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New rooms have been discovered in the Sahura Pyramid. Detailed surveys have been made using 3D laser scanning.

Archaeologists in Jordan are using a remote controlled car to investigate a network of underground water channels in the desert.

The Domus Tiberiana on Rome’s Palatine Hill has been reopened 50 years after it was closed for restoration.

The Following Hadrian blog takes a look at the only surviving copy of Hadrian’s autobiography.

An AP story explores the enduring strength of Roman concrete.

Lidar Sapir-Hen and Deirdre N. Fulton explore “the role of dogs in the social fabric of the Iron Age through a comparative study of the evidence from settlements.” They conclude from archaeological evidence that dogs served villagers as herders, guards, and occasionally hunters. The underlying journal article is also available.

Zoom lecture on Nov 6: “Tree-ring and radiocarbon refinements towards more precise chronology for the Near Eastern Bronze Age,” by Charlotte L. Pearson. Register here.

For the 200th anniversary of Champollion’s cracking the code of hieroglyphics, Jessica Phelan tells the story of how it happened.

Wired: Scientists Have an Audacious Plan to Map the Ancient World Before It Disappears

New release: Living Communities and Their Archaeologies in the Middle East, edited by Rick Bonnie, Marta Lorenzon, and Suzie Thomas (Helsinki University Press, open access)

“This fall, the Penn Museum will begin construction of its new $54 million Ancient Egypt and Nubia galleries.” Work is slated to be completed by late 2028.

Two of Doug Greenwold’s audiobooks are now available on Audible.

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

Statue of a griffin grasping Nemesis’s wheel of fate, from Erez, AD 210-11, as displayed in the Israel Museum this summer before the attack
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“Temples for the Egyptian god Amun and the Greek goddess Aphrodite were found off of Egypt’s coast by a team of archaeologists.”

A new Indo-European language was discovered during excavations in the Boğazkale district of Çorum, which is home to Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites.”

“A group of researchers has successfully extracted DNA from an ancient cuneiform brick for the first time, identifying over thirty species of plants present in the brick’s clay.”

“Back to School in Babylonia” is a new exhibition at the University of Chicago.

BAS Scholars Series online lecture on Sept 28: “Free Health Care Is a Miracle: Psalm 8, Jesus, and the Jerusalem Temple,” with Amy-Jill Levine ($10)

Hybrid lecture on Sept 29: “Babylon under the Achaemenids: The Greek Sources Re-considered,” by Johannes Haubold. Hosted by The Center for the Ancient Mediterranean (CAM) at Columbia University. Remote participants must register.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is launching a new Biblical Hebrew course. You can save $300 with the code BIBLEPLACES. 

All of Doug Greenwold’s books from Preserving Bible Times are now available on Amazon Kindle.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken

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Bible Scenes has released a beautiful 3-minute video showing a 3D model of Herod’s Temple. The video was nearly two years in the making, with the assistance of Leen Ritmeyer (who gives some background here). The website has a number of free scenes, and generous permission usage is granted. You can help them create more scenes by becoming a subscriber.

Chandler Collins writes about “some unexpected architectural fragments” discovered in the Jewish Quarter in the 1970s.

The Jerusalem Post has stories about the archaeological site of Magdala and its tourist facilities.

Nate Loper surveys “the historical and archaeological connections between Israel and the Egyptian empire” in the latest episode of Digging for Truth.

Online lecture on Sept 21: “Fact & Fiction in the Empress Helena’s Travels to the Holy Land,” by Julia Hillner. Sponsored by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. Free.

A full recording of the “Conrad Schick and His World” conference is now online. You can find the conference booklet with abstracts here.

Abigail Leavitt reports on the lectures and field trip for a recent conference at Ariel University entitled “Boundaries and Influences in the Archaeology of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Today is the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the significant seventh month in the Jewish calendar. Your calendar probably identifies it as the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah).

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Keith Keyser, David Padfield, Will Varner

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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:

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

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Archaeologists working on Mount Zion have discovered, for the first time ever, destruction levels from the Romans and the Babylonians in the same space. Shimon Gibson believes that the evidence from the Persian period suggests that Nehemiah’s wall included not only the City of David but also the Western Hill.

“Ground-penetrating radar is revealing the secrets of a Roman legion camp near Tel Megiddo, including the ancient camp’s amphitheater for combat training.”

Chris McKinny and Joe Uziel write about “The Millo: Jerusalem’s Lost Monument” in the forthcoming issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. They discuss the subject in a video interview with Nathan Steinmeyer.

Bible Archaeology Report has created a list of the top ten discoveries related to the book of Isaiah.

Jerusalem Seminary has been given a grant to provide discounts on tuition for their fall courses. The grant also enables increased scholarships.

Jordan has a severe water crisis.

A rockslide at the waterfall in Nahal David at En Gedi led to the death of an 8-year-old boy and injuries to eight others. The Yonatan Bar David mentioned in the article is from Yad HaShmonah.

Amnon Ben-Tor, the director of excavations at Hazor since 1990, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.

An expanded edition has just been released of Amnon Ben-Tor’s Hazor: Canaanite Metropolis, Israelite City (Israel Exploration Society, 180₪)

Conference on Sept 11-12 at Ariel University: “Boundaries and Influences in the Archeology of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean”

Ferrell Jenkins shares photos of carob pods like those that were eaten by the prodigal son.

The Bible Mapper Blog is now the Bible Mapper Atlas, with more than 150 maps freely available. You can find lists organized by historical event and by region here.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, John Black, Alexander Schick, Explorator

The recently collapsed section of the Roman aqueduct at Caesarea. Photo by Michael Schneider

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Archaeologists discovered an Akkadian tablet from 1800 BC during excavations of a palace in ancient Alalakh in southern Turkey.

Excavations of the tophet in Carthage uncovered “five gold coins from 2,300 years ago, tombstones and several urns with the remains of animals, infants and premature babies.”

Two new fragments of the Fasti Ostienses have been discovered in the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park.”

A 1st-century BC synagogue has been discovered in southwestern Russia. It stood for more than 500 years before it was likely destroyed.

“Coal miners in Serbia have discovered the remains of a large wooden boat likely used by the Romans to supply a nearby city and military headquarters on the empire’s frontier.”

“Once quiet backwater departments of Assyriology (sometimes called Sumerology or Mesopotamian studies) are suddenly hotbeds of innovation” with the help of AI.

“The ‘miracle’ plant Silphium consumed by Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, which was thought to have become extinct two thousand years ago, has recently been rediscovered in Turkey by a professor, who thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.”

“The distinctive transdisciplinary approach of the recently established Yale Ancient Pharmacology Program (YAPP) may provide keys to [the] rediscovery” of the use of ancient plants.

Zoom tour on Aug 23: “The First Half of History: A Virtual Tour of the Yale Babylonian Collection,” by Ekhart Frahm and Agnete Lassen ($7)

Zoom lecture on Aug 31: “Who Really Invented the Alphabet?,” by Seth Sanders ($6/12). Season passes for the Friends of ASOR Webinar Series are now available. You can also purchase recordings from previous seasons’ webinars.

“The Corning Museum of Glass is pleased to announce its 61st Annual Seminar on Glass, a two-day program of online sessions that complements the special exhibition Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop.” All are welcome, and there is no charge for the Oct 19-20 event.

New release: Scientific Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East, edited by Sofie Schiødt, Amber Jacob and Kim Ryholt (NYU Press, $85)

New release: The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Heritage, and Death, edited by Trish Biers, Katie Stringer Clary (Routledge, $216/$46)

ACOR has signed agreements with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities to restore the Kerak Castle, the Byzantine church in Aqaba, and the Beit Ras Amphitheater.

Geoffrey Lenox-Smith describes what he saw on a tour in a “soft opening” of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

HT: Agade, Gordon Dickson, Al Sandalow, Will Varner, Arne Halbakken, Roger Schmidgall, Keith Keyser, Wayne Stiles, Explorator

The visit of a rabbi to Jerusalem was met with great excitement by his followers.

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About the BiblePlaces Blog

The BiblePlaces Blog provides updates and analysis of the latest in biblical archaeology, history, and geography. Unless otherwise noted, the posts are written by Todd Bolen, PhD, Professor of Biblical Studies at The Master’s University.

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