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Anna Moseley Gissing writes about three lessons she learned from archaeology about the spiritual life.


Haaretz reports that the appointment of Israel’s new antiquities chief is embroiled in politics.

Should the Vatican return the menorah from the Jerusalem Temple? Steven Fine assigned his class the task of refuting the notion that the Vatican has it.

Greek archaeologists excavating a fourth-century BC tomb at Amphipolis have made an “extremely important find.”


Camels Mummification existed in Egypt 1,500 years earlier than scientists have long believed.

The Egyptian government has asked the Ashmolean museum to lend it the personal collection of Howard Carter.

Brian Daniels discusses Preserving Culture in War on this week’s broadcast of The Book and the Spade.

What is the relationship between the archaeology of Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon? SourceFlix has produced a new video that answers this question.

Wayne Stiles describes two oases along the shore of the Dead Sea. (Can you guess which ones they are? Neither one ends with “Gedi.”) He includes photos, a video, and a map.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Arch of Titus Temple treasures scene left, tb112105077
Triumphal procession depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, volume 15
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A Bone to Pick: Why Did We Hear Only One Side of the Camel Argument?

In advance of the pope’s blessing of the tabernacle from the boat altar, the New York Times profiles the excavation and resort of Magdala.

Ferrell Jenkins recently visited the new excavations at Derbe.

ArtDaily: “Egypt unveiled Thursday the 3,000 year-old tombs of two senior pharaonic military men in the famed Saqqara necropolis, one of them decorated with well-preserved reliefs depicting the afterlife.”

Aren Maeir’s recent lecture at the Oriental Institute on new directions in the study of the Philistines is now online.

The only museum of biblical archaeology in Latin America is in Sao Paulo, Brazil.


Haaretz: Archaeologists are protesting construction at Tel Shiloh.

“Aerial images taken by Corona satellites in 1960s help archaeologists locate unexcavated towns and roads across Middle East, but few gems remain unsurveyed in Israel.”

On Logos pre-pub discount: Biblical Archaeologist / Near Eastern Archaeology (1992–2011) (20 vols.) (74 issues)

Yale University Press launches Roman architecture enhanced e-book. $9.99 at Amazon.

HT: Ted Weis

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Archaeologists working at Omrit have revealed the discovery of an Assyrian seal from the reign of Sargon II. The story is reported at Haaretz and on Ferrell’s Travel Blog.

The remains of 50 mummies from the New Kingdom period have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Haaretz is reporting that “a team of Spanish Egyptologists may have found one of the earliest-known pictures of Jesus Christ, in a 6th-century tomb unearthed in Upper Egypt.”

The Colosseum of Rome is getting its “first top to bottom cleaning in 2 millennia. The scrub-down began in December and is slated to cost $35 million before its completion in 2016.”

Former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass is under investigation for illegally amassing a fortune of $14 million.

National Geographic: “A study of Cold War spy-satellite photos has tripled the number of known archaeological sites across the Middle East, revealing thousands of ancient cities, roads, canals, and other ruins.”

The pillaging of Syria’s antiquities is now a full-time business for some. The Christian Science Monitor talks to some of those involved.

Is the Abba cave in Jerusalem the burial place of the last Hasmonean king? Haaretz presents the case for this identification. Joe Zias rejects it.

There’s a new open-access journal of interest: Science and Technology of Archaeological Research.
The editors are looking for submissions.

Accordance has a new series of 6 introductory Bible atlases published by Carta (OT, NT, archaeology, kingdoms, people, geography). For the first week only, the price is reduced to $79.99.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer, Mark Hoffman

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The collapse of the great civilizations of the Late Bronze Age was the result of climate change, says a new study published in Tel Aviv. A preliminary list of 2014 excavations in Israel is now available. The Carmel Caves have been named the newest UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem has opened “The Book of Books” exhibition based on the collection of Hobby Lobby owner Steve Green. Archaeologists are mapping the ancient aqueducts of Rome with the help of lasers and robots. A new BAR Archive DVD is available, providing all issues of the magazine from 1975 to 2012. Wayne Stiles is offering both of his excellent books at a great discount. And this weekend will be the last chance to get them autographed. They make a great Christmas gift for you or someone else… The Virtual Bible Project is profiled in the Baptist Press. After many years of slow progress, Dan Warner has now teamed with Logos Bible Software to add to the four reconstructions already completed. J. B. Hennessy died this week. HT: Bill Soper, Jack Sasson, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer Mount Carmel cave with prehistoric remains, tb050900101 Caves on Mount Carmel
Photo from Samaria and the Center

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The Preliminary Report of the 2013 Jezreel Expedition Field Season has been posted at The Bible and Interpretation. Three areas were excavated in the inaugural season.

Aren Maeir and Jeffrey Chadwick discuss a recent suggestion to date Hezekiah’s Tunnel to Manasseh. They note that the four years that geologists claim would have been required for construction would fit between Hezekiah’s revolt in 705 and the arrival of Sennacherib in 701.

The Biblical Archaeology Society has announced its 2013 Publication Awards Winners. They include works on Ashkelon, Gath, and Isaiah.

A summary of the contents of the latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is now online.

Wayne Stiles proposes the best way to use your time in Jerusalem after the sun goes down.

BibleX has a preview of a four-part series by National Geographic entitled “The Lost Faces of the Bible.”

Pedestrians won’t have to compete with motorists when visiting the Roman Forum and Colosseum.

Colosseum from west, tb112105088
The Colosseum of Rome
Photo from Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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Gary Byers summarizes the result of the first week of excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir. He thinks it may have been the best first week of finds at the site. Shimon Gibson will be resuming his excavations on Mount Zion from June 16 to July 11. Volunteers are welcome. A list of papers for the Noah’s Ark conference at Sirnak University in Turkey has been announced. Among the list is this one by Gordon Franz: “Did Sennacherib, King of Assyria, Worship Wood from Noah’s Ark?” Don Wimmer, director of excavations at Tall Safut in Jordan, died last week. Worsening conditions at the Cairo Museum are causing concern. The Green Scholars Initiative Series on Early Jewish Texts is a new book series to be published by Brill and led by Emanuel Tov. Scholars are using artificial intelligence programs to help reassemble more than 100,000 manuscript fragments from across the Mediterranean world. Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg has written the latest Archaeology in Israel Update—April 2013. Luke Chandler is leading a tour of Italy this fall. The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.) is now marked down 78% to $90. Until Friday. HT: Jack Sasson, Bill Soper Pompeii Consolare Street and Modesto Street intersection, tb111505131 Preserved ruins of Pompeii
Photo from Pictorial Library, Italy and Malta

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