Lectures Archives - Page 25 of 79

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working at a construction site in a Tel Aviv suburb discovered a mosaic-floored winepress, a chandelier chain, and a hand-signed Byzantine gold coin.

The “Shema, servant of Jeroboam” seal impression announced last year is a fake. Yuval Goren claimed the seal was authentic after “years of strict laboratory testing,” but the object is in fact a common tourist replica.

A new study reveals that olive oil production in Philistia and the Judean Shephelah began earlier than thought and was significant in Judah after Sennacherib’s invasion. The journal article is available for purchase here.

“A large Roman-era sarcophagus dating to the 2nd or 3rd century CE excavated illegally at an unknown location in Israel has been returned to the Israel Antiquities Authority.”

In the OnScript Biblical World podcast, Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer discuss the excavations of Tel Burna, including destructions by Shishak, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar.

Leen Ritmeyer’s latest post surveys Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Hellenistic period.

A lecture that Nancy Lapp gave in 2019 at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is online. Entitled “Adventures and Discoveries from Half a Century of Life as an Archaeologist,” Nancy focuses mostly on her explorations with her husband Paul in the 1950s and 1960s, including driving from England to Shechem and on to India.

New release: Tel Reḥov, A Bronze and Iron Age City in the Beth-Shean Valley, Volume IV, Pottery Studies, Inscriptions and Figurative Art, by Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen (Qedem 62) (The Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020). To order, contact the IES.

Now available: The Road Taken: An Archaeologist’s Journey to the Land of the Bible, by Seymour (Sy) Gitin. Save 30% with code NR21.

Navot Rom has a unique job, working the night shift as an archaeological inspector in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Tell es-Safi team was doing more than digging this year, answering the “Jerusalema Challenge” with an impressive video showing off the team’s dancing skills.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, G. M. Grena, Ted Weis, Explorator, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Lectures, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A massive boundary stone marking the city limits of ancient Rome in the 1st century AD was discovered near the mausoleum of Augustus during construction work.

“The monumental entrance gate of the Zeus Temple’s sanctuary in the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in the Çavdarhisar district of western Kütahya province, Turkey, was unearthed during recent excavations.”

The latest discovery from the submerged ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion are fruit baskets from the 4th century BC.

Egypt moved the 4,600-year-old solar boat of Pharaoh Khufu from its old home near the Great Pyramid to the soon-to-open Grand Egyptian Museum.

A new study concludes a tablet from the Old Babylonian period is the oldest example of applied geometry.

17,000 looted artifacts were returned to Iraq from the Museum of the Bible and Cornell University.

A 3-min clip from a BBC documentary on the Persians focuses on the ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil, one of the best preserved ancient ziggurats.

Zoom lecture on August 11: “From Sanctuary to Synagogue,” by Robert Stieglitz.

On pre-publication sale at Logos: Biblical Illustrator Treasury

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Andy Cook, Roger Schmidgall, Explorator

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Italy, Lectures, Persia, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working in the City of David believe that they have found evidence of the 8th-century BC earthquake that occurred in the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5).

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the place where the Aramean king Hazael breached the walls of the Philistine city of Gath.

Israel will not renew the contract for Elad to run the Davidson Archaeological Park south of the Temple Mount (Haaretz premium).

Ruth Schuster gives the case for identifying el-Araj as the New Testament site of Bethsaida.

Haim Silberstein lists “10 of the best underground attractions in Israel.”

Bruce Chilton writes about “Herod, His Progeny, and the Cutting Edge of Power.”

The current issue of Adventist Review has a number of articles related to biblical archaeology.

This week on The Book and the Spade: “Wet Sifting or Not, An Archaeological Dilemma” with Jimmy Hardin.

Online conference on Sept 30: Jerusalem and Other Chosen Places

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Andy Cook, Roger Schmidgall, Explorator

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

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Researchers in Saudi Arabia have discovered a sixth-century B.C.E. rock carving of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus” along with a lengthy cuneiform inscription.

“Beneath the murky waves of the Venice Lagoon, researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman road and other possible port facilities, like a dock, that may predate the founding of the Italian city.”

“A spectacular ancient mosaic floor that was part of a building from the Hellenistic period is among the important finds from excavations carried out recently at Fabrika Hill in Kato Paphos, Cyprus.” The photo is apparently not of the newly discovered mosaic.

NPR has a story on what lies below ground in Istanbul.

“Work has begun to refurbish the old Acropolis Museum near the iconic Parthenon temple and turn it into an exhibition space.”

“Held annually on [Turkey’s] Aegean coast, the Selcuk camel-wrestling festival is part of a nomadic legacy rooted in ancient Turkic tribes.”

“Between the years 193 – 235, the Roman Empire was ruled by a series of emperors who were originally Phoenicians.”

The new director of Michigan State University’s excavations at Isthmia has developed a new website to share both old and new research with the public. The website is here.

The US government has seized the Museum of the Bible’s Gilgamesh Tablet, declaring that it was illegally deported from Iraq.

Death by stoning is not so common these days, especially in the United States. But that’s how a gunman in Texas recently died.

Zoom lecture on August 29: “From Standing Stones to Sacred Emptiness: Textual and Visual Portrayals of Israel’s God,” by Theodore Lewis.

University College London and King’s College London are co-hosting an eLecture series in August, entitled Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact (ANELC). The first eLecture will take place on Wednesday 4 August from 16:00 until 17:00 BST (London), when Dr. Ohad Cohen of the University of Haifa will be speaking on “The Canaanite Melting Pot – The Theoretical Implications of ‘Languages in Contact’ to the Understanding of Late Biblical Hebrew.”

New release: The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116, by Stephanie Dalley

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Explorator, Mark Hoffman, Roger Schmidgall, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Arabia, Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Scientists have reconstructed the Eastern Mediterranean silver trade, over a period including the traditional dates of the Trojan War, the founding of Rome, and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.”

A survey has located 11 new hills around Gobeklitepe, and a major study will be released in September. Tourism officials are referring to the area as “12 hills” and the “pyramids of southeast Turkey.”

An excavation of an underground complex in the Western Wall Tunnels is a candidate for an international award.

“For the first time, a large, commercial flour mill has joined scientists and other experts to revive the lost varieties of wheat of the Land of Israel.”

The oldest living olive tree is 3,000 years old and located on the island of Crete.

Carl Rasmussen explains, with photos, how the Lycian League was a model for the United States.

The first issue of the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology is a special issue on “State Formation Processes in the 10th Century BCE Levant”, edited by A. Faust, Y. Garfinkel and M. Mumcuoglu. All 16 articles may be downloaded for free.

The SBL website has an updated list of works in their ANE Monographs series, all available for purchase or free download.

New release: The Archaeology of Daily Life: Ordinary Persons in Late Second Temple Israel, by David A. Fiensy

Cyndi Parker’s course on historical geography is now available on BiblicalTraining (free with registration).

Danya Belkin writes about 11 adventures in Israel, including rappelling, parasailing, wakeboarding, snorkeling, and camel riding.

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

Tagged 10th Century, Jerusalem, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Resources, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

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Archaeologists have uncovered evidence for the earthquake from the time of King Uzziah at a site in the Jezreel Valley.

The six-chambered Solomonic gate at Megiddo has been restored, including its second half. If you have good eyes, you can see a small photo on the cover of a special issue of Eretz.

The BBC has created an 8-minute video on Methuselah, the date palm tree grown from an ancient seed.

Bryan Windle rounds up the top three reports in biblical archaeology in the month of June.

Available next month: The Road Taken: An Archaeologist’s Journey to the Land of the Bible, by Seymour (Sy) Gitin.

Jerusalem University has announced its online offerings for the fall semester, including courses on Jerusalem, the geographical contexts of the prophets, and the literature of Israel’s neighbors (with professors Chandler Collins, Cyndi Parker, and Bryan Beyer).

Iron Age female figurines are the topic of discussion on the latest podcast on This Week in the Ancient Near East.

The site onomasticon.net has been updated to include newly published personal names from the Iron Age II southern Levant.

Pnina Arad believes that the Medeba Map was designed to emphasize the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ (Haaretz premium or the author’s Academia page).

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ferrell Jenkins, Gordon Franz, Charles Savelle, Alexander Schick, Explorator, Paleojudaica, Chris McKinny

Tagged Discoveries, Jezreel Valley, Jordan, Lectures, Weekend Roundup