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CT scans on a couple of Egyptian mummies at the University of Haifa revealed non-human remains.

“Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry has issued new regulations and precautionary measures for archaeological missions to resume excavations.”

A study of what Romans called “Alexandrian glass” reveals that this treasured material did in fact come from Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum at the University of Leipzig is hosting a special exhibit on Heliopolis.

Jesse Millik questions some traditional views about the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Levant.

“After years of trial and error – and after getting used to the foul stench – Mohamed Ghassen Nouira has cracked how to make the prized purple dye used for royal and imperial robes in ancient times.”

Excavation and conservation work continues at the Ayanis Castle in Turkey, one of the most impressive structures of the kingdom of Urartu.

The discovery of a temple at Epidaurus in Greece suggests that worship of Asclepius began earlier than believed.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Samothrace, a Greek island that Paul visited but most tourists don’t.

Archaeologists and engineers are developing new technologies to protect Baiae, a Roman settlement now under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

There was more than one way to wipe in the ancient Roman empire.

New from Eisenbrauns: New Directions in the Study of Ancient Geography, edited by Duane W. Roller. Save 40% with code NR18.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick

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Fabricus is a new “Google Arts & Culture Lab Experiment that uses machine learning to help translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.”

New release: “a public, open platform for the Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME), which . . . aggregates, through an ongoing program, digital records of published materials, documents, maps, artifacts, audiovisual recordings, and more from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”

From Meretseger Books: Digitized Treasures – 100 rare books now fully online and Pictures of Egypt – 15,000 photos of most sites in Egypt available for free use.

The auction of this selection from the Schoyen Collection is over, but the catalog of items providing a “history of Western script” may still be of interest.

Fifty titles from Brown Judaic Studies have been released in open access format.

The festschrift for James Hoffmeier, previously described on this blog here, is now available at 40% off with code NR18.

New: Studies in Literacy and Textualization in the Ancient Near East and in the Hebrew Scriptures: Essays in Honour of Professor Alan R. Millard, edited by Daniel I. Block, David C. Deuel, C. John Collins, Paul J. N. Lawrence (Pickwick, $49).

Eric Cline will be the first speaker in the Friends of ASOR’s new webinar series. The topic is “Digging Deeper: How Archaeology Works,” and it will be held on August 9 at 8 pm Eastern. Registration and payment is required.

The Annual Meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature will be conducted virtually.

The International Virtual Conference on the Archaeology of Iran and Adjacent Regions will be held from July 20-21.

Alex Joffe looks at the possibility of pickles and pickling in the ancient Near East.

Though ancient temples were called “houses,” they did not look like houses.

The Louvre reopened, and the Vatican Museums are empty.

The Assyrian king Sennacherib is a great subject for the latest archaeological profile by Bryan Windle.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator

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“Egypt archaeologist Kathleen Martinez is convinced that she has pinpointed the final resting place of Queen Cleopatra, after discovering 200 coins depicting her face at an ancient temple site in Alexandria.”

The Grand Egyptian Museum is 90% complete and will include the world’s first hanging obelisk.

Though unimpressive on the outside, the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara is filled with inscriptions from the Old Kingdom period.

Here is a list of five ancient tombs that scholars would like to find; four are Egyptian and one is Alexander the Great.

According to a new study, “the Hyksos were not invaders, but rather Asiatic immigrants who settled in Egypt – specifically in the Nile Delta region – lived there for centuries and eventually managed to stage a takeover of power.” (Underlying journal article here.)

Egypt is in a dispute with Ethiopia over a dam that could severely restrict the Nile River’s water supply.

“The early inhabitants of Lisan Peninsula, on the southern corner of the Dead Sea, explored the potential of the spring waters for irrigation.”

“Archaeologists were able to uncover more than 14,000 settlement sites in northeastern Syria thanks to help from satellite technology from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.”

French archaeologists are conducting “secret excavations” in a part of Syria occupied by the YPG/PKK.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has been converted into a mosque. Greece is threatening to impose sanctions.

A Luwian inscription discovered in Turkey may provide evidence of the famous King Midas.

Leon Mauldin shows how Perga’s watercourse provides a picture of the new Jerusalem’s river of the water of life.

Carl Rasmussen explains the relevance of the Lycian Confederation to the history of the United States.

Carlotta Gall and photographer Mauricio Lima visited the Hasankeyf valley repeated for a half a year to witness its destruction as the waters rose behind the Ilisu Dam.

An underwater museum in Alonissos, the first in Greece, will open to visitors next month.

Pamela Gaber examines Cypriot sculpture from the Iron Age.

A new museum in Gozo, Malta, will incorporate an ancient Roman quarry into its layout.

There is controversy over the proposal to add a roof to the tomb of Augustus in Rome.

The entire collection of the Museum of Anthropology in Tehran was stolen by a burglar.

“7 Sides of a Cylinder” is a compilation of 7 videos about the Cyrus Cylinder and its significance to young Iranians.

A tourist describes a recent visit to Iran.

Archaeologists are discovering architectural remains from the time of the Medes at Ecbatana.

David Stronach, founding Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies and excavator of Pasargadae, has died.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator, Jared Clark

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Restoration of the ancient theater and stadium of Aizanoi in western Turkey has begun.

The ships and boats from Thonis-Heracleion have much to say about how Egyptian shipwrights of the Late and early Ptolemaic periods built their vessels, as well as the range of decisions that were made when they reached the end of their working lives on the waters of the Nile.”

Among those arrested in an investigation of trafficking of looted antiquities is a retired curator from the Louvre.

Facebook has announced it will remove content that seeks to sell any and all historical artifacts.

Now online: the first installment of the publication project on the records of the Pennsylvania excavations at Nippur 1889-1900 in searchable digital form (pdf).

“During the Early Iron Age, people dwelled among the ruins of the palace at Knossos in what we may refer to as a ‘landscape of memory’, one imbued with the collective memories of a bygone era.”

“Egyptian archaeologists are taking advantage of the global anti-racism movement to renew their calls on the French government to remove a statue of Jean-François Champollion, kneeling on the head of a Pharaonic king.”

Recent fires at Susa and Ecbatana in Iran apparently caused no damage.

Zoom lecture: The Discovery: 1000-Year-Old Bible Refound in Cairo Synagogue, by Yoram Meital, June 28 at 8:00pm Cairo time. To register, email [email protected].

Carl Rasmussen shares more about Aphrodisias, including The Theater and Its Artifacts and Jews, Proselytes, and God-Fearers at Aphrodisias.

Note: there will be no roundups the next two weekends.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman, Alexander Schick, Explorator

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Just as the Biblical Museum of Natural History was about to open in Beit Shemesh, “a plague of biblical proportions struck.” Virtual tours are available at the museum’s website. They are also offering a new book by the museum’s director, The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom, Vol. 1: Wild Animals.

The Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian Holy Sites 1917-2020 CE: White Paper, by the The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (108pp). The labeled photograph of the Temple Mount on page 81 may be of particular interest.

New from Appian: An 80-page study guide to accompany “Lessons from the Land: The Gospels.”

“In Search of King David’s Lost Empire” is a long piece by Ruth Margalit that reviews the history of the maximalist-minimalist debate. Some responses by Eilat Mazar, Gabriel Barkay and others may be found here.

Assyrian soldiers had the edge with the invention of the socketed arrowhead. The underlying IEJ article is on Academia.

An article in the Jerusalem Post summarizes a recent BAR article on life at Tel Hadid near Gezer after the Assyrians deported the Israelites.

Israel should preserve more archaeological sites uncovered in salvage digs, argue some archaeologists. The article reports that there are 35,000 ancient sites in the country.

Tony Cartledge describes his experience in excavating a 12th-century Canaanite temple at Lachish, including his wife’s discovery of what turned out to be a scepter.

Charles Savelle links to three podcast episodes he has enjoyed on Thutmose III and the Battle of Megiddo.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman, Alexander Schick, Explorator

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“A joint report by German and Syrian organisations has documented severe damage to Syria’s historical heritage and antiquities.” (Report on Academia)

“An ancient cave decorated with distinguished engravings depicting scenes of animals has been discovered at Wadi Al-Zulma in North Sinai.”

“The southern region of Najran [in Saudi Arabia] is set to become the largest open museum of rock inscriptions in the world.”

Egypt is proposing a merger of its tourism and antiquities departments.

“British anti-racism protestors called for the destruction of Egypt’s Giza Pyramids on Sunday, after tearing down a statue of a slave trader in the city of Bristol and throwing it in the Avon river.”

“A comparison between the names mentioned in the biblical book of Jeremiah and those appearing on archaeological artifacts from the period when the prophet is believed to have lived – around the sixth to seventh centuries BCE – offers support to its historicity.”

The British Museum blog: “Whip up a classical feast with nine recipes from ancient Greece and Rome.”

The latest British Museum travel guide is for Thebes in the 13th century BC.

New: Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life, by Titus Kennedy. The author was on the Eric Metaxas show recently discussing the book.

Coming soon: The Case for Biblical Archaeology: Uncovering the Historical Record of God’s Old Testament People, by John D. Currid (also in Logos)

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Aphrodisias, one of the most beautiful antiquity sites in Turkey and one that many tourists never see (including, sadly, your roundup writer).

“Windows into the Bible” is a new podcast by Marc Turnage that looks at geographical, cultural, historical, and spiritual contexts. I’ve been told the episode on Pilate is quite intriguing.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Agade, Ted Weis, Explorator

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