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“In a ceremonial nod to Purim, the Israel Antiquities Authority has disclosed to the public a ceramic jar fragment bearing a human face and dating back to the Persian period (4th-5th centuries BCE) that was discovered in 2019” in Jerusalem.

A high school student found an oil lamp at Mezad Tzafir that is nearly identical to one discovered by Nelson Glueck ninety years ago at the same location.

Archaeologists discovered a mastaba in an Old Kingdom necropolis at Dahshur.

“Archaeologists in Pompeii have unearthed an ancient building site that sheds light on construction techniques used by the Romans to make iconic structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.”

“The only surviving funerary relief of the ancient Greek world depicting twin babies in the same arms was unveiled at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and will be exhibited only for a few weeks.”

The British Museum went to court Tuesday against a former curator alleged to have stolen hundreds of artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online.”

Kazuyuki Hayashi, a professor at Bethel Seminary, has been a supervisor at the Tel Shimron excavation since 2017.

Juan Tebes has been studying pilgrimage routes in the Levant and Hijaz.

Conflicting Jewish traditions place the tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Iran and Israel.

David Moster cut open an old pair of tefillin (phylacteries) to see what Scriptures are inside.

David Hendin, an expert in biblical coins, was interviewed on the Ancient Coin Hour.

Thomas Levy has been honored with a two-volume festschrift featuring research by more than 140 friends and colleagues. (It is a bit pricey, but chapters are available individually.)

The latest issue of Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is online. One of the articles presents three architectural models from the museum’s collection.

Available for pre-order on Logos: Pondering the Spade: Discussing Important Convergences between Archaeology and Old Testament Studies, by David B. Schreiner

Webinar on April 4: “How did the dead die in Ancient Judah? Death as a social process in Iron Age tombs,” by Matthew Suriano

Webinar on April 18: “Amorites, Their Origins, and Their Legacy,” by Aaron Burke

Sara Japhet, longtime professor at Hebrew University, died this week.

“‘Art of Intimidation: Journey to Ancient Assyria’ is the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East augmented-reality Snapchat lens that brings to life the large casts of sculpted panels from the famed royal palaces of ancient Nineveh and Nimrud.” A video shows how it works.

For the Purim holiday, The Times of Israel profiles a 78-year-old baker who runs the last-of-its-kind Iraqi pastry shop in Israel.

A video of colorized footage from around the world in 1896 includes Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, West Jerusalem, and train station (start at 2:38).

Leen Ritmeyer explains how the tomb of Jesus was sealed.

Bible Archaeology Report proposes the top ten finds related to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

HT: Agade, Paul Mitchell, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica

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“A rare coin from the time of the Bar Kochba revolt, bearing the name ‘Eleazer the Priest,’ has been discovered at the foot of a cliff in the Judean Desert by Israeli archaeologists.” The IAA is also welcoming the public to join them in the hunt for antiquities in the Judean wilderness.

The bust of a huge statue of Ramses II was discovered in the el-Ashmunein area in Minya Governorate in Egypt.

Archaeologists have uncovered a painting in the House of Leda at Pompeii that “depicts Phrixus and Helle, two twins from Greek mythology, as they travel across the sea on a magical ram while fleeing from their evil stepmother.”

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has inaugurated its Biblical Studies and Archaeology Center.

The NY Times has a story on the purple dye factory at Tel Shiqmona.

With the opening of the entrance pavilion to the Tower of David Museum, The Jerusalem Post has a story about the design and construction process.

Amy Erickson explores the question of why the story of Jonah was so frequently depicted in the catacombs of Rome.

The plant remains discovered in the Philistine temples at Gath are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains why the Babylonian king Nabonidus may be considered the world’s first archaeologist.

Zoom lecture on Mar 12, 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time: “The cities of the Zagros and their scenes on the Assyrian wall reliefs,” by Dlshad Aziz Marf (Zoom link)

Dewayne Bryant is a guest on Digging for Truth to talk about the historicity of King David.

Now online: The full episode of National Geographic’s “Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah” (45 min)

The latest Jerusalem in Brief looks at “a tower named after a Philistine giant, some new books, and a dinner party in the middle of World War I.”

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Gordon Dickson, Keith Keyser

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“Researchers say that a small vial of deep red paste found in Iran’s Jiroft region is likely an ancient tube of lipstick.”

“A scarab, a scroll and an ancient tomb are this month’s top reports in biblical archaeology.”

Biblical Archaeology Review has posted their annual roundup of excavation opportunities. They also offer scholarships.

New from Lingua Deo Gloria: A Child’s Biblical Hebrew book. Available on Amazon in print and as a free pdf on the publisher’s website. A Child’s Koine Greek book has just been announced.

The Narmer Catalog is a comprehensive database, gathering in one convenient location all available information about archaeological objects with inscriptions related to Narmer, the first king of Ancient Egypt, and his regional predecessors from Dynasty 0.”

New article: “Gold and Silver: Relative Values in the Ancient Past,” by James Ross and Leigh Bettenay, in Cambridge Archaeological Journal (open access)

New release: Archaeology and the Bible: 50 Fascinating Finds That Bring the Bible to Life, by Tom Meyer. The author was interviewed this week on CBN News.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson

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Archaeologists believe they have uncovered the 1st-century villa where Pliny the Elder watched Mount Vesuvius erupt.

“Archaeologists conducting extensive excavations in the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, now known as Tello in southeastern Iraq, have unearthed twin temples built on top of each other.”

Egypt’s “project of the century”—a reinstallation of the granite cladding on one of the pyramids of Giza—has been cancelled.

Turkey will be expanding its “Night Museums” project with the goal of setting new records in tourism every year.

“Archaeologists working in Saqqara recently unearthed three funerary masks at least 1,800 years old.”

A new study claims that “ancient Romans used the poisonous nightshade Black henbane as a hallucinogenic drug.”

New release: Teaching Ancient Egypt in Museums: Pedagogies in Practice, edited by Jen Thum, Carl Walsh, Lissette M. Jiménez, Lisa Saladino Haney (Routledge, $40-$170)

Hybrid lecture on May 23: “From Ground to Page: Wrapping up the University of Michigan/University of Minnesota Excavations at Kedesh,” by Andrea M. Berlin

Revelation Media is creating an animated Bible project comprised of seven-minute episodes that will eventually cover the entire Bible.

Carmen Joy Imes writes about some connections to the Old Testament that she observed during a recent tour of Egypt with James Hoffmeier.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

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A group of students used “computer vision, machine learning, and hard work” to translate a portion of a scroll from Herculaneum and win a $700,000 prize. “This is a complete gamechanger,” said one scholar.

A reservist hiking in Galilee discovered a scarab made of carnelian and dating to about 800 BC, possibly related to the Assyrian conquest.

“Egypt’s antiquities ministry said Saturday it was setting up a committee to review the restoration of Giza’s Menkaure Pyramid after a public outcry over the project.”

“Excavations have given proof of a flourishing wine industry in the Byzantine and early Arab period, especially at sites like Shivta, Halutza, Nitzana, and Avdat.”

The latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East looks at the use of artificial intelligence to translate Mesopotamian texts.

Bryan Windle joins John DeLancey to talk about the top 10 archaeological discoveries related to Jesus.

Now online: Deborah Hurn’s dissertation, “Identifying and Delineating the Geographic Regions of the Israelite Migration from Egypt to Canaan Using a Hydrological Approach”

Hybrid lecture on Feb 29: “A Queen, her Son, and her Chamberlain. Seal Imagery and Socio-Administrative Hierarchies at Persepolis,” by Mark Garrison

Walking The Text’s recommended resource of the month is The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands, by Titus Kennedy.

Appian Media has released a trailer for “Out of Egypt.”

Abigail Leavitt shares some photos from her recent explorations in Jerusalem.

HT: Agade, Gordon Dickson, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis

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The occupants of the 4th century BC Royal Tombs at Vergina have been identified as Alexander the Great’s father Philip, his stepmother, half-siblings, and son.

An Egyptian antiquities official was criticized after he announced that Egypt was restoring the granite casing on one of the three main pyramids of Giza.

The Times of Israel: “A Tel Aviv University team is using muon detectors to track powerful particles, hoping to build a 3D map of undiscovered tunnels, chambers and fortifications under the holey city,” Jerusalem.

Kathryn Oliver describes how conservators at the British Museum restored a sarcophagus relief in conjunction with the ongoing exhibit, “Legion: Life in the Roman Army.”

In the latest video from the Institute of Biblical Culture, David Moster compares Torah scrolls from Yemen with others from around the Jewish world.

Chandler Collins looks at what we can learn about Jerusalem from a travelogue published by William Barlett in the 1840s.

John Drummond gives a preview of “The Seven World Wonders” article that is in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Bryan Windle’s top three reports in biblical archaeology for the month of January includes a bonus story.

The BBC gives a history of beds through the ages.

“The Bible and Its World” international academic conference will be held in Israel on July 1-3.

Now open access: Syria’s Monuments: Their Survival and Destruction, by Michael Greenhalgh (Brill, 2016, $229; open access pdf – download link temporarily not working)

Stephen Mitchell, author of many books on Asia Minor in the Roman era, died this week.

Zoom all-day seminar today: “In Search of Ancient Israel,” with Gary Rendsburg ($90)

HT: Agade, Gordon Dickson, Arne Halbakken

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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