Resources Archives - Page 3 of 136

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 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, Part 1

The ancient Eshtemoa synagogue south of Hebron was vandalized by graffiti and fire this week.

The Jerusalem Post has a better article on the previously reported study on the balm of Gilead.

Bryan Windle identifies the top ten discoveries related to the book of Jeremiah.

John Monson is a guest on The Book and the Spade to discuss muons and the archaeology of Jerusalem.

James Hoffmeier will be lecturing at the Bible Seminary in Bonn on November 6-7 on the subject of “Israel and the Exodus.” He will lecture in English, and registration is required. Recordings will be made available to those who register.

John DeLancey, of Biblical Israel Ministries and Tours, has begun a new series entitled “Israel on Location.”

Accordance has a sale going on now for Carta and Jewish resources.

Walter E. Aufrecht, a scholar best known for his work on Ammonite inscriptions, died last week.

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Exodus-Conquest, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Resources, Sad News, 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

New Map: Land of the Messiah

Gesher Media has just created a beautiful new map illustrating the “Land of the Messiah.” The 18” x 24” full-color map features a primary panel showing the land of Israel and Transjordan during the time of Jesus, with locations marked and events depicted. Two smaller inset maps provide greater detail for the two primary places of Jesus’s ministry: the Sea of Galilee and the city of Jerusalem.

Purchase of the map (now on sale for $30) includes access to five videos in which Chris McKinny explains how the map works and what it depicts. This is a unique resource that combines aesthetic appeal with biblical accuracy.

While I’m writing, I want to also recommend to you other materials produced by Gesher Media. This is a relatively new organization, and they have already created a number of valuable resources:

Why Jerusalem Matters (episode 1) – free on YouTube
The Single Gospel of Christ – a Gospel harmony arranged in a novel-like typesetting
Quest for the Throne of God – a documentary series under development
Gesher Gallery – “an expanding collection of images from a wide variety of museums and locations,” all indexed and available for individual purchase or by subscription
Store – they stock a number of books you can otherwise find for sale only in Israel

Keep an eye on Gesher for more resources that help to bridge our world with the Bible.

Tagged Resources

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