Excavations Archives - Page 41 of 93

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Just before Palm Sunday, Jesus made the trek from Jericho to Jerusalem. What did he see?

A good book to read this week in the days leading up to Good Friday is The Final Days of Jesus, now $3.99 on Kindle.

The Temple Institute has built a sacrificial altar to be used in the Third Temple. Leen Ritmeyer comments.

Who is buried in the Prophetess Hulda’s tomb on the Mount of Olives? Miriam Feinberg Vamosh considers the question in a premium article at Haaretz.

The city of Afula plans to preserve its archaeological remains which span from the Chalcolithic to the Crusader periods.

Aren Maeir visited Hebron and took some photos of the ancient fortifications.

Leon Mauldin is in Athens now and shares some photos from the acropolis museum.

A large underground city has been discovered in Cappadocia.

You can vote for your favorite excavation photo in this year’s AIA Photo Contest. (No registration required.)

Now $0.99 on Kindle: The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament, by Eugene H.
Merrill, Mark Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti. Also $0.99 on Vyrso.

HT: Agade

Tagged Excavations, Greece, Holidays, Jerusalem, Judah, Museums, Resources, Temple Mount, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

A large bronze mask depicting the god Pan was excavated at Hippos (Sussita). A video shows the discovery with the use of a metal detector. A press release from the University of Haifa has more details.

Members of the Israeli Caving Club discovered a cache of rare coins and other artifacts from the
Hellenistic period in northern Israel. That find is one of seven exciting discoveries made around the world this month.

An orange gem depicting the goddess Artemis has been discovered at the Herodium.

Luke Chandler reports that inscriptions from Khirbet Qeiyafa and Tel Lachish will be published soon.

A man walking on the beach at Ashkelon found some archaeological pieces.

Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer’s guide to the Temple Mount has been published. Copies may be purchased from their website.

Clint Gilbert has recorded a Bible Lands Song which can help you or your students learn basic Bible geography.

Studies suggest that ancient people didn’t perceive the color blue because they didn’t have a word for it.

AWOL’s List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies now includes 1481 titles.

Sad news: Harry A. Hoffner passed away suddenly on Tuesday, March 10. Hoffner was a long-time professor of Hittitology at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. I am told that his two-volume commentary on 1-2 Samuel for the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary was recently submitted to the editor.

More sad news: “Hans G. Goedicke, a renowned Egyptologist who had been chairman of the Johns
Hopkins University’s department of Near Eastern studies, died of cancer Feb. 24.”

We’ll have more links tomorrow.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Bill Schlegel, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Judah, Resources, Sad News, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Monumental Room Discovered in Temple of Sidon

From The Daily Star:

Dozens of workers were busy covering old Sidon’s Frères archaeological site Monday, to protect a major new discovery unearthed by a delegation from the British Museum.
“A small contingent of the British Museum/Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon team of archaeologists discovered a new deeply concealed room,” read a statement released by the delegation.
The newly discovered monumental room is believed to be an extension of the underground Temple of Sidon, which dates back to the Bronze Age.
This finding comes as workers prepare the foundations of a new national museum, which will be established beside the archaeological site. Construction of the museum led to urgent excavations at the site last month.
Ten years ago, the delegation discovered an underground “holy of holies” room, dating back to 1300 B.C., where ancient residents are believed to have worshipped their gods. The newly discovered room was found adjacent to it, and is thought to be an extension of the site’s temple. It is believed to have been used by high-status members of the community.

The story continues to provide more of the significance of this discovery as well as plans for the new museum.

Previously discovered basement room in temple of Sidon
Photo by A.D. Riddle

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Lebanon

Ongoing Excavations of Herodium

Shmuel Browns was at the Herodium a few days ago and had a chance to talk with archaeologists excavating the staircase area. He shares what he learned as well as some hastily-taken photos on his blog.

If you missed it, Shmuel also has some rare images of the VIP box of Herodium’s theater. Check those out here.

Thanks, Shmuel, for sharing the news and photos! Hopefully the area will be open to the public before too long.

Tagged Excavations, Herod's Tomb

Weekend Roundup

Leen Ritmeyer continues his Temple Mount series with a look at the Early Muslim period. He has many illustrations, but the one I’ve always found most helpful in teaching is the comparison of the
Temple with the Dome of the Rock.

Two Egyptian mummies were found in a sewer near Minya.

Morgan Freeman will star in a remake of Ben-Hur.

The IAA arrested three men for antiquities theft at Ashkelon.

The International Business Times has a short profile of Tel Burna (Libnah?) with many graphics.

For the 40th anniversary of Biblical Archaeology Review, Hershel Shanks recounts the story of how the magazine began.

Pontius Pilate, by Paul L. Maier, is on sale for Kindle for $0.99. I recommend it.

Here’s a unique subject for a blogpost: Salem—What We Can Learn from Abraham’s Visit to Jerusalem, by Wayne Stiles.

Wayne is also offering signed copies of two of his excellent books. This is a great gift idea for yourself or someone else who has recently traveled to the Holy Land or who wishes that they could.

Eisenbrauns has reprinted all 11 volumes of the State Archives of Assyria (SAA) and State Archives of Assyria Studies (SAAS) and they are on sale this month.

The exhibition catalog for the new Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem exhibit is now available: By the Rivers of Babylon, The Story of the Babylonian Exile Jerusalem, by Filip Vukosavovic.

The Al-Arish National Museum in the North Sinai has been damaged in an attack by the militant group State of Sinai.

Ancient Romans ate meals that most Americans would recognize.

On Monday we’re beginning a series on Twitter of our 15 favorite places in Jerusalem. Follow us @BiblePlaces or on Facebook.

HT: Agade, Jay Baggett

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Excavations, Italy, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Movies, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The William G. Dever Archaeological Fellowship for Biblical Scholars is a travel-study award for “a qualified American untenured faculty member in the field of biblical studies who wants to acquire elementary, first-hand experience in field archaeology and research in Israel.”

Wayne Stiles explains how Kadesh Barnea helps us to know God’s will.

Jerusalem’s recent snowfall: SourceFlix shares some beautiful aerial footage.

Swedish archaeologists have found near Cairo a 2,500-year-old relief depicting two pharaonic deities.
And Czech archaeologists find tomb of previously unknown pharaonic queen Khentakawess.

The original volumes of the Tell en-Nasbeh (biblical Mizpah) excavation reports are now available online for the first time. The Bade Museum website includes a couple of other downloads that may be of interest.

And now published by Gorgias Press: “As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah …”: The Tell en-Nasbeh Excavations after 85 Years, edited by Jeffrey R. Zorn & Aaron J. Brody.

The Yale Babylonian Collection now has its own website.

The open access, electronic companion to Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 3/2 (Eisenbrauns, 2014) is now online.

The authenticity of two Baruch son of Neriah bullae is rejected in a new article by Yuval Goren and
Eran Arie in BASOR vol. 372 (December 2014), pp. 147-158. (Abstract and article on JStor. And there’s free access to the entire issue via the BASOR website.)

“Patterns of Evidence: Exodus,” claims to solve the problem of lack of evidence, but it appears to do so by a major chronological revision. As far as I’m concerned, a movie showing on only one night (Jan 19, 7pm) in selected theaters doesn’t deserve much attention.

A full-scale sailing replica of the Ma‘agan Michael is now under construction. The original ship wrecked near Dor in 400 BC and was discovered in 1985.

Both portions of P46 have now been digitized and are available online.

Kevin Shillington has begun a series on Charles Warren on the Palestine Exploration Fund Blog.

Coming soon: Discovery House Bible Atlas, by John Beck.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, BibleX

Tell en-Nasbeh, biblical Mizpah, in 1966
Photo by David Bivin

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Forgery, Movies, Resources, Samaria, Tourism, Travels, Weekend Roundup