Mesopotamia Archives - Page 5 of 33

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A lamassu from the reign of Sargon II was discovered at ancient Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad).

“Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an ancient cemetery that has stone sarcophagi, coptic jars and even a ‘Book of the Dead’ scroll.”

Study of an ancient Egyptian papyrus reveals that there were more venomous snakes in ancient Egypt than when Indiana Jones visited.

Michael Denis Higgins gives a history of the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, from present-day to the 4th century BC.

New release: Animals in Religion, Economy and Daily Life of Ancient Egypt and Beyond, by R. Pirelli, M. D. Pubblico, and S. Ikram (free pdf)

“Rock and soil samples taken from the area where the ruins of ‘Noah’s Ark’ are believed to be located in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı were examined, and the first results of the research were announced.”

The theater of Larissa, Greece, has been opened to the public for the first time, following two decades of restoration.

Archaeologists working on the island of Salamis discovered a partially submerged stoa along the east coast.

The British Museum will spend $12 million to update its online digital catalog.

ASOR webinar on Nov 2: “Of Statuary and State Formation: The Rise and Fall of Tell Tayinat-Kunulua,” by J. P. Dessel.

New release: Judicial Decisions in the Ancient Near East, edited by Sophie Démare-Lafont and Daniel E. Fleming (SBL Press, $50-$90)

eAkkadian is an online course book designed to help the student read Sennacherib’s prism.

“The Asia Minor Research Center is excited to announce the 2024 Biblical Field Studies in Turkey. This is a funded study trip for Bible scholars and teachers in the Majority World.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The Times of Israel gives an update on Israel’s decade-long systematic attempt to survey and excavate the caves of the Judean wilderness ahead of looters.

Ruth Schuster writes about a new theory that the Buqeia Valley east of Jerusalem was occupied around the time of King Josiah by quasi-military herders. The article includes some beautiful photos of the area.

Haaretz summarizes a new article that “examines the archaeological and historical evidence for the existence of Jewish gladiators in the first to fourth centuries.”

The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review includes articles on Jerusalem’s Millo, Baal, and Constantinople.

Leen Ritmeyer writes about archaeological evidence for Jews in exile in Babylon.

“An ancient Roman statue believed to depict the daughter of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and valued at $5 million, has been seized by New York officials.”

“A British auctioneer has pleaded guilty to numerous charges relating to the sale of rare ancient coins, including a hoard discovered by Palestinian fishermen.”

The synagogue that housed the Cairo Geniza has been completely renovated.

Chandler Collins has posted part 2 of his historical study of the excavations of the Stepped Stone Structure in Jerusalem.

The Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society has posted some lectures on their new YouTube channel, including:

Herodian Jerusalem in the Light of New Finds from the Western Wall Tunnels, by Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah
One Site, Two Peoples: Phoenicians and Jews at Kedesh of the Upper Galilee, by Andrea M. Berlin
New Light on Iron Age and Persian Period Jerusalem, by Yuval Gadot
Forty Years of Archaeological Work on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, by Shimon Gibson

New release: Excavating the Land of Jesus, by James Riley Strange (Eerdmans, $30). Phillip J. Long has a review here.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, Alexander Schick, Alexander Schick

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Ruins of Nero’s theater have been discovered in Rome.

“An iconic bronze statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian, which is one of three found worldwide and dates back some 2,000 years, was turned into an active honeycomb as 50,000 bees produced their wax onto 3D-printed grid replicas of the original.”

“Archaeologists have recovered thousands of pieces of glassware—many of them ‘perfectly preserved’—from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck in the waters between Italy and France.”

Impressed by costly Persian metal vessels, Athenian craftsmen created imitations in clay.

Local women are helping to renovate the mosaic floor of the ancient synagogue of Sardis.

Kim Lawton recently visited important, but less-visited, sites in Turkey related to Paul’s ministry, including Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, and Tarsus. The well-illustrated article includes a couple of quotes from an interview with me.

Leon McCarron spent ten weeks traveling the length of the Tigris, from its source in Turkey to its mouth at the Persian Gulf.

“Gems have unique elemental compositions that can be used to identify their location of origin.”

Mark Hoffman writes of his discovery of the Gardens of the Roman Empire website.

Steven Anderson’s book on Darius the Mede has been translated into Persian Farsi and published by Qoqnoos Press in Iran (ISBN: 9786220404651). It can be purchased from Agah Bookshop.

Howard Golden is donating his collection of hundreds of European maps dating to the 15th to 18th centuries to the National Library of Israel.

Don’t delay: “The permanent galleries in the Pergamon Museum will close on October 22, 2023 and will remain closed for renovations until 2037 (estimated).” Photos of many of their artifacts are available online.

The James Ossuary will go on display in Dallas beginning on August 25. This is the first time it has been displayed in the US. The price should keep the crowds down.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

The experience at Nazareth Village, with the increased number of exhibits and actors, has never been better. One caveat: it doesn’t work so well with large groups.

Tagged Discoveries, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, New Exhibits, Persia, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

If you want the non-Indiana-Jones explanation of the Antikythera Mechanism, check out NASA’s recent Astronomy Picture of the Day.

“For the first time, scientists have recently obtained genetic material and analyzed genome sequences from the ancient Minoans and Mycenaeans.”

Bleda Düring explains why the Assyrian empire was more resilient than those of the Hittites and Egyptians.

The size of the illegal antiquities market is much smaller than usually claimed.

Ruth Schuster considers how archaeological technology has changed how we see ourselves.

“The East Garage Necropolis Area, which was once a public market in the southern province of Antalya [in Turkey] and where archaeological excavations started after the discovery of rock tombs, has been opened as a museum.”

Leon Mauldin has just returned from a trip to Malta and shares a few photos of St. Paul’s Bay.

Andy Cook has just released “Discovering the Bible inside your Bible.” This is a 10-week Bible study of the Gospel of John that is filled with full-color photos. The study includes videos to go with each week’s study. This resource could be used individually or with a small-group Bible study. Only $20.

There will be no roundup next weekend.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Explorator

A visit to el-Araj, possible site of Bethsaida, is most impressive with regard to seeing just how close this ancient fishing village was to the Sea of Galilee. The water almost touches the site itself (immediately behind the tree in the center of the photo).

Tagged Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists are making progress in their second season of renewed excavations at Nimrud (ancient Calah), including the discovery of a depiction of Ishtar in a temple dedicated to her.

Royal tombs full of artifacts dating to 1500-1300 BC have been discovered near Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus. The site was discovered using magnetometers.

“A 2,500-year-old Phoenician shipwreck has been found underwater in the southeastern Spanish region of Murcia.”

MutualArt surveys the results of excavations and repatriations in Egypt this year.

Yigal Levin writes about the city of Dibon and the single reference to Dibon-Gad in the book of Numbers.

Marek Dospěl gives an overview of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Adam E. Miglio considers the similarities between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis.

Jessica Nitschke, the new editor of The Ancient Near East Today, explains her vision for the future of the website and newsletter.

New release: Ancient Egyptian Gold: Archaeology and Science in Jewellery (3500–1000 BC), edited by Maria F. Guerra, Marcos Martinón-Torres & Stephen Quirke (McDonald Institute Monographs; Cambridge; open access)

The Bible Mapper Blog continues to create helpful maps for Bible readers. Here are the latest:

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

The best museum in the Old City is now the Terra Santa Museum on the Via Dolorosa. Though it is not yet finished, it displays hundreds of impressive artifacts from around the country.

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Jordan, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Scholars at UNI Graz claim that a 3rd century BC papyrus has evidence of a binding, making it the oldest book in the world discovered. The press release is in German, but the video of the press conference is partly in English. Brent Nongbri offers some thoughts.

A network of stone walls along the Nile River provide evidence of ancient hydraulic engineering.

“A team of computer scientists and archaeologists from the University of Bologna in Italy has developed a new tool for identifying archaeological sites using artificial intelligence … [which] reached a predictive accuracy of over 80 percent.”

“A team of archaeologists and computer scientists from Israel has created an AI-powered translation program for ancient Akkadian cuneiform, allowing tens of thousands of already digitized tablets to be translated into English instantaneously.”

The square in Rome where Julius Caesar was assassinated has been opened to the public.

Renovations of the Carthage Museum will begin in 2025 and expand the exhibition space to three times the current size.

The book of Esther’s independence from classical sources makes it “more important as a historical source for Achaemenian history than has traditionally been assumed.”

“An ancient Hebrew Bible and more than 100 Roman coins were recovered by Turkish military police.” The photo with the article is not the seized manuscript.

New release: A Jew in the Roman Bathhouse: Cultural Interaction in the Ancient Mediterranean, by Yaron Z. Eliav (Princeton University Press, $45; save 30% with code P321).

New release: Wounded Tigris: A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilization, by Leon McCarron (Simon & Schuster, $29)

New release: Famine and Feast in Ancient Egypt, by Ellen Morris (75 pages, Cambridge University Press, $22; free download until July 3).

In the latest episode of Thin End of the Wedge, Agnès Garcia-Ventura discusses the historiography of Assyriology.

Mark Janzen is guest on The Book and the Spade discussing the historicity of Moses.

Now that the Plutonium at Hierapolis (aka the gate to Hades) is open, Carl Rasmussen shares photos and explains what you are looking at and how the ancient rites were carried out.

HT: Agade, Alexander Schick

The worst experience in Jerusalem is walking through the drainage channel under the Siloam street. Unless you’re under 5 feet tall.

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Technology, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup