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The Tel Burna team has begun a survey of Khirbet ʿAter, a likely candidate for biblical Ether.

Bruno Soltic created a video on “Tel Burna – Week on a Dig,” featuring interviews with Itzick Shai, Steven Ortiz, Chris McKinny, and others.

Registration has now opened for next summer’s excavations at Tel Burna and Gath.

Sepphoris was an important city near Nazareth, and Wayne Stiles looks at its possible place in Jesus’s youth.

Bill Barrick posts about his visit to Sepphoris on a recent research trip, and he includes many photos.

Archaeology magazine has a feature on the dye industry at Tel Shikmona near Haifa.

Israel21c has identified “Israel’s best ancient toilets.”

Three individuals were arrested on suspicion of stealing antiquities from ancient Megiddo.

“In the hills of Timna in the Arava Desert, just north of Eilat, lies a secret lake that has become a magnet for some adventurous Israelis unable to travel abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Hebrew University has just released the first three volumes in the Tel Rehov final report series (scroll to the bottom).

Shalom Paul died earlier this week.

Israel’s Good Name made a number of outings this year to the Yavne dunes, finding it an ideal place for spotting birds, snakes, and other wildlife.

I am excited about this book forthcoming from Barry Beitzel: Where Was the Biblical Red Sea? Examining the Ancient Evidence. Beitzel defends the traditional location and shows why the Gulf of Aqaba hypothesis is impossible.

The Infusion Bible Conference (formerly the Institute of Biblical Context Conference) has just announced that the 2021 conference will be held in Franklin, Tennessee. This year’s topic is “Paul and His Roman World.”

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, G. M. Grena, Charles Savelle, Explorator

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Sinclair Bell writes about Imperial Rome’s passion for chariot racing. The article includes some beautiful illustrations, some of which come from a new documentary on the subject.

A new study shows that ancient Egyptian scribes added lead to their inks to help their writing dry.

“An Egyptian archaeological mission working in the ​​al-Ghuraifah area in Minya Governorate has uncovered the tomb of a royal treasury supervisor.”

Free lecture on YouTube: “Tutankhamun’s Life, Death, and Afterlife: New Evidence from Thebes,” by W. Raymond Johnson (available until Nov 21).

Zoom lecture on Nov 10: “Citron Detectives, Nomadic Acacias, and Pomegranate Physics: Some Puzzles and Solutions in Biblical Ethnobotany,” by Jon Greenberg, a Biblical and Talmudic ethnobotanist.

The Israeli TV series “The Holy Land in the Eyes of History” is now available online in some countries (but not the US), with subtitles in English.

Smithsonian Magazine explains the Athenian background of ostracism, in which inscribed potsherds (ostraca) were cast to exile a political candidate from the city for the next decade.

Newly launched: PEACE: a Portal of Epigraphy, Archaeology, Conservation and Education on Jewish Funerary Culture, covering from antiquity to the 20th century.

The Winter 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Herod’s throne niche at Macherus and a private archive discovered at Maresha.

Denny Sissom’s The Bridge to the New Testament is on sale now with discount code WINTER2020.

Tutku has announced its list of tours in 2021 and 2022, including discounted trips for professors to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Jordan.

Claude Mariottini provides an introduction to the city of Susa.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman

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“Excavation works will start within two weeks to prepare for construction of the controversial cable car planned to connect West Jerusalem with the Old City.”

Daily Life in an Ancient Judean Town is now online, being adapted from the Badè Museum’s long-running traveling exhibit of the same name. The exhibit was designed as a remote-teaching resource, and a teaching kit is available.

An Israeli team is using artificial intelligence to fill in the gaps in fragmentary cuneiform tablets.

‘Atiqot 100 is now online. It includes dozens of articles related to excavations in Jaffa.

Members of The Times of Israel Community will be treated to a peek into Israel’s vault of ancient coins on a tour with Donald T. Ariel.

CoinWeek has a post about the rare coin that features Aristobulus IV on one side and the infamous Salome on the reverse.

Alex Wosford discusses the use of landscapes and people in the photo collection of James Graham, taken in Palestine and Syria between 1853 and 1860.

The latest in the Discussions with the Diggers series features  Dale W. Manor, the Field Director of the excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh.

The Jerusalem University College is offering online classes for the 2021 semester to anyone who wants to apply.

New book: Where God Came Down: The Archaeological Evidence, by Joel P. Kramer. “Using Scripture as his primary ancient text and interpretive tool, author Joel Kramer examines the archaeological record for ten locations recorded in the Bible.”

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman

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Season 2 of Jack Beck’s “The Holy Land—Connecting the Land with Its Stories” has been released on YouTube, with episodes on Psalm 23, David’s flight from Saul, and much more.

John DeLancey’s latest video provides a virtual tour of Gamla.

On Tuesday, David Moster will begin teaching a new course on Egypt and the Bible for The Institute of Biblical Culture.

Registration is now underway for the Bible & Archaeology Fest XXIII on October 24-25, with early bird pricing through the 9th and half price for students.

A very rare Sumerian temple plaque will be returned to Iraq by Britain because it was looted.

ACOR in Amman, Jordan, has announced a number of fellowships for the 2021-22 year.

Carl Rasmussen posts photos of the martyrium of Philip at Hierapolis.

Lawrence J. Mykytiuk is the first to be interviewed in the Scholar’s Chair series on the Bible Archaeology Report.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis

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Excavations have begun to unearth mosaics in a church built in AD 396 in Göktaş in southeastern Turkey.

27 wooden sarcophagi buried 2,500 years ago have been discovered in the ancient Saqqara necropolis near Cairo.

Alex Winston asks, What was life like for Jews under Byzantine rule?

In light of the ongoing excavations of Domus Aurea, Smithsonian Magazine considers whether Nero was as bad as people think.

A tourist crashed his drone inside of Rome’s Colosseum.

Zoom workshop: Reconsidering Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, with Helen Gries, Olof Pedersén, May-Sarah Zeßin, Kai Kaniuth, Emad Matin, Anastasia Amrhein, and Elizabeth Knott. Free registration is required.

Accordance has a couple of outstanding deals (60% or 97% off) for those crossing over from Wordsearch.

Leon Mauldin shares photos from his visits to Hebron.

Ferrell Jenkins captured a photo of Colossae that is probably the best I’ve ever seen.

Carl Rasmussen shares a photo of the Erastus Inscription at Corinth, along with another inscription still filled with metal.

HT: Keith Keyser, Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

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A rare 7th-8th century masthead from a shipwreck off northern Israel sheds light on sailing and shipbuilding. The underlying journal article is here.

Israel has 320 open-air archaeological gardens and exhibits that are free and accessible 24/7. (Send me an email when you’ve seen them all!)

A collector has donated 130,000 “Postcards of Palestine” from the 19th and 20th centuries to the Hebrew University.

John DeLancey’s latest video tour focuses on Jericho.

I agree with the choices Bryan Windle has made for the “Top Three Reports in Biblical Archaeology” this month.

Free webinar: “The Archaeology of Israel: Where Are We Today?,” with Eric Cline, J. P. Dessel, Jennie Ebeling, and James Hardin, moderated by Rachel Hallote, on Oct 13, 4:00pm Eastern. Free registration is required.

Wendy Slaninka, the granddaughter of James Leslie Starkey, has written several posts about her family’s experiences in Lachish and Egypt.

Just released: CSB Holy Land Illustrated Bible, with 1,200+ images and maps. Details and sample (of Ruth) here. The Amazon listing includes my endorsement.

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

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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