National Geographic has posted a new article on the continuing excavation of the traditional tomb of Jesus. The team was allowed 60 hours of study before they had to reseal the area.

When the marble cladding was first removed on the night of October 26, an initial inspection by the conservation team from the National Technical University of Athens showed only a layer of fill material underneath. However, as researchers continued their nonstop work over the course of 60 hours, another marble slab with a cross carved into its surface was exposed. By the night of October 28, just hours before the tomb was to be resealed, the original limestone burial bed was revealed intact.
[…]
During the past few days, the burial bed has been resealed in its original marble cladding and may not be exposed again for centuries or even millennia. “The architectural conservation which we are implementing is intended to last forever,” says Moropoulou. Before it was resealed, however, extensive documentation was performed on the surface of the rock.
[…]
“The surfaces of the rock must be looked at with the greatest care, I mean minutely, for traces of graffiti,” Biddle says, citing other tombs in the area that must have been of considerable importance because they are covered with crosses and inscriptions painted and scratched onto the rock surfaces.
“The issue of the graffiti is absolutely crucial,” Biddle says. “We know that there are at least half a dozen other rock-cut tombs below various parts of the church. So why did Bishop Eusebius identify this tomb as the tomb of Christ? He doesn’t say, and we don’t know. I don’t myself think Eusebius got it wrong—he was a very good scholar—so there probably is evidence if only it is looked for.”

The full article includes several photos.

HT: Ted Weis

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An ancient Christian “crossword puzzle” has been discovered in the agora of Smyrna.

A sewage system in the Urartian city of Van that dates to 800 BC has been fully excavated.

You missed the first-ever “Swim the Corinth Canal” event, but perhaps you can join next year.

Greece’s National Archaeological Museum is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

At the ASOR Blog, the executive producer of a new documentary about Gertrude Bell provides some background. You can also watch the trailer.

New paper at Academia: “Computer Experiments on the Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon,” by Eythan Levy and Frédéric Pluquet.

Nigel Fletcher-Jones considers the ethical problem of the public display of mummies and alternative approaches.

A French-Egyptian citizen turned over a golden mummy mask to the Egyptian government.

The November/December issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is now online.

If you’re a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal, you can read Roger Toll’s “The Real Adventurer’s Guide to the Ancient City of Petra.”

I made it into Wayne Stiles’s post this week about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Check out the great quote by Frederic G. Kenyon.

Shmuel Browns shares a couple of photos he took at Machtesh Qatan.

The extraordinary Bible collection of the late Charles Ryrie is being auctioned off by Sotheby’s.

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

UPDATE: Next weekend’s roundup will be delayed by several days.

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The discovery of hundreds of olive pits in the Beth Shean Valley dated to 5000 BC are prompting a reevaluation of ancient irrigation practices.

Some antiquities have been discovered in the garden of the American Consulate in Alexandria.

The majority of smuggled artifacts seized in Syria and Lebanon are fakes.

Nir Hasson provides a fascinating review of the legal and cultural challenges of excavating bones, skeletons, and cemeteries in Israel (Haaretz premium).

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem is opening a new exhibit next week entitled “In the Valley of 
David and Goliath.” The Haaretz (premium) article has more details.

Carl Rasmussen shares an interesting photo from Pompeii that sheds light on the Acts 19 riot in
Ephesus.

The W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research is accepting applications for a number of funded fellowships.

The Bornblum Eretz Israel Synagogues Website continues to be updated with descriptions, plans, photos, and bibliographic references.

Gordon Govier and Clyde Billington report on some of the latest discoveries in biblical archaeology on The Book and the Spade.

Aren Maeir notes a forthcoming volume on Iron Age archaeology in the Shephelah.

Ferrell Jenkins shares photos this week of the Pamphylian coast and the lilies of the field.

Logos and Accordance both have a 60%-off sale on Carl Rasmussen’s Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (revised edition), now for $12.99. (That’s a great deal on a great resource!)

HT: Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Agade

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A high school student found a ballista ball from the Bar Kochba Revolt during recent excavations of Beitar.

Excavators working at Abel Beth Maacah discovered one of the earliest silver hoards ever found.

There’s more information about the excavation of the chariot race mosaic in Cyprus.

To make the looting of Syrian artifacts more difficult, the US State Department announced emergency import restrictions.

“Oxford University researchers say that trees which grew during intense radiation bursts in the past have ‘time-markers’ in their tree-rings that could help archaeologists date events from thousands of years ago.”

Wayne Stiles explains how the Herodium testifies to God’s sovereignty.


The New York Times is no fan of the Ben-Hur remake.

The Associates for Biblical Research are beginning to recruit for their first season of excavations at Shiloh next summer.

Leon Mauldin posts on the end of wicked Queen Athaliah and shares a photo of a model of Jerusalem at the Bible Lands Museum.

If you wanted to know a little more about Enoch’s journey through the world (referenced in
Thursday’s survey results), Paleojudaica explains.

The new NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible is being released on Tuesday. It looks impressive, and you can flip through the entire books of Genesis and Matthew online to see for yourself.

Hundreds of photos, maps, and charts accompany study notes edited by John Walton (OT) and Craig
Keener (NT). The promotional website also includes videos and infographics.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer

Old City aerial at night from southwest, ws052016101
Our most re-tweeted photo of the week was this aerial photo taken by Bill Schlegel of Jerusalem from the southwest. The Citadel of David is in the foreground and the Mount of Olives is in the distance.
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The archaeological co-directors provide a summary of this summer’s work at Tel Ein Jezreel.

Archaeologists working at Bethsaida have found some monumental towers guarding the approach ramp to the city gate.

Haaretz (premium) reports on the latest discoveries in the Mount Zion excavation, including a bathtub and a cup with a priestly inscription. Joel Kramer’s drone photo gives a good perspective.

Wayne Stiles reflects this week on lessons to be learned from Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in sequencing the genome of ancient barley grains found in a cave near Masada.

An update on the renovations of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity includes photos of newly restored mosaics.

IAA inspectors raided a shop in the Old City of Jerusalem suspected to be selling antiquities without a license.

Invitations are now open for a 2017 conference entitled “The Anglo-German Exploration of the Holy Land, 1865-1915.”

Eric Mitchell has begun a series on biblical archaeology for the Christian Examiner.

An article in Forbes asks how augmented reality will affect archaeological sites.

With a recent grant, plans are moving forward in the creation of the Digital Library of the Middle East.

Gordon Govier speaks this week with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott about “Daily Life in Ancient Israel” on the Book and the Spade (part 1, part 2).

Some Leon Uris favorites are on sale for Kindle now: Exodus, Mila 18, QB VII, and others.

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

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The Israel Antiquities Authority has issued a press release, forwarded to us by Joseph Lauer, about recent excavations in the Cave of the Skulls in the Judean wilderness. Here are a few paragraphs and photographs from the press release:

Last week, the Israel Antiquities Authority took a first step in the plan by commencing a complicated and extraordinary archaeological excavation in search of scrolls in Nahal Tse’elim. A team from the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery accompanied by researchers from the Caves Research Center of the Hebrew University and hundreds of volunteers from across the country is participating in the excavation, which is taking place with the support of the Heritage Project in the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs. The excavation is being directed by archaeologists Dr. Eitan Klein, Dr. Uri Davidovich, Royee Porat and Amir Ganor. For many years, IAA inspectors have been proactively enforcing the law in the desert, during the course of which they have made a number of seizures and foiled bands of antiquities robbers that sought to become rich through the detrimental exposure of items of great historical importance. However, these actions are a mere drop in the ocean and the Israel Antiquities Authority stresses that only by excavating all of the scrolls in the ground and transferring them to the state, will it be possible to ensure their well-being and preservation for future generations.
[…]
The Cave of Skulls, where the excavation is taking place, is located about 80 meters from the top of the cliff, and c. 250 m above the base of the wadi. Because of the difficulty in reaching the site, the Israel Antiquities Authority obtained a special permit from the Nature and Parks Authority to construct an access trail, which requires the use of rappelling equipment for the safety of the participants in the excavation. More than 500 volunteers and field personnel from Israel and abroad were required for the undertaking, and they are sleeping and living in a camp in desert field conditions. Many requests by individuals offering to participate have been denied because of the lack of infrastructure to provide for such a large group of archaeologists, volunteers and interested parties. The current excavation season will end in another two weeks, assuming this will be sufficient time in order to extract the valuable archaeological information from the cave.
According to Amir Ganor, director of the IAA’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, “The excavation in Nahal Tse’elim is an operation of extraordinary complexity and scope, and one that has not occurred in the Judean Desert in the past thirty years. Despite the rigorous enforcement actions taken against the antiquities robbers, we still witness acts of severe plundering that unfortunately are possible in such large desert expanses. There are hundreds of caves in cliffs in the area, access to which is both dangerous and challenging. In almost every cave that we examined we found evidence of illicit intervention and it is simply heart-breaking. The loss of the finds is irreversible damage that cannot be tolerated”.

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The cave where the archaeological excavation is being conducted is situated c. 80 meters from the top of the cliff and c. 250 meters above the base of the wadi. Photographic credit: Guy Fitoussi, courtesy of the IAA Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery.
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Volunteers at work in the archaeological excavation. Photographic credit: Yoli Shwartz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
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The ancient text that dates to the Year Four of the Destruction of the House of Israel (139 CE), which was seized in a joint operation by the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery and the Israel Police. Photographic credit: Shai Halevi, courtesy of the Leon Levy Digital Library, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Arutz-7 has posted a 1.5-minute video.

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