fbpx

A new study shows that individual potters have their own styles even when making standard traditional vessels.

A 100-year research project on the results and finds from Ur has concluded.

The BBC has a story and video on Mada’in Saleh, Saudi Arabia’s counterpart to Petra.

An unparalleled collection of Judaica amassed by one of the greatest Jewish dynasties in the world and not seen in public for over a century is to be sold at auction.”

“A museum in Israel on Monday postponed its planned auction of dozens of rare Islamic antiquities after word of the sale sparked a public uproar.”

A rare EID MAR gold coin celebrating the assassination of Julius Caesar became the most valuable Roman coin ever when it sold for nearly $3.5 million.

In light of the major earthquake on the Greek island of Samos, Leon Mauldin shares some biblical background, photos, and a map.

Eisenbrauns is hosting a virtual panel on November 11 with three authors discussing their new books and answering questions.

The 4th edition of Mark Wilson’s Biblical Turkey is now available.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis

Share:

Excavations at Khirbet Kafr Mer near Beit El have revealed dozens of jars and intact ceramic objects inside a repurposed underground reservoir.

“A new paper published last week in the PLOS ONE journal explains how trash mounds found in villages and agricultural settlements in the Negev from the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods show that there was a turning point in the management of herbivore livestock dung, a vital resource in the Negev.”

Egyptian artifacts in several Berlin museums have been damaged by vandals.

Pat McCarthy has written an article about reputed relics of Jesus that have undergone scientific scrutiny.

New: Go Now to Shiloh: A Biblical Theology of Sacred Space, by N. Blake Hearson

Albright Virtual Workshop: Discussions in response to:
The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant:
From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700-1000 BCE,
Cambridge University Press, 2019, by Raphael Greenberg. Registration required.

The Badè Museum is hosting a series of lectures entitled “New Perspectives on Ancient Nubia.”

The Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute has posted their online program for the coming months.

UCF has compiled a list of open educational resources for the ancient Near East.

This week on the GTI Tours podcast I talk with Rich Ferreira about the value of photographs in understanding and teaching the Bible.

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

Share:

CT scans on a couple of Egyptian mummies at the University of Haifa revealed non-human remains.

“Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry has issued new regulations and precautionary measures for archaeological missions to resume excavations.”

A study of what Romans called “Alexandrian glass” reveals that this treasured material did in fact come from Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum at the University of Leipzig is hosting a special exhibit on Heliopolis.

Jesse Millik questions some traditional views about the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Levant.

“After years of trial and error – and after getting used to the foul stench – Mohamed Ghassen Nouira has cracked how to make the prized purple dye used for royal and imperial robes in ancient times.”

Excavation and conservation work continues at the Ayanis Castle in Turkey, one of the most impressive structures of the kingdom of Urartu.

The discovery of a temple at Epidaurus in Greece suggests that worship of Asclepius began earlier than believed.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Samothrace, a Greek island that Paul visited but most tourists don’t.

Archaeologists and engineers are developing new technologies to protect Baiae, a Roman settlement now under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

There was more than one way to wipe in the ancient Roman empire.

New from Eisenbrauns: New Directions in the Study of Ancient Geography, edited by Duane W. Roller. Save 40% with code NR18.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Alexander Schick

Share:

“Egypt archaeologist Kathleen Martinez is convinced that she has pinpointed the final resting place of Queen Cleopatra, after discovering 200 coins depicting her face at an ancient temple site in Alexandria.”

The Grand Egyptian Museum is 90% complete and will include the world’s first hanging obelisk.

Though unimpressive on the outside, the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara is filled with inscriptions from the Old Kingdom period.

Here is a list of five ancient tombs that scholars would like to find; four are Egyptian and one is Alexander the Great.

According to a new study, “the Hyksos were not invaders, but rather Asiatic immigrants who settled in Egypt – specifically in the Nile Delta region – lived there for centuries and eventually managed to stage a takeover of power.” (Underlying journal article here.)

Egypt is in a dispute with Ethiopia over a dam that could severely restrict the Nile River’s water supply.

“The early inhabitants of Lisan Peninsula, on the southern corner of the Dead Sea, explored the potential of the spring waters for irrigation.”

“Archaeologists were able to uncover more than 14,000 settlement sites in northeastern Syria thanks to help from satellite technology from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.”

French archaeologists are conducting “secret excavations” in a part of Syria occupied by the YPG/PKK.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has been converted into a mosque. Greece is threatening to impose sanctions.

A Luwian inscription discovered in Turkey may provide evidence of the famous King Midas.

Leon Mauldin shows how Perga’s watercourse provides a picture of the new Jerusalem’s river of the water of life.

Carl Rasmussen explains the relevance of the Lycian Confederation to the history of the United States.

Carlotta Gall and photographer Mauricio Lima visited the Hasankeyf valley repeated for a half a year to witness its destruction as the waters rose behind the Ilisu Dam.

An underwater museum in Alonissos, the first in Greece, will open to visitors next month.

Pamela Gaber examines Cypriot sculpture from the Iron Age.

A new museum in Gozo, Malta, will incorporate an ancient Roman quarry into its layout.

There is controversy over the proposal to add a roof to the tomb of Augustus in Rome.

The entire collection of the Museum of Anthropology in Tehran was stolen by a burglar.

“7 Sides of a Cylinder” is a compilation of 7 videos about the Cyrus Cylinder and its significance to young Iranians.

A tourist describes a recent visit to Iran.

Archaeologists are discovering architectural remains from the time of the Medes at Ecbatana.

David Stronach, founding Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies and excavator of Pasargadae, has died.

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

Share:

Restoration of the ancient theater and stadium of Aizanoi in western Turkey has begun.

The ships and boats from Thonis-Heracleion have much to say about how Egyptian shipwrights of the Late and early Ptolemaic periods built their vessels, as well as the range of decisions that were made when they reached the end of their working lives on the waters of the Nile.”

Among those arrested in an investigation of trafficking of looted antiquities is a retired curator from the Louvre.

Facebook has announced it will remove content that seeks to sell any and all historical artifacts.

Now online: the first installment of the publication project on the records of the Pennsylvania excavations at Nippur 1889-1900 in searchable digital form (pdf).

“During the Early Iron Age, people dwelled among the ruins of the palace at Knossos in what we may refer to as a ‘landscape of memory’, one imbued with the collective memories of a bygone era.”

“Egyptian archaeologists are taking advantage of the global anti-racism movement to renew their calls on the French government to remove a statue of Jean-François Champollion, kneeling on the head of a Pharaonic king.”

Recent fires at Susa and Ecbatana in Iran apparently caused no damage.

Zoom lecture: The Discovery: 1000-Year-Old Bible Refound in Cairo Synagogue, by Yoram Meital, June 28 at 8:00pm Cairo time. To register, email [email protected].

Carl Rasmussen shares more about Aphrodisias, including The Theater and Its Artifacts and Jews, Proselytes, and God-Fearers at Aphrodisias.

Note: there will be no roundups the next two weekends.

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

Share:

“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

Share: