Excavations Archives - Page 44 of 93

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Luke Chandler reports on the first week of excavations at Lachish. They made some significant finds in his square on each of the first three days.

They had a fantastic third week of excavations at Tel Burna.

A Roman theater (or amphitheater?) has been discovered in ancient Smyrna as the municipality demolishes a poor neighborhood. This may have been the place where Polycarp was martyred.

Beit Guvrin National Park has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wayne Stiles captures the beauty and historic significance of Nahal Zin with photos, a video, and Google Street View.

“The truth about Jesus’ tomb, romance and the Holocaust” is a rather flashy title for an update of Simcha Jacobovici’s lawsuit against Joe Zias.

ABR has created a new video series, Is It Time To Throw Away Your Bible? They have now shared a couple of free episodes: King David and Solomon: Men or Myths? Part One and Part Two. The video set is on sale for only $20.

Robert Cargill reflects on the passing of Yuval Peleg.

Cave at Beit Guvrin National Park
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged 10th Century, Excavations, Negev, Resources, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Yad HaShmonah and its Biblical Village are profiled in The Times of Israel. Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am treat their subject honorably.

Wayne Stiles explains the connection between Horeshat Tal National Park and the Bible.

The video of the “Roast and Toast” for retiring Albright director Sy Gitin is now online with handy links to each segment.

Popular Archaeology looks forward to the coming season of excavations in Jaffa, including new work in the harbor looking for ancient shipwrecks.

Progress in the Ashkelon excavations is being reported on the Dig Ashkelon blog.

A summary for week 2 is posted at the Tel Burna excavation blog. Two more weeks remain this season.

Luke Chandler has arrived in Israel to join the new excavations at Lachish. Watch his blog for updates. There’s more information about the Fourth Expedition to Lachish at the website of Southern
Adventist University.

Bible History Daily has published the first of several studio-quality videos about excavations of Tell Timai in the Nile Delta.

The Sacred Bridge is out in a second “emended and enhanced” edition. Eisenbrauns and Carta list it for sale but do not provide details for what has changed. (Anson Rainey died in 2011.)

Suzanne Marchand provides some interesting background on German-Turkish relations in archaeological work and how that was affected by World War I.

A number of scholarly teams are working on archaeology survey maps of northern Iraq.

“Authorities now know that ISIS is partially funded by pillaging ancient artifacts from Iraq and Syria to sell on the black market.” (International Business Times)

Mick Jagger was spotted at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The-Samaritans.com website is back online after a lengthy absence.

Amazon is now listing a book I contributed to: Jesus, A Visual History. It is due to be released in November.

HT: Jack Sasson, Craig Dunning, A.D. Riddle

Tabor oak at Horeshat Tal
Photo from Trees, Plants, and Flowers of the Holy Land

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Nava Panitz-Cohen: Excavating Abel Beth Maacah

One of the directors of the Abel Beth Maacah excavation writes about the site and previous results on the eve of the second season. From the Jerusalem Post:

The site commands the narrow passageway from the Lebanese Beq’a to the north towards the Huleh Valley to the south, as well as the road to the east towards Damascus – via nearby Tel Dan – and Mesopotamia. This strategic border location has determined much of its occupation history until modern times. Curiously, despite its biblical and topographic prominence, the site has never been excavated before. Perhaps this is because of its border location, where Lebanese farmers, U.N. personnel and local kibbutzniks are all in pretty close eye contact. Short surveys were conducted and plans were made; Yigael Yadin was going to dig there, but turned his sights to nearby Hazor; but excavations never materialized. In 2012, a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – in partnership with Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles (who provided the critical funding and support for the project) and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York – took up the initiative. A preliminary survey took place in 2012, and a full-blown month-long season was conducted in 2013. The second season is set to begin in July and will also last a month. The full story includes biblical connections and discoveries made last year.

Joseph Lauer has sent along a series of related links from the last few months:

Barry Britnell: “Treasure Found at Abel Beth-Maacah”
LiveScience: “Silver Hoop Earrings Found Among Ancient Treasure in Biblical City” (and photos)
BiblePlaces Blog: Picture of the Week: Abel Beth Maacah

The Book and the Spade episodes:

Clyde Billington, “The silver hoard of Abel Beth Maacah & Noah’s Ark”
Todd Bolen, Dig Plans 2014, Part 1
Robert Mullins, Excavating Abel Beth Maacah, Part 1 and Part 2

Huleh Valley, Abel Beth Maacah, and Mount Hermon
Photo by A.D. Riddle

Tagged Excavations, Galilee

Weekend Roundup

The Western Wall prayer plaza will have a smaller version of a museum and office building after the planning committee listened to opponents.

A Muslim crowd on the Temple Mount attacked police when they opened the site to visitors yesterday afternoon.

A Jewish journalist describes his visit to the Temple Mount with Rabbi Chaim Richman.

The first week of excavations at Tel Burna has concluded.

Luke Chandler explains how a discovery from Khirbet Qeiyafa may help us to understand some details of Solomon’s temple described in 1 Kings 6. He includes a link to the Israel Exploration Journal article by Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu.

Shmuel Browns’ photo of the week is of Nahal Zavitan in the Golan Heights.

Where did Jesus change the water into wine? And what was the purpose of this miracle? Wayne Stiles explains and illustrates.

Scott Stripling is on The Book and the Spade this week, talking about last month’s excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?). Direct link here.

Tourism to Israel is at record levels, with 1.5 million visits from January to May this year.

The Sacred Bridge is on sale for Father’s Day at the Biblical Archaeology Society store. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it lower than $79.95. (Amazon has it for $118 used or $125 new.) This is the standard reference for historical geography. These photos give a sense for how detailed the work is.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has a new free eBook: Masada: The Dead Sea’s Desert Fortress.

And BAR is now available for the iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire.

The ASOR Blog has more from the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from the west
Photo by Barry Beitzel, from the Pictorial Library, volume 3

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Golan, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Temple Mount

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Leon Mauldin has photos of a restored pagan temple at Laodicea.

Luke Chandler: Canaan was not a big desert. (Someone tell the media!)

Where is the ark of the covenant? This article surveys some of the most popular views in history.

And now Ferrell Jenkins has seen Jerusalem in IMAX. Read his review here.

Leen Ritmeyer has a brief note on his recent work at Khirbet el-Maqatir, concluding that the first-century village was actually a walled city.

The Associates for Biblical Research have just released a new booklet entitled Khirbet el-Maqatir: History of a Biblical Site.

BibleX reports that all of SBL’s Ancient Near Eastern Monographs are now available as free pdfs.

A museum for the History of Medicine in the Holy Land has opened in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Hershel Shanks ponders a remaining mystery about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

We’ll have more stories in part 3 of the roundup tomorrow.

The “desert of Canaan”
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea

Tagged Excavations, Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

SourceFlix has just released a great new film short on “The Potter.” The 3-minute video features a craftsman in Hebron.

Recent excavations in Hebron are briefly described in the Jewish Press.

Might el-Araj be the real Bethsaida? A five-day “shovel survey” this week suggests that it might be.

An intact burial chamber was discovered in Aswan, Egypt, with nine mummies. Luxor Times has photos.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism is looking to boost budget tourism by providing grants for the construction of hostels in Jerusalem and around the country.

The note that Pope Francis placed in a crack of the Western Wall had the text of the Lord’s Prayer written in Spanish.

“The Western Wall Heritage Foundation unveiled on Sunday a fully excavated grand hall from the 14th century in the Western Wall Tunnels that took 10 years to restore.” (JPost) An older video shows the hall under renovation. (HT: Joseph Lauer)

Jerusalem has been chosen as the “Islamic Tourism Capital” for 2016.

Is a mosque being constructed in the Golden Gate? The Israel Antiquities Authority says no.

Exploring Bible Lands is leading a tour of Israel and just finished a visit to Northern Galilee.

What language did Jesus speak? The dispute between the pope and the prime minister has scholars weighing in.

I’m on the Book and the Spade this week, talking with Gordon Govier about Magdala and a Jerusalem inscription (direct link here). I missed noting last week’s broadcast on the latest developments in the City of David. Details on The Book & The Spade 2015 Archaeological Adventure Study Tour are now available.

The Golden Gate of the Temple Mount
Photo from Jerusalem

Tagged Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judah, Temple Mount, Tourism