Mesopotamia Archives - BiblePlaces.com

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A team from Johns Hopkins believes they have identified alphabetic writing that dates to 2400 BC.

Israel Finkelstein and Tallay Ornan have published an article in Tel Aviv (open-access) of recent finds at Tall adh-Dhahab al-Gharbi, and they suggest that the site is biblical Mahanaim. (They locate Penuel at the adjacent site to the east, the reverse of how I would identify them based on the sequence in Genesis 32.) In any case, this is an important study on a pair of neglected sites. The article is summarized by Israel365 News.

Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities denies that the Great Pyramid is being destroyed.

Scientists have discovered hallucinogenic residue in a 2,000-year-old Egyptian vase.

Jaafar Jotheri, professor of geoarchaeology, shares his thoughts on the past, present, and future of archaeology and Assyriology in Iraq.

Zoom lecture on Dec 17: “Visual Strategies in the Art and Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire,” by Pierfrancesco Callieri

The second Digital Ancient Near Eastern Studies Conference will be held as a virtual event on December 5 and 6.

J. Cheryl Exum, longtime professor at the University of Sheffield, died recently.

Colin Renfrew, founding director of McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, died recently.

Bryan Windle reviews the top three biblical archaeological reports for the month of November.

Apparently, not everything in Gladiator II is historically accurate.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Persia, Sad News, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A tiny house full of exquisite frescos has been discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii.”

“Thessaloniki offers visitors 2,300-plus years of history, tremendous shopping, and a Jewish story like no other in Europe.”

“A recent British Museum video reveals that the ‘oldest map of the world in the world’ on a clay tablet from Babylon was deciphered to reveal a surprisingly familiar story.

Despite claims to the contrary, ancient peppermint was not found in the Giza Pyramids.

Bryan Windle surveys the top three reports from biblical archaeology in the month of October.

Bible History Daily remembers Donald B. Redford.

In the latest episode of Thin Edge of the Wedge, Simo Parpola reflects on his career and the State Archives of Assyria project.

Friends of ASOR Zoom webinar on Nov 6: “Beyond the Museum Walls: Engaging with Archaeology and New Media,” with panelists Michael Zimmerman, Sarah Beckmann, Deidre Brin, and Adam Aja

New release: To Eat or Not to Eat: Studies on the Biblical Dietary Prohibitions, by Peter Altmann and Anna Angelini (Mohr Siebeck, €94; open access)

New release: Knossos: Myth, History and Archaeology, by James Whitley (Bloomsbury, $22-$81)

The American Center of Research in Amman, Jordan, has announced a number of fellowships for the coming year.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from his two visits this year to Antakya, Turkey (biblical Antioch on the Orontes). The city was largely destroyed by earthquake in February 2023.

The Zoom seminar video is now available for “Reading the Bible as an Insider,” with Lois Tverberg and Milly Erema.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have found a hidden tomb underneath the Kazneh in Petra, and unlike other tombs, this one was filled with ancient artifacts and remains of 12 individuals.

A team excavating in Anemurium in southern Turkey uncovered a 2nd-century AD inscription honoring a wrestler.

Archaeologists have discovered one of the oldest church buildings in the world in Armenia.

“478 artifacts were uncovered during an excavation expedition in the historic province of Babylon.”

The planting of ancient seeds discovered in the Judean wilderness produced Commiphora, a plant not known to have existed in Israel. Despite hopes, it turns out not to be the legendary afarsimon, but it may be the biblical plant known as tsori. And perhaps it was used as stock for afarsimon.

Antiquities thieves were caught looting Kh. Umm a-Ros in the Shephelah.

The latest issue of Jerusalem in Brief looks at “the construction of Herod’s Temple Mount, maps and plans from Charles Warren, and a reflection on the Gennath Gate.”

Alan Rosenbaum recreates what a pilgrim’s journey to Jerusalem during Sukkot in the first century would have been like.

Norma Franklin writes about the “etrog, a royal Assyrian aromatic purifier.”

The Jerusalem Post has a story about Jordan D. Rosenblum’s new book, Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig.

On Digging for Truth, Scott Stripling considers connections between the Nuzi Tablets and the book of Genesis.

Zoom lecture on Nov 1: “Eye-paints in the Hebrew Bible: Looking for Meaning,” by Dr. Susannah Rees.

Just released: A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC, 4th ed, by Marc Van De Mieroop (Blackwell History of the Ancient World, $37-$46)

Manfried Dietrich, founder of “Alter Orient und Altes Testament” and “Ugarit-Forschungen,” and Ugarit-Verlag, died earlier this month.

Experience Israel Now has just released Andy Cook’s new book, The King of Bethlehem. The book is loaded with full-color photographs and important historical and cultural background.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Mark Hoffman, Wayne Stiles

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Holidays, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Resources, Sad News, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A Roman battering ram found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea was used during an epic battle that unfolded more than 2,200 years ago.”

“Ancient Babylonians attributed prescient meaning to celestial events, a study published this month argues, shedding fresh light on the Mesopotamian people of the second millennium BC.”

Marilyn Perkins asked experts to explain why so many Roman statues are headless.

Konstantine Panegyres explains why modern facial reconstructions are not necessarily accurate.

For part 3 of Walking The Text’s “Life in the Roman Empire,” Randall Smith talks about gladiators and beast hunts and Paul’s use of this imagery in his writing.

New release: Crossing Borders between the Domestic and the Wild: Space, Fauna, and Flora, edited by Mark J. Boda and Dalit Rom-Shiloni (Bloomsbury, $76-$84)

Available for pre-order on Logos: T&T Clark Handbook of Food in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, edited by Janling Fu; Cynthia Shafer-Elliott; Carol Meyers ($157 but now 83% off: $26). The table of contents looks quite interesting.

Friends of ASOR webinar on Sept 18: “How to plan your funeral in ancient Assyria,” by Petra Creamer

“A stone quarry in Jerusalem, a rare Roman prison in Corinth, and a stunning First Temple-era seal were the top three reports in biblical archaeology from August 2024.”

HT: Agade, Wayne Stiles, Gordon Dickson, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Italy, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Ancient prisons are hard to find in the archaeological record, but archaeologists have identified one in Corinth’s Roman forum, dating to the 4th-5th centuries AD, based on graffiti found on floor tiles. Prior to that the area served as a market, and according to a local guide, there’s a tradition that Paul’s shop was here, based on fresco remains still barely visible. The underlying journal article is available to subscribers and for purchase ($20).

New archaeological research has found evidence that Pompeii was destroyed not only by the volcanic eruption but by a powerful earthquake.

Turkiye Today reports on irregularities in an excavation in Tarsus. The story alleges high security for a dig where nothing of significance was found. And yes, there is a dead policeman.

An article in Smithsonian Magazine explains who looted ancient Egyptian tombs and how they did it.

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes four primary articles (subscription required):

“Jews of Arabia: Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Jewish Diaspora,” by Gary A. Rendsburg
“Gath of the Philistines: A New View of Ancient Israel’s Archenemy,” by Aren M. Maeir
“Letters to Pharaoh: The Canaanite Amarna Tablets,” by Alice Mandell
“Too Good to Be True? Reckoning with Sensational Inscriptions,” by Christopher Rollston

As Biblical Archaeology Review prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, it is asking its readers to share stories and memories.

ASOR has launched a new website for The Ancient Near East Today (ANE Today), their “open-access digital platform for public scholarship, disseminating the latest research, insights, and news about the ancient Near East and beyond.” You can read more about the changes and new features here.

With his archaeological biography on Ashurbanipal, Bryan Windle has written about all six Assyrian kings mentioned in the Bible.

HT: Agade, Mark V. Hoffman, Gordon Franz, Gordon Dickson, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Paleojudaica

Tagged Egypt, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists have found the skeleton remains of a man and a woman at the ancient site of Pompeii — the woman carrying a small cache of treasure — who died as they sought refuge during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.”

Cuneiform tablets discovered more than a century ago have been translated, describing how “some lunar eclipses are omens of death, destruction and pestilence.”

AI is proving quite useful in reconstructing the missing portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh and discovering new segments.

Nathan Steinmeyer reviews a recent proposal that questions whether a building in Dura-Europos is the world’s oldest house church.

To really understand the ancient city of Antioch on the Orontes, one must look not to archaeology by to early Christian writers.

NY Times: US federal investigators raided the home of the 84-year-old wife of a deceased archaeologist on suspicion that some antiquities in her collection were looted.

The Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society has a YouTube channel with a number of recent video lectures by top scholars, including:

Ken Dark, “Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth”
David M. Jacobson, “The Beginnings of Judaean Coinage”
Steven Ortiz, “Searching for Solomon’s City: Recent Excavations at Tel Gezer”
Ronny Reich, “The Jewish Character of Jerusalem of the Early Roman Period as Attested by the Archaeological Record”
Christopher Rollston, The Schooling of a Scribe in Ancient Israel
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott, “No Place Like Home; Ancient Israelite Households in Context”

Walking The Text explains the imagery of stadium and chariot races that were well-known to Paul and his readers.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Alexander Schick

Tagged Discoveries, Italy, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Weekend Roundup