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Fabricus is a new “Google Arts & Culture Lab Experiment that uses machine learning to help translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.”

New release: “a public, open platform for the Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME), which . . . aggregates, through an ongoing program, digital records of published materials, documents, maps, artifacts, audiovisual recordings, and more from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”

From Meretseger Books: Digitized Treasures – 100 rare books now fully online and Pictures of Egypt – 15,000 photos of most sites in Egypt available for free use.

The auction of this selection from the Schoyen Collection is over, but the catalog of items providing a “history of Western script” may still be of interest.

Fifty titles from Brown Judaic Studies have been released in open access format.

The festschrift for James Hoffmeier, previously described on this blog here, is now available at 40% off with code NR18.

New: Studies in Literacy and Textualization in the Ancient Near East and in the Hebrew Scriptures: Essays in Honour of Professor Alan R. Millard, edited by Daniel I. Block, David C. Deuel, C. John Collins, Paul J. N. Lawrence (Pickwick, $49).

Eric Cline will be the first speaker in the Friends of ASOR’s new webinar series. The topic is “Digging Deeper: How Archaeology Works,” and it will be held on August 9 at 8 pm Eastern. Registration and payment is required.

The Annual Meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature will be conducted virtually.

The International Virtual Conference on the Archaeology of Iran and Adjacent Regions will be held from July 20-21.

Alex Joffe looks at the possibility of pickles and pickling in the ancient Near East.

Though ancient temples were called “houses,” they did not look like houses.

The Louvre reopened, and the Vatican Museums are empty.

The Assyrian king Sennacherib is a great subject for the latest archaeological profile by Bryan Windle.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator

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One of the advantages of the present crisis is that conferences that you probably would not be able to fly to are now easy to watch from home. And some of them are free, including one this weekend.

This one is hosted by “Windows into the Bible University” and it’s a virtual conference on “The New Testament in Archaeology and Ancient Judaism.” Registration is free but required.

Here is the schedule, with all times Eastern:

Saturday, June 27

10:00 am: Marc Turnage, “The Son of David: Solomon, Healing, Exorcism, and Jesus”

11:30 am: Archie Wright, “The Development of Satan in the Second Temple Period and the New Testament”

12:45 pm: Mark Nanos, “How to Read Paul and His Letters Within Judaism”

​3:00 pm: Mordechai Aviam, “On Disciples and Pottery: Excavating el-Araj and the Identification of Bethsaida”

4:30 pm: Round Table Discussion, “Reading the New Testament In Light of Ancient Judaism,” with Marc Turnage, R. Steven Notley, Archie Wright and Jeffrey Garcia

Sunday, June 28

2:00 pm: R. Steven Notley, “Reading the Gospel Parables as Jewish Literature”

3:30 pm: Jeffrey Garcia, “Crossing the Streams: John, Jesus and the Rabbis on Charity and Deeds of Lovingkindness”

4:45 pm: Marc Turnage, “The Kingdom of Heaven: Politics and Redemption in Ancient Judaism”

For more details and to register, go here.

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The Jerusalem Post runs a story on the 2013 discovery of a winery at Jezreel. A scholarly article was published this year on the excavation in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies.

Analysis of pottery workshops in the Jerusalem area reveals changes brought about by the Roman destruction of the city in AD 70. The underlying journal article was recently published in BASOR.

In his latest “Discussions with the Diggers,” Bryan Windle interviews Robert Mullins, focusing on his current excavations of Abel Beth Maacah. (I read yesterday that Yadin in the 1950s would have preferred to excavate Abel instead of Hazor, but he was unable to because of the military situation.)

Virtual conference on June 15-16: On the Origin of the Pieces: The Provenance of the Dead Sea Scrolls

W. Raymond Johnson of the Oriental Institute gave a lecture this week on “Medinet Habu and Tell el-Amarna: Tales of Blocks and Towers.”

SBL Press has “unpublished” Burton MacDonald’s A History of Ancient Moab from the Ninth to First Centuries BCE after determining that it “does not adequately adhere to the expected standard of marking all direct quotations from other sources.” (If you want a copy, better grab one now. Or if you already purchased, you can send it back for a refund.)

New release: A Week in the Life of Ephesus, by David A. deSilva. I enjoy the way this series makes learning historican context enjoyable. (Also available in Logos.)

Kris Udd gave a one-day Seminar on Bible Chronology at his church a few months ago, and he has made the videos and print materials available for free download. I have benefitted from Dr. Udd’s excellent chronology materials for many years, and I am happy to see them made widely available.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer

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“A singular two-millennia-old subterranean system of three rooms has been uncovered near the Western Wall. The three-room complex — painstakingly chiseled by hand out of bedrock prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE — is the first evidence of everyday life gone underground in the ancient city.” There’s a nice 3-minute video in English here.

An intact terracotta sarcophagus dating from the second century AD has been unearthed alongside the archaeological site of Ostia Antica” near Rome.

Researchers have found that early Iron Age Nubia utilized bitumen from the Dead Sea in funeral preparations.

An incredible, undisturbed tomb probably dating back to the Punic period has been found in Tarxien” on the island of Malta.

Eberhard Zangger and Rita Gautschy argue that a monumental depiction of the Hittite pantheon in the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya near Hattusha actually served as an ancient calendar based on celestial events.

A study of a trash pit in Beth-Yerah/Philoteria provides insights into the diet of the inhabitants in the 2nd century BC.

The founders of Hobby Lobby are suing Christie’s auction house for selling it a stolen copy of the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet.

Some of the lectures from the Bar Ilan archaeology series have been recorded and are available online.

HT: Agade, Keith Keyser, Arne Halbakken

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The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University presents a series of public Zoom lectures on the history and archaeology of the land of Israel.

Tune in at 6pm Israel time (4pm London, 11am New York/Toronto, 8am Los Angeles/Vancouver) to hear some of Israel’s foremost researchers discuss fascinating sites in the land from pre-history to today.

Sunday, May 17: Dr. Nira Alperson-Afil – The Pre-historic Humans of the Hulah Valley

Monday, May 18: Prof. Aren Maeir – Who were the Philistines?

Tuesday, May 19: Prof. Shawn Zelig Aster – Shiloh and the Earliest Israelites in the Land of Israel

Wednesday, May 20: Prof. Aren Maeir – Excavations at the Tell es-Safi, Biblical Gath of the Philistines, home of Goliath

Thursday, May 21: Dr. Amit Dagan – The “Raiders” of the Lost Ark: The Unbelievable Story of Parker’s Expedition in Jerusalem

Sunday, May 24: Prof. Shawn Zelig Aster – Lachish: The city that save Jerusalem from the Assyrians

Monday, May 25: Prof. Yvonne Friedman – The City of the King of Kings: Crusader Jerusalem

Tuesday, May 26: Dr. Naaman Marom – The Nimrod Fortress and the Mongol Invasion

Wednesday, May 27: Dr. Avi Picard – Shaar Ha-Aliyah: Israel’s Ellis Island

HT: Aren Maeir

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The British Museum has made nearly 2 million photos from its collection available for free use under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial license.

Smithsonian: What Rome Learned from the Deadly Antonine Plague of 165 A.D.

National Geographic describes the important role Hittite chariots played in the war with Egypt at the Battle of Kadesh in 1275 BC.

Jodi Magness has been invited to deliver the Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology in 2022.

The Online Egyptological Bibliography is being made available for free during the COVID-19 crisis.

Mark Hoffman has discovered The Ancient Theater Archive, with detailed information about theaters all over Europe and the Middle East.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from the only fully preserved structure where Roman emperor worship took place (and part 2).

Ferrell Jenkins captured a photo of Mount Gilboa with a nice atmospheric effect.

John DeLancey has produced a 6-minute devotional video about Joppa.

ibiblestock.org is a new resource featuring many photos and videos of Israel. In addition to the free offerings, the entire library is available for sale on a USB key for $290. Some of the Israel  are are available for free.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Jason Beals, Joseph Lauer

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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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