biblical sites in Israel and Jordan. The launch price is only $30 for the DVD and $45 for a higher-res version on a thumb drive. Individual high-res site videos are available for only $4 each.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup