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The first-ever discovery of a soldier bearing the title of “Emperor’s protector” was made on a sarcophagus found in western Turkey.

“A 2nd-century funerary altar marking the remains of a 13-year-old girl was discovered in Rome.”

Hundreds of engraved stones and fragmented bas-relief carvings have recently been discovered in the ruined Tachara Palace” in Persepolis.

“Analysis of Bronze Age daggers has shown that they were used for processing animal carcasses and not as non-functional symbols of identity and status, as previously thought.”

“Lebanon’s tourism ministry inaugurated on Friday a Phoenician museum in the coastal city of Jounieh.”

Pharaoh So is the last of five Egyptian pharaohs in Bryan Windle’s archaeological biography series.

Chris Stantis writes about warriors and warrior burials in the ancient Near East.

Bible History Daily provides an introduction to a current BAR magazine article on dig workers in the Middle East. The article itself derives from more extensive reporting in Allison Mickel’s Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent: A History of Local Archaeological Knowledge and Labor.

“A British tourist could face the death penalty in Iraq after being accused of smuggling artifacts out of the country.”

A new study concludes that the Shroud of Turin is similar to a piece of fabric found at Masada in the 1st century AD.

The Ancient World Online has updated its extensive list of Oriental Institute Open Access Publications.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ryan Jaroncyk, Jared Clark, Charles Savelle, Explorator

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A Greco-Roman pottery workshop was recently discovered in Alexandria.

Restoration work is underway on the Ben Ezra synagogue in Cairo.

Mark Janzen and Chris McKinny begin a new series on Egypt and the Bible in the Biblical World podcast.

Jerry Pattengale of the Religion News Service reviews some of the recent controversy related to the claim that Tall el-Hammam was destroyed by a meteoric airburst.

Zoom webinar on April 24: “Preserving Cultural Heritage in Hisban and Umm al-Jimal, Jordan,” featuring Øystein LaBianca, Elizabeth Osinga, and Darrell Rohl.

Philip Boyes writes about the social context of writing in ancient Ugarit. His similarly titled book is available as an open access pdf.

The Jerusalem Post investigates the origins of the menorah etched into the staircase of the Celsus Library in Ephesus.

The 6th-century Imperial Gate of the Hagia Sophia has been vandalized.

American archaeologist Stephen Miller devoted his entire professional life to uncovering the secrets of Nemea and reviving ancient Greece’s Nemean Games.”

A new exhibition at the Landesmuseum Mainz showcases Roman technology including sewer systems, underfloor heating, and weatherproof concrete.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica

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A boat dating to 2000 BC has been excavated near the ancient city of Uruk in Iraq.

Scientists used a mass spectrometer to identify the smells of ancient food residues in jars discovered in the Deir el-Medina necropolis.

Greek graffiti on a statue of Ramses II at Abu Simbel dates to the reign of Pharaoh Psammetichus (circa 590 BC).

Turkish Archaeological News highlights the top stories for the month of March, including the restoration of the “Serpent Column” in Istanbul.

Chariot racing in the Roman world was “the ancient version of NASCAR, except that it was a lot more dangerous.”

“Researchers in Sweden are using virtual reality (VR) to envision what a lavishly decorated home in Pompeii might have looked like before its destruction in 79 C.E.”

“It is now certain that ancient Greek sculptors used bright colors, as well as gold and ivory, to further beautify the magnificent structures they created.”

Researchers believe they now know the date the Antikythera mechanism was first set ticking—December 23, 178 BC.

New from Brill: Queen Berenice: A Jewish Female Icon of the First Century CE, by Tal Ilan. “This is a biography of Queen Berenice, the daughter of King Agrippa I, sister of King Agrippa II, wife of two kings and lover of the emperor designate Flavius Titus.”

Andrea Nicolotti provides a bit of a teaser on Bible History Daily from his recent book, The Shroud of Turin: The History and Legends of the World’s Most Famous Relic (Waco: Baylor Univ. Press, 2020).

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Joseph Lauer

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“Egyptian archaeologists have discovered five ancient painted tombs at a cemetery in Saqqara.”

John Currid explains the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls 75 years after their discovery.

“In a sweeping global police operation targeting illegal trafficking in cultural objects earlier this month, INTERPOL arrested 52 people and seized 9,408 cultural artifacts from around the world including archaeological antiquities.”

“The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas, is hosting an exhibit of over 170 artifacts from Israel at their exhibit titled ‘Joshua, Judges and Jesus.’”

A PhD archaeology student offers insights into pursuing a doctorate in the field.

There apparently were a few female gladiators in ancient Rome.

In a livestream event this week, Jack Green presented on “Archaeology, Community and Public Health in Palestine: Insights from the Olga Tufnell Archive.”

Webinar on April 3: “Back to the Field: Recent Discoveries & Summer Plans 2022,” with Lorenzo d’Alfonso, Kathryn Grossman, and James R. Strange.

“The Mesorah Heritage Foundation is celebrating the completion of the Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud Yerushalmi in English, a truly historic accomplishment in the Jewish world.” The release is accompanied by a 20-minute video, “The World of Talmud Yerushalmi.”

The Infusion Bible Conference has released a press kit to make it easy to share details about the conference with churches.

On the History in 3D YouTube channel: “Virtual Ancient Rome: Walking from the Colosseum to the Forum.”

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, G. M. Grena, Explorator

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Biblical Archaeology Review seems to have dispensed with its annual “dig issue,” but the first issue of the year has a story about how various archaeologists think COVID-19 may affect the future of archaeology. The full story from the magazine is now online.

What was thought to be a Phoenician harbor in Sicily turns out to be a “gigantic sacred pool in honor of Baal that operated during the city’s Phoenician period, from the 8th to the 5th centuries B.C.E.” The article includes a nice map showing Phoenician colonies throughout the Mediterranean.

The new archaeologist in charge of Pompeii is hoping that visitors will look at the ancient city through the lens of its complex social stratification.

With Purim last week, Judith Sudilovsky writes about the Persian King Xerxes, known in the Hebrew Bible as Ahasuerus.

Tirhakah, the Cushite King of Egypt, is the latest subject of Bryan Windle’s series of bioarchaeographies.

Jordan has a number of important or impressive churches worth visiting.

Zoom lecture on March 23: “Phoenicians’ Cultural Influence in the Levant/Israel,” by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz ($7)

Webinar on April 6-7: Biblical Studies in Memory of Baruch A. Levine. I don’t see the schedule online, but I can forward it to anyone who asks. Or you will likely receive it when you register.

The webinar on “Colossae, Colossians, and Archaeology” that you may have missed because of its Sunday morning timing is now posted on YouTube.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Explorator

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A cache of embalming materials was discovered in a tomb in Abusir dating to the 26th Dynasty.

A number of museums in Egypt are planned to open or re-open in 2022.

Marissa Stevens looks at structural similarities between two civilizations that had no contact with each other: Egypt’s New Kingdom and China’s Han Dynasty.

An Elamite inscription attributed to Xerxes has been discovered at Persepolis.

Tom Garlinghouse has written a primer on the ancient Persians.

More looting of Palmyra has occurred in recent days.

“The Jordanian Antiquities Ministry and the US Embassy in Jordan held a ceremony in Jordan’s capital, Amman, on Tuesday showcasing the objects that were ‘illegally smuggled from Jordan and obtained by an antiquities collector in the United States.’”

A shipwreck originating from the Greek island of Rhodes, dating back to the third century AD, was found in the depths of the Gulf of Fethiye.”

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Vespasian’s Temple of Peace, where Josephus says he placed the golden vessels from the Jerusalem temple.

Tzilla Eshel suggests that there may have been multiple places named Tarshish in biblical times, on the basis of Phoenician inscriptions and the chemical fingerprint of silver.

The Database of Religious History “is intended as a platform for unprecedented academic collaboration, reflecting a commitment to rigorous, scholarly standards and a deep appreciation for interdisciplinary work in the sciences and humanities.” It is free and no registration is required.

ASOR webinar on March 8: “Where Are They Now?: A Preview of 2022 ASOR-Affiliated Fieldwork Projects,” with Michael Given, Xenia-Paula Kyriakou, Stephen Batiuk, Monique Roddy, Kent Bramlett, Friedbert Ninow, and Michael Hoff.

Online lecture on March 9: “How Did Roman Painters Create Frescoes?,” by John Clarke

ASOR webinar on March 20: “Uncovering What is Nubian Beneath the Veneer of Egyptianness: Excavating the Archives,” by Debora Heard.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

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