fbpx

“An ongoing excavation in Damietta, Egypt, has uncovered 63 tombs from more than 2,500 years ago, alongside a trove of gold artifacts, coins and pottery.”

“During a diving expedition in the Nile River, archaeologists in Egypt discovered rock carvings featuring depictions of several ancient Egyptian pharaohs, along with hieroglyphic inscriptions.”

A new theory proposes that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids using “a hydraulic lift device that would have floated the heavy stones up through the middle of Egypt’s oldest pyramid using stored water.”

“Scientists have used state of the art 3D imaging technology to piece together the life—and probable death—of a 2.2 meter-long crocodile mummified by the ancient Egyptians.”

Smithsonian Magazine has a feature story on the ancient Egyptian port of Berenike and the latest discoveries.

Women have played an important but largely unrecognized role in Egyptology, writes Kathleen Sheppard. She has written an article for the BBC, looking at three female travelers who visited Egypt in the 1800s.

Twenty-six years after first retiring, Egyptologist Donald Redford has retired again.

Konstantinos Politis writes about Ghor al-Safi, the location of biblical Zoar.

A new Mesopotamian board game called Akkad is now raising support on Kickstarter.

You can play the Royal Game of Ur online.

Various theories have been proposed to identify a creature depicted on the staircase at Persepolis.

Bryan Windle is on Digging for Truth to discuss the archaeological evidence for Belshazzar.

BiblePlaces.com has created photo collections for Egypt, Jordan, and Persia (but not Mesopotamia). We do have a Photo Companion volume for Daniel, which includes both Babylonian and Persian material.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Steven Anderson, Gordon Dickson, Mark V. Hoffman

Share:

“Ancient graffiti from the 6th century BC acted like a pirate map, leading archaeologists on a treasure hunt to the eventual rediscovery of the lost temple of the Acropolis of Athens.”

After being unaccounted for over 200 years, a fine bust of the Roman Emperor Caligula has been rediscovered and will be displayed again at the Strawberry Hill House.

David Moster has made a video to “unlock the secrets” of the 1,000-year-old Leningrad Codex. Specifically he explains how two of the “carpet illuminations” are to be read, based on the dissertation of Susan Schmidt.

“A sequence of letters belonging to an ancient alphabet has been discovered in a most unusual way — by someone scrolling through social media.”

“Religion at Work” is the topic of the latest issue of the journal Religion in the Roman Empire. All articles are open access

New release: An Asian American Ancient Historian and Biblical Scholar, by Edwin M. Yamauchi ($49; Kindle $10). The first 25% I’ve read covers a lot of fascinating ground.

New release: Eating and Drinking in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 67th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Turin, July 12–16, 2021, edited by Stefano de Martino, Elena Devecchi and Maurizio Viano (130 EUR; open-access pdf).

New release: The Neo-Assyrian Empire: A Handbook, by Simonetta Ponchia and Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi (De Gruyter, 654 pages, $182)

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of the one of the two tripartite temples discovered at Tell Tayinat.

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Ted Weis, Gordon Franz

Share:

A huge, circular monumental structure from the Minoan period has been discovered on Crete.

“A trove of perfectly preserved ceramics, burnt animal bones and a wooden chalice have been pulled up from a well in Ostia Antica,” the port city of ancient Rome.

“Polish archaeologists have discovered over 200 graves of monkeys, dogs and cats in an animal cemetery from the 1st and 2nd centuries in Berenike, Egypt.”

A fragment of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas dating to about AD 400 has been discovered in a library in Germany.

“A large study of plant, animal and human remains from an ancient site on the Syrian coast has shed light on what people ate more than 3,000 years ago and how they managed to survive through climate changes that brought periods of protracted drought.”

Owen Jarus identifies 32 significant shipwrecks from around the ancient world.

The latest issue of Archaeology Magazine includes a well-illustrated article on the “Assyrian renaissance.”

Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati denies claims that it is planning to sell rare books from the library’s collection.

If you woke up this morning looking for a way to save $595, you can do that by downloading the latest volume in the Medinet Habu publication reports.

Oliver Hersey explains why the Sinai Covenant is best understood in light of ancient marriage customs on the latest episode of the Biblical World podcast.

Walking The Text’s recommended resource of the month is A Week in the Life of Corinth, by Ben Witherington.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Gordon Franz, Wayne Stiles, Arne Halbakken, Mark Hoffman

Share:

Scientists believe they have found evidence of treatment for brain cancer in an skull found in Egypt.

A 14-minute video explains why the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with cats.

New release: Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones, by James A. Harrell (Archaeopress, £16-125)

New release: Five New Kingdom Tombs at Saqqara, by Maarten J. Raven (442 pages, €20-150; free to read online)

The NY Times has posted an obituary for Egyptologist Barry Kemp.

Dura Europos and its sister city are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East podcast.

Ancient Anatolia Day will be celebrated online and in person at Wolfson College, Oxford, on June 17.

A temple of the emperors (Sebasteion) has been uncovered in the agora of Nicopolis.

Archaeologists working at Pompeii have found charcoal drawings of gladiators apparently made by children watching the contests in the city’s amphitheater.

New release: The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity, edited by Alan Cadwallader, James R. Harrison, Angela Standhartinger, L. L. Welborn (T & T Clark, $140). The book covers Israel, Galilee, Egypt, Galatia, Lycus Valley, Ephesus region, Corinth region, and more.

Peter Herdrich writes about the challenges, opportunities, and best practices of digitizing cultural heritage.

HT: Agade, Frank McCraw, Gordon Franz, Gordon Dickson, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Keith Keyser

Share:

A royal fort or palace from the reign of Thutmose III was discovered in northern Sinai.

An Assyrian scholar believes that he has interpreted five “mystery symbols” inscribed in various locations at Dūr-Šarrukīn, the capital of Sargon II. “He argues the Assyrian words for the five symbols (lion, eagle, bull, fig tree and plow) contain, in the right sequence, the sounds that spell out the Assyrian form of the name ‘Sargon’ (šargīnu).”

“Conservators Verena Kotonski and Barbara Wills took on the challenge of conserving a unique 2,300-year-old ancient Egyptian coffin.”

“An ancient Egyptian mummified head displayed in a school library in Australia now has a fresh face, thanks to a meticulous scientific reconstruction.”

“Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs” is a new exhibit opening in Cologne, Germany in July.

“Elephantine: Island of the Millennia” is now open at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, with a major focus on the writings discovered there. The museum has posted a related documentary on the Elephantine Project (50 minutes).

Marek Dospěl explains what Coptic is.

New release: Assur 2023: Excavations and Other Research in the New Town, edited by Karen Radner and Andrea Squitieri (PeWe-Verlag; print and open-access)

New release: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions in the Isparta Archaeological Museum, by Asuman Coşkun Abuagla (199 euros)

Arkeonews has a story about the Diolkos, with a photo of a well-preserved section on a Greek army base.

Titus Kennedy explains major archaeological discoveries in Anatolia, Greece, and Rome, in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick

Share:

Archaeologists believe they have found a villa belonging to Emperor Augustus near Mount Vesuvius.

The city of Anqa is said to be “a near mirror image of Dura-Europos, of the same size, comparable composition, and potentially equal value to scholars of the region.”

A new study suggests that “wine produced around the Mediterranean during the Roman era may have been just as complex and flavorful as wine produced today, in contrast to what is commonly assumed.”

“Egypt welcomed home a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II after it was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three decades ago.”

We don’t know much about Shalmaneser V, but Bryan Windle still managed to create a pretty extensive illustrated archaeological biography.

Webinar on May 9: “Sensing the Past: Sensorial Experiences in Ancient Mesopotamia,” by Allison Thomason

The Albright Institute posts videos of their special lectures on their YouTube channel. Recent lectures include:

Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer conclude their series of the best archaeological finds of 2023 on the Biblical World podcast.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz, Paleojudaica

Share: