Discoveries Archives - Page 54 of 142

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

More than 1,000 Hellenistic-era seal impressions were recently discovered in excavations at Maresha.

Underwater archaeologists are searching the sea near Dor in advance of the construction of a gas pipeline.

US military veterans are participating in excavations at Beth Shearim in a program providing therapy for PTSD.

A plan to build a cable car to transport visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not making everyone happy.

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem now offers a virtual reality tour that visits nine vantage points in the Old City.

The IAA is opposed to plans by the Temple Mount Faithful to hold a concert in the excavations area south of the Temple Mount.

The 12th annual conference on “New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Vicinity” will be held next month. Aren Maeir has posted the program.

Joel Kramer has announced the dates of his next study tour in Israel.

Carl Rasmussen links to two videos from Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations of Jericho.

The Methuselah date palm tree is male, but six more ancient date seeds have been planted in hopes of raising a female for Methuselah to pollinate.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A ceramic pomegranate was discovered at Shiloh this past summer. (The news release gives no indication of a date.)

Scientists are learning more about the three people buried in the 30-ton, black granite sarcophagus recently discovered in Alexandria. The presence of a woman indicates all were not soldiers, and a hole in a skull suggests trepanation. One researcher comments on the inscriptions.

An ancient DNA study is shedding light on the Chalcolithic culture in the Upper Galilee. More than 600 people were buried in the Peqi’in Cave.

The presence of a large number gazelle bones in a Galilean village suggests that Shikhin was a production center for parchment (Haaretz premium).

Archaeologists believe they have uncovered a “pleasure-garden” atop Masada.

“Can Caesarea become the acropolis of Israeli tourism?” Haaretz (premium) looks at the large-scale restoration project currently underway.

Plans continue to be made for an underwater museum in Iznik, Turkey.

The Bible Lands Museum is loaning a cuneiform tablet with the name “Benayahu son of Netanyahu” to the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Next month Harvard Art Museums opens a special exhibition, “Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings.”

Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology is hosting its annual conference, “News from the Trenches,” on October 18. There’s a schedule in Hebrew here; I haven’t found one online in English yet.

Robert Mullins will be lecturing on Abel Beth Maacah at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on Sept. 10 at 7 pm in Hinkson Hall. This is the inaugural lecture in the Claris Nystrom Lecture Series in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology.

“The land God chose was not arbitrary, for He designed even the land itself to develop the spiritual lives of His people.” Wayne Stiles explains what that means.

Is there any significance to the mention of Zaccheus climbing a sycamore-fig tree? Brad Gray shows how it recalls the prophecy of Amos in his latest Walking the Text video.

Megan Sauter shares her experience in creating date pastries from an ancient recipe from Mari.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Judah, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Samaria, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A Roman-era cemetery with 32 tombs has been discovered near Hebron.

Archaeologists have discovered what is “probably the most ancient archaeological solid residue of cheese ever found” in the sands near Saqqara.

Erez Ben-Yosef and Aaron Greener explain the significance of Edom’s copper mines in Timna.

A couple of new studies identify the sources of ancient Egyptian copper.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities Newsletter for July 2018 includes the latest archaeological discoveries, repatriated antiquities, meetings, temporary exhibits, and increased fees.

“An antiquities museum in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib” has reopened after five years. The museum holds some of the Ebla tablets and was damaged in the war.

“The UCLA Library and Early Manuscripts Electronic Library have partnered with St. Catherine’s Monastery to digitize and publish online on an open access basis some 1,100 rare and unique Syriac and Arabic manuscripts dating from the fourth to the 17th centuries.”

Alexander Schick has written an extended article about the Temple Mount. If you don’t read German, there are many photos of interest.

Gabriel Barkay’s lecture, “Was Jesus Buried in the Garden Tomb?” from 2006 is now available online at Jerusalem Perspective.

The latest excursion of Israel’s Good Name takes him to Gath and the Museum of Philistine Culture in Ashdod.

The September/October issue of Biblical Archaeology Review features articles on Masada, Tel Shimron, and dating.

The Columbian has a touristy piece on Jaffa.

Candida Moss identifies the best ancient Christian sites in Egypt.

A number of streams in the Golan Heights that are popular with hikers have been closed due to contamination.

The oldest hippopotamus in captivity has died at the age of 59 at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.

The four volumes of the Tel Beth Shean excavation reports are now available for free in pdf format from Amihai Mazar’s academia website. He has also posted a chapter on Tel Rehov in the 10th-9th centuries.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Golan, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Museums, Philistines, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A rare and beautiful Hellenistic-era gold earring was found in excavations in the City of David.

A sphinx has been discovered in Luxor during a road construction project.

“Six statues dating back 2,000 years were discovered Saturday in the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Magnesia” in Turkey.

The tombs of two statesmen from the Middle Kingdom period have been discovered at Beni Hassan.

Archaeologists have discovered a Greek shipwreck from 500 BC in the Black Sea.

“A pebble mosaic in a bathhouse dated to the 4th century BC was unearthed during an excavation at
the Small Theater of ancient Amvrakia” in Greece.

Renovation work is underway to open an ancient Roman bath in central Turkey to tourists.

The Plutonium of Hierapolis, discovered in 2013, will open to visitors next month.

The ancient Roman city of Volubilis in Morocco is drawing more visitors after its rejuvenation.

The dramatic changes at Palmyra over the years is the subject of an exhibit sponsored by The Institute for Digital Archaeology.

Three looters of Israel’s ancient capital of Samaria were sentenced to either 36 days or 36 months in prison.

The W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem is now accepting applications for fellowships.

The schedule for the 2018 annual meeting of ASOR is now online.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Daniel Wright

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Greece, Jerusalem, Lectures, Samaria, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

While building an on-site museum to house the massive Lod mosaic, they discovered another mosaic.

Archaeologists working at Gedera have uncovered a 20-bath spa, a game room, and a pottery workshop.

The final season has wrapped up at the site of Horvat Kur near the Sea of Galilee.

Whether one swallowed Jonah or not, whales used to live in the Mediterranean, according to a new study.

Thomas Hikade and Jane Roy assess the evidence for human sacrifice in early Egyptian history.

New: An excavation report from Khirbet Qeiyafa: In the Footsteps of King David: Revelations from an Ancient Biblical City, by Yosef Garfinkel, Saar Ganor, and Michael G. Hasel.

Carl Rasmussen writes about the Solomonic gate at Gezer and shares a photo of Bill Dever and Yohanan Aharoni at the site.

John DeLancey shares about his recent volunteer experience at Gath on The Book and the Spade.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the importance of the cedars of Lebanon and shares many photos.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Israel's Coast, Lebanon, Museums, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The big story of the week was that a stone in the Western Wall came crashing down near the prayer area by Robinson’s Arch. There’s a video here. The whole wall is a “danger zone” and no one should be allowed near, says Zachi Dvira. The public needs to do some serious “soul searching,” insists one rabbi. No need to worry, says a geologist.

A crane has now removed this fallen stone. Joseph Lauer remarks, “In watching the videos showing the stone’s removal by the special crane, imagine what it took 2,000 years ago to place that stone and all of the other ones in the Wall.

Before the stone fell, archaeologist Dan Bahat petitioned Israel’s supreme court to halt construction of the egalitarian prayer area here.

The archaeologist directing the dig at el-Araj believes that the case for identifying it as Bethsaida is strengthened by the discovery of a reliquary, which may not be a reliquary, but which may just as well be the reliquary of Peter, Philip, and Andrew, at the Church of the Apostles. The stone box was discovered in the debris of a 19th-century house at the site (Haaretz premium).

Marc Turnage is interviewed by OnScript about his participation in the excavations of el-Araj (Bethsaida?).

Researchers are bringing the ancient city of Beit Lehi in the Shephelah to life by launching a digital guide to this restricted-access archaeological site. (Did the archaeologist really say that this site is a “gold mine”?!)

Walking the Text (with Brad Gray) began a new series on Zacchaeus, focusing this week on the background of the story and including many photos of the geographical context.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is now offering free study groups in several areas, including

Inscriptions from Ancient Israel, Dead Sea Scrolls, The Book of Jonah, and more. All study groups are live and online.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Lois Tverberg

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup