Museums Archives - Page 2 of 94

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“At the [new National Campus for the Archeology of Israel], visitors are offered a look behind the scenes at archeological finds from the time of excavation and at the labs where they are cleaned, restored, preserved, conserved, documented and finally revealed to the public.” After 12 years of construction, the building has now (mostly) opened to the public.

“Newly unearthed stone tools reveal evidence of early axle-based rotation technology, predating the invention of carts by thousands of years and marking a significant milestone in the development of rotational tools like wheels.”

Gordon Govier writes about the use of subatomic muon detectors in the archaeology of Jerusalem for Christianity Today (account required).

Robert Duke is on The Book and the Spade to discuss the Megiddo Mosaic now on display at the Museum of the Bible.

The oldest known inscribed tablet with the Ten Commandments, dating to the Late Roman or Byzantine periods, will be auctioned by Sotheby’s.

The topic of the Archaeo-Informatics 2024 hybrid conference is “Use and Challenges of AI in Archaeology.” The program is here. Registration is open for in-person and online participation.

The Ancient World Online lists many festschriften and gedenkschriften published by the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures that are available for download.

An exhibition opening on Friday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in southern California will feature 8 Dead Sea Scrolls, the Magdala Stone, ossuaries, shekels, and more. The website claims that the Sea of Galilee Boat will be on display as well; I don’t remember that ever traveling outside of Israel before.

Walking The Text’s latest recommended resource is Rediscovering Christmas, by AJ Sherrill.

I join Henry Smith on the latest episode of Digging for Truth to discuss the death of Herod Agrippa and where in Caesarea I think it took place.

There will be no roundup next weekend. If you will be attending ETS or SBL, stop by the BiblePlaces booth and say hi.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Technology, 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, Part 2

The Getty Museum has released a beautiful 5-minute video of a virtual reconstruction of Persepolis that was created for their 2022 Persia exhibition. Another option is to tour through the virtual reconstruction through the Getty website. It’s fantastic.

A trailer for Gladiator II raises the question: did gladiators ever fight rhinos?

The Institute for Creation Research will be hosting a Biblical Archaeology Conference in Dallas on November 9. The topic is “Unearthing the Historical Jesus.” The event is free, but registration is required.

One result of Sudan’s civil war is that artifacts looted from the nation’s museums and archaeological sites are now being sold on eBay.

“The Louvre is set to open a new Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art department in 2027, with Greece playing a central role.”

Zoom lecture on Oct 11: “Levantine Seals between the Material, Sensory, and the Social: Archaeological, Iconographic, and Exegetical Perspectives on Beauty, Power, and Dress,” by Bruno Biermann. Registration is required.

The latest podcast episode on This Week in the Ancient Near East is on “How to Dye a Fabric in the Middle Bronze Age.”

New release: Understanding Syria through 40 Monuments, by Ross Burns (Bloomsbury, $19-$63)

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Steven Anderson

Tagged Lectures, Museums, Persia, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The Tel Dan Inscription will be on display at The Jewish Museum in New York from December 5 to January 5.

The latest volume of the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology is out, and it is an special issue on “Epigraphy in Judah.” All articles are open-access.

Megan Nutzman writes about ritual healing in Roman and late antique Palestine.

Hybrid lecture in Jerusalem on Nov 6: “Persian Coins from the Palestinian Territories,” by Issam Halayqa

A recent article questions whether Luke intended to say that Zacchaeus was short or Jesus was.

On the latest episode of Digging for Truth, Abigail Van Huss describes her 20-year journey in becoming an archaeologist.

Bryan Windle highlights the top three news reports from the world of biblical archaeology last month.

We just released the Exodus volume in the Photo Companion to the Bible. I think it’s one of our best, and we’ve received some great endorsements and feedback, including from Luke Chandler and Charles Savelle. The collection is on sale for a few more days. See the details here.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz

Tagged Jerusalem, Museums, Photo Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Excavations in central Turkey have uncovered more than 50 Hittite seal impressions from royal family members.

The Times of Israel reports on the sword engraved with the name of Ramses II that was recently discovered in ancient military barracks in the Nile Delta.

An ancient papyrus fragment is the earliest petition from a Jew to an Egyptian king.

Restoration work at the Temple of Edfu has enabled researchers to identify “traces of gold leaf, colorful painting remnants and graffiti.”

Recent articles at Bible History Daily introduce the Amarna Letters and the Amarna Revolution.

“Ancient frescoes like that of the Greek monkeys on Santorini suggest Europe and south Asia had trade links as long as 3,600 years ago.”

The latest episode in Walking The Text’s current series is about brothels and pubs in the Roman world.

“The Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East now has a public searchable database for its collections. The museum cares for over 40,000 items, including pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins, and cuneiform tablets.The database is a work in progress and will be augmented periodically.”

Hybrid lecture on Oct 16 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston: “Rediscovering Sculptures of King Menkaure at the Giza Pyramids,” by Mark Lehner. Advance registration is recommended: online or in-person.

Now available: The Treasure of the Egyptian Queen Ahhotep and International Relations at the Turn of the Middle Bronze Age (1600- 1500 BCE), edited by Gianluca Miniaci and Peter Lacovara (Golden House, free pdf)

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Egypt, Italy, Lectures, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A new study claims that the Romans built the siege wall and ramp at Masada in 11-16 days and the siege as a whole took not more than a few weeks. The Romans’ motivation was not ideological but economic: the holdouts were a threat to balsam production in En Gedi. The underlying journal article is available here.

Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered the oldest astronomical observatory ever found.

“On the Italian island of Pantelleria, located between southwestern Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, a team of archaeologists . . . has discovered a ‘tesoretto’ of 27 Roman silver coins.”

An article by Kathleen Abraham explores how to recognize Hebrew names “in cuneiform garb, what they might reveal about their bearers, and some of the challenges involved in this process.”

Italy’s Via Appia (Appian Way) has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Tel Dan Inscription will be on display in Oklahoma from September 22 to November 25.

Sotheby’s is auctioning a Hebrew Bible from AD 1312, and they have created a beautiful video about it (4 min).

The W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research has opened applications for 2025-2026 fellowships and awards.

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

New release: Luxor Illustrated, Revised and Updated, with Aswan, Abu Simbel, and the Nile, by Michael Haag and Aidan Dodson (AUC Press, $25)

Mark Wilson has just finished a second updated edition of Biblical Turkey. Purchasers of previous editions can find the new material in a pdf on Mark’s academia page.

The latest episode of Biblical World podcast addresses a recent proposal about locating Sennacherib’s war camps in Judah.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Judah, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup