Excavations Archives - Page 30 of 93

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have revealed new evidence for the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 from the excavations of the road from the Siloam Pool to the Temple Mount.

The tomb of an unknown saint has been unearthed at Hippos.

A stone slab with two indentions was used to start fires in the Neolithic period.

The Associates for Biblical Research have completed Week 1 of Season 1 in their excavations of Shiloh.

A network of caves and tunnels at Khirbet Burgin in Judah’s Shephelah has been opened to the public.

An archaeological garden has been opened in the Davidson Center south of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem.

A study to be published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly observes that the large number of reservoirs made Jerusalem unique in the Second Temple period.

International Museum Day has passed, but this is a handy list of museums in Israel.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project met their first goal of 250,000 NIS and is now working to a second, much larger goal.

Aren Maeir shares some photos from the opening of an exhibition of discoveries from Gath (Tell es-Safi) in the Bar Ilan University Library.

Ferrell Jenkins recently was able to visit inside the Dome of the Rock and take photos. He shares some.

A $14 million elevator will be built at the Western Wall Plaza to allow elderly and disabled to go to the Jewish Quarter.

A Russian lawmaker vacationing in Israel drowned in the Dead Sea.

Accordance is having a big sale on many excellent archaeological and geographical resources through Monday.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Agade, Explorator, Chris McKinny, Paleojudaica

Tagged Dead Sea, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, New Exhibits, Photo Resources, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

The big story of the week is the discoveries made in excavations at Caesarea, including the altar of Herod’s temple, an inscribed menorah, and a statue of Asclepius. You can read the press release here or download high-res photos here. Haaretz has the best illustrated story. The Times of Israel emphasizes the discovery of an inscribed menorah. The Jerusalem Post focuses on the $27 million project. Art Daily provides another brief summary.This 3-minute video includes English subtitles.

A colossus of Ramses II has been re-erected in front of Luxor Temple’s first pylon.

Ten nations have created an “Ancient Civilizations Forum” to work together to protect ancient heritage from Islamic extremism.

Israeli police arrested a man in Hawara and confiscated hundreds of antiquities they discovered in his house.

A petition is now circulating to save the Yale Babylonian Collection.

A first-century AD bust of Drusus Minor will be returned to Italy by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Should Egypt sell some of its artifacts to raise money?
BBC: “Madain Saleh isn’t as well-known as Petra, but the Nabateans’ second-largest city played a
crucial role in their mysterious empire.”

Simon Gathercole looks at the historical evidence for Jesus’s life and death.
BAS has published online a web-exclusive chart of 53 biblical people who have been confirmed in inscriptions.

Wayne Stiles’s recent post on Mount Carmel includes photos of its beauty and its burning.

Leon Mauldin visited Bethphage yesterday.

What happened to the cross that Jesus died on?

Mark Hoffman suggests that you may want to download Google Earth before it’s gone.

The Corinth Excavations Archaeological Manual has been published and a pdf has been made available for free. The post includes a link to previously published archaeology manuals.

The four-volume Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity is available on
Logos at a pre-pub price of $51. I recommend it.

I’ll be traveling much of May and June, so I probably will not be able to do many roundups.

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Greece, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“An Egyptian archaeological mission in Luxor has announced the discovery of a major tomb in the city’s west bank area dating back to the 18th Dynasty and containing priceless artefacts.”

Israeli archaeologists have begun to study an ancient Jewish pyramid near Khirbet Midras in the Shephelah.

Archaeologists have discovered an estate of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the mountains of southwestern Turkey.

Symbols found on the the Vulture Stone at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey has led researchers to propose the earth was struck by a devastating comet around 11,000 BC.

Shots were fired near St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, but there are different explanations of what happened.

The Qumran and Bible Exhibition is now online with an audioguide and with a video introduction.

The latest edition of The Holy Land Magazine is online and includes tourist articles on Nazareth Village, Yad VaShem, Neot Kedumim, and more.

Tom Powers considers David Bivin’s recent post on the deteriorating road to Emmaus and adds some observations of his own.

Elizabeth Sloane, writing in Haaretz, asks, “Did the Egyptian goddess Hathor originate with Semitic miners from Canaan?”

The Temple Mount Sifting Project must meet its fundraising goal or it will receive none of the pledged funds.

The Amarna Letters are the topic of the week on The Book and the Spade with guest Alice Mandell.

The Khirbet el-Maqatir exhibit in Pikeville, Kentucky is drawing visitors.

Eisenbrauns is offering the Victor Avigdor Hurowitz memorial volume at a savings of 40% for a few more days: Marbeh Ḥokmah: Studies in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (2 vols). List $139.50; sale: $83.70.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Judah, Museums, New Exhibits, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup (The Real Edition)

High school students excavating in Ramat Beit Shemesh have uncovered remains of a Jewish village from the first century AD.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am describe the recently opened Mikveh Trail south of the Temple Mount.

“Did archaeologists find the royal banqueting complex of King Herod the Great in Jerusalem?”

Carl Rasmussen shares an unusual photo of a cross in Jerusalem.

The predators center (walk-through exhibit) at Hai Bar Yotvata is now closed.

Israel’s Good Name recently paid a visit to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory.

John DeLancey has a wrap-up of his latest Israel tour. You may resonate with some of his concluding observations.

This week on The Book and the Spade, Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the Jebusite and Roman walls of Jerusalem.

Simon Gathercole lectured recently on “The Journeys of Jesus and Jewish Geography” at the Lanier Theological Library.

Gary Shogren suggests his favorite 5 New Testament archaeological discoveries of recent years.

Appian Media is getting closer to reaching its fundraising goal so they can finish the “Following the
Messiah” series.

Douglas Clark of LaSierra University will be leading a team of scholars to create the Madaba
Regional Archaeological Museum.

Construction workers have discovered a tomb from the Neo-Assyrian period in Erbil, Iraq.

Restoring the Mosul Museum will not be easy without any remaining artifacts.

A new walking trail and viewing terraces have been created to attract more tourists to the Titus Tunnel near the ancient port of Seleucia.

Archaeologists have discovered 38 graves in an ancient Jewish cemetery in Rome.

The tourist company Roma Experience now offers visitors to Domus Aurea an augmented reality experience with 3-D glasses that brings to life Nero’s palace as it was in the first century.

In a new article “The Old Testament and the Ancient Near East: Profits and Losses” published on the ABR website, Eugene Merrill identifies “five clear profits,” “three claimed profits,” and “two mixed blessings.”

The National Post loves Eric Cline’s 480-page tome, Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology. An illustrated excerpt discussing the antiquities trade has been posted on the ASOR Blog. The Bible and Interpretation has posted his Megiddo chapter.

Karl Katz, the first curator of the Israel Museum, has written an autobiography entitled The
Exhibitionist, which is reviewed by Asher Weill.

Eisenbrauns has published another valuable study (at a much more affordable price than many academic publishers): The Shephelah during the Iron Age, edited by Oded Lipschits and Aren M. Maeir, with articles about Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Qeiyafa, Gath, Zayit, Burna, and Halif. Maeir’s chapter on Gath is online.

William Kelly Simpson and Louis H. Feldman died recently.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, BibleX

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Museums, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists have excavated a dolmen on the Golan Heights that is unique because of its large size and artistic decorations. The capstone weighs about 50 tons. You can watch a 2-minute video here.

Two large pharaonic statues, believed to be from the 19th dynasty, have been found near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in Heliopolis. Zahi Hawass has responded to criticism of the rescue work.

Haaretz (premium): “The long-lost wreck of a Crusader ship and sunken cargos dating to the 13th century C.E. have been found in the bay of the crusader stronghold city Acre, in northern Israel.”

The Sea of Galilee is at its lowest level in a century, and it’s only March.

Here’s a short video of the Assyrian palace remains beneath the destroyed Tomb of Jonah.

Jordan’s Department of Antiquities has announced that the lead codices discovered in 2010 have “not been proven to be authentic so far.” James Davila provides a good review of why he (and others) rejects their authenticity.

The New York Times offers a guide to “make the most of the British Museum,” including sections on

“5 Must-Sees,” “Off the Beaten Path,” and “Tips for Visiting.”

The Grand Egyptian Museum is scheduled to open in the middle of next year.

ISD has a sale on two multi-volume archaeology works: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology, ed. Daniel M. Master (was $395; now $150); ~~The Oxford Companion to Archaeology~~~~, ed. Neil Asher Silberman (was $595; now $99;~~ sold out?).

The new Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible is for sale on Kindle now for $3.99.

Purim begins at sundown. You might want to grab the kids and read them the book of Esther. Or check out the Maccabeats’ interpretation.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Forgery, Galilee, Golan, Holidays, Israel's Coast, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources

Roman Road Discovered near Elah Valley

Archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved Roman-period road in the Shephelah of Judah.

Based on a milestone previously discovered with the name of Hadrian, they have dated the road to circa AD 130, though numismatic evidence may indicate a first-century date for the revealed section.

The road was discovered during the process of laying a water pipeline to Jerusalem.

Roman road near Elah Valley, ws030817362

Stone construction of Roman road

The road is located near the junction of the “Chalk Moat” route running south from Beth Shemesh and the Elah Valley road that runs up into the Judean Hill Country towards Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
On a modern map, the road is near the intersection of Highways 375 and 3855.

Map from the Satellite Bible Atlas, with red circle identifying location of discovery

The Israel Antiquities Authority has determined that the road is about 20 feet (6 m) wide and one mile (1.6 km) long, but only 150 meters of the road have been exposed and will be preserved for visitors to view.

Aerial view showing relationship of excavation to Highway 375 (foreground) and Highway 3855 (approaching from distance)

The ancient road was a spur that apparently connected the ruin of Khirbet Beit Natif on the hills north of the Elah Valley with the “Emperor’s Road.” This latter road was constructed in the time of Hadrian and ran from Bet Guvrin (ancient Eleutheropolis) through the Elah Valley near the newly discovered road and then up into the hills along the Hushah ridge.

Aerial view of Roman road from the south

Ilan Ben Zion identifies Beit Natif as the first-century site of Bethletepha, “a town sacked by
Vespasian’s army during the First Jewish Revolt, between 66 and 70 CE.”

Coins were discovered between the pavement stones that suggest a first-century date:

a coin of Pontius Pilate, dating to AD 29
a coin of Agrippa I, dating to AD 41 and minted in Jerusalem
a coin from Year 2 of the Jewish Revolt (AD 67)

The Roman road (aerial view from the southeast)

All photos in this post were taken earlier today by Bill Schlegel. More photos from the IAA are posted here.

It’s too bad that when they laid a similar water pipeline along the Roman road to Emmaus from Jerusalem that they didn’t take steps to preserve it.

HT: Joseph Lauer, David Bivin

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Shephelah