Lectures Archives - Page 20 of 79

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

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

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Museums, Persia, Syria, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A tourist found an intact clay pot in Qumran Cave 53.

Steven Notley not only wants to convince you that Bethsaida was located at el-Araj but also that Peter’s house was there and not under an octagonal church in Capernaum.

Chris McKinny and Mary Buck discuss the discovery and significance of the Lachish Letters on the Biblical World podcast.

Online Colloquium on March 10: A Brief History of Tel Azekah: Towards the Tenth Excavation Season at the Site. Register at the excavation’s official website. Since a list of topics doesn’t seem to be online, I am including them here:

Opening Remarks, Oded Lipschits
The Shephelah in the 2nd Millennium BCE: A View from Tel Azekah, by Sabine Kleiman, Helena Roth & Oded Lipschits
The History of Azekah in the Light of the Coin Findings, by Manfred Oeming
Trouble Brewing from the North: Excavations in Area N1, by Josef Briffa
The House of the Rising Sun: the LB Temple of Area E3, by Nitsan Shalom & Hannah Ripps
When the Breeze Blows South: Life and Death in Area S1, by Alexandra Wrathall
Facing Azekah: The Entrance to the Tel from Area S3, by Helena Roth
Wild Wild West: Excavating the Unknown in Area W1, by Abra Spiciarich & Maddison Quail-Gates

ASOR’s Annual March Madness Challenge this year is to support The Levantine Ceramics Project—an open, interactive website focused on ceramics produced in the Levant from the Neolithic era through the Ottoman period.

Hybrid workshop on March 10: “Legacy Collections, White Levy, and the Case of Tel Yaqush,” by Yorke M. Rowan.

Enrollment in academic programs related to the land of Israel has dropped significantly in the last decade.

I am a guest again on Digging for Truth, this time discussing the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. In this first of two parts, our focus is on the situation in Judah’s final days, including the eyewitness testimony provided by the Lachish Letters.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Lectures, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

A marble column from a Byzantine church was discovered by a beach patrol near Ashdod.

Tel Jarmuth (Yarmuth) is now surrounded by the fast-growing city of Beit Shemesh. The relationship between the community and the archaeologists may serve as a model for others.

A plan to expand the Jerusalem Walls National Park to include 68 additional acres, many on the Mount of Olives, has been shelved following opposition from church leaders.

The Times of Israel provides an overview of the $40 million renewal project of Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum, slated to be finished by the end of this year.

Andrew Califf provides a fascinating look into “a day in the life of an antiquities crime-buster in Israel.”

i24News reports on lions in the Holy Land, including comments from Natan Slifkin, director of the Biblical Museum of National History.

Susan Schmidt has released a new video on “Hiking to the 11 Qumran Dead Sea Scroll Caves and Scrolls Trail.” This 6-minute tour not only introduces the new trail but it identifies where each of the 11 caves are located.

Ynet has an article about the new Dead Sea Scrolls Trail. The article is in Hebrew, but Google’s translation is pretty good.

Hybrid lecture on March 3 in Jerusalem: “The Foundation Date and Northern Defenses of Aelia Capitolina,” by Jodi Magness.

Zoom lecture on March 9: “Architectural Development of Ancient Galilean Synagogues,” by Paul Flesher.

Leen Ritmeyer has created a beautiful reconstruction drawing of the Magdala synagogue. His post provides more details about the synagogue, and a non-watermarked version of the reconstruction is available in his impressive image library.

Bible History Daily provides a summary of three pilgrimage paths from Galilee to Jerusalem, based on a recent BAR article by Jeffrey P. Garcia.

Oded Lipschits has been awarded the 2022 EMET Prize in Archaeology.

Israel is dropping its requirement for tourists to be vaccinated as of March 1.

How can photos, drone videos, and illustrations help you and your audience better understand the Bible? Brad Gray provides a valuable guide to a number of available resources and how they can be used (17 min).

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

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

This Year’s IBC: John: His Life, Legacy & Last Words

The dates, locations, and subject of this year’s Infusion Bible Conference have been announced. The topic is “John: His Life, Legacy & Last Words.” Here’s a brief description:

The Apostle John is unquestionably one of the central characters of the New Testament. He was a disciple. He was the caretaker of Mary after Jesus’s death. He was a pastor to the churches in Asia. He was a writer who penned a gospel and three epistles. And then there’s Revelation. Something about this man led Jesus to entrust him with the final words in Scripture. He’s seen a vision of the end and has words for us in the present. In a sense, John is the Church’s first elder statesman. He was there in Galilee with Jesus in the beginning, and he’s there in Asia at the end of the first century leading and guiding the Church.

90% of John’s gospel includes material that doesn’t show up in the other gospels. And there’s a reason for that. He’s writing last. He’s got a specific audience in Asia, and he’s had six decades for the Jesus story to simmer in his memory and heart. Many of us don’t realize how multi-dimensional his life was and how critical it was to the expansion of the Jesus movement. As a result, we misunderstand and misinterpret things he wrote, and also miss out on so much of what he was saying.

The conference will be held twice in August:

August 8-10 in Franklin, Tennessee
August 15-17 in Parker, Colorado

The three-day conference is loaded with short talks on everything you can think of and a lot more. The conference faculty this year is Brad Gray, Cyndi Parker, Brad Nelson, and Randy Smith—all who have traveled extensively in the biblical lands. One of the conference favorites is the IBC Notebook which includes detailed notes on all of the presentations as well as additional resources.

I’m planning to bring my wife to the Tennessee conference (during which time we will celebrate our 30th anniversary). Kris Udd will be at the event in Colorado. I think that the topic of John is a perfect follow-up to last year’s focus on Paul, and I hope I’ll see many of you there. As I have said here before, this is the best conference I know of for backgrounds of the Bible.

Registration is now open.

Tagged Lectures

Webinar: Colossae, Colossians, and Archaeology

A site I’ve long thought held the most potential for future discoveries for New Testament studies is Colossae. Many groups to Turkey don’t even bother to visit, since the ancient mound is virtually untouched and only scattered remains can be seen on the ground. So whenever I see something about archaeology at Colossae, my ears immediately perk up.

Tutku Tours is sponsoring a webinar on February 27 entitled “Colossae, Colossians, and Archaeology: Digging for Answers at a Biblical Site,” with Mark Wilson moderating. The graphic (below) provides full details, but I’ve written out the schedule here, with times in US Eastern:

10:00-10:45: “Latest Archaeological Surveys in Colossae,” by Baris Yener

10:50-11:35: “How the Excavation of Colossae Could Help Illuminate Paul’s Letter to the Colossians,” by Clint Arnold

11:40-12:00: Response: ”Archaeology and Interpreting Colossians,” by Anna Enberg

12:00-12:30: Questions and Conversation

To join, go to the Zoom website and enter Meeting ID: 629 730 8579; passcode: tutku

Tagged Lectures, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Excavations at the “altar site” on Mount Ebal have uncovered an ancient amulet with Hebrew writing. There’s more about it in this lecture by Scott Stripling (beginning at about 34:38).

Zvi Koenigsberg recounts some of his story in working with Adam Zertal on the Mt. Ebal excavation, and the conclusion of the account provides more information about the recently discovered amulet.

Archaeologists are investigating a group of asphalt-coated skulls discovered in a cave in Nahal Hemer near the Dead Sea.

A 5th-century Byzantine church has been opened in Gaza after a three-year restoration project.

The Israeli government is allocating $3 million toward the preservation of archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria, with half of that allocated to reconstruction work at Sebastia (the ancient city of Samaria) and a significant amount to the winter palaces at Jericho.

Ruth Marks Eglash writes about the $50 million renovation project underway at Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum, including the discovery that Suleiman’s Old City walls have no foundation.

Bryan Windle’s top 3 reports in biblical archaeology this month include two related to Egyptian pharaohs, a discovery on Mount Ebal, and a discoveries from a Jerusalem toilet.

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the geography of Judges in the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast.

Israel’s Good Name reports on a university trip to the site of Doq above Jericho and the Good Samaritan Museum. He includes many photos.

James Strange reflects on his work as an archaeologist and recent discoveries at Magdala. The story includes a 30-minute video interview.

Zoom webinar on Feb 10: “Tel Rehov: A Major Bronze and Iron Age City in the Jordan Valley,” with Amihai Mazar, Nava Panitz-Cohen, Nota Kourou, Naama Yahalom-Mack, and Robert Mullins.

Zoom webinar on Feb 20: “Excavations at Tel Gezer: A Personal Story,” with Sam Wolff.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a media blitz like that carried out by Andrew Lawler, author of Under Jerusalem. His latest story is on Christianity Today’s website.

There is something special about hiking in Israel.

Snow fell in Israel this week, from the Golan Heights to the hills around Jerusalem. The Times of Israel has photos. Haaretz (premium) has more.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Charles Savelle

Snow in the Jewish Quarter and on the Mount of Olives. Photo by Miriam Siebenberg

Jerusalem model at the Israel Museum. Photo by a museum guard.

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Judah, Lectures, Samaria, Shephelah, Tourism, Weather, Weekend Roundup