Resources Archives - Page 4 of 135

Weekend Roundup – Turkey

We are up to part four of a six-part roundup after my summer disappearance. Today’s focus in Turkey, tomorrow we’ll go to Greece and Italy, and the final post will cover everything that didn’t neatly fit in one of the categories.

What may be the world’s oldest calendar has been discovered on a stone pillar at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. Carl Rasmussen provides some explanation and photos.

Archaeologists excavated a Roman harbor facility in Parion, Turkey, that may have been used by the military.

Archaeologists found a pot of gold in a 3rd century BC house in Notion, Turkey.

A necropolis has been discovered in front of the Tokalı Church (Buckle Church) in Cappadocia.

“Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tablet with an early form of writing that preserves a furniture shopping list from around 3,500 years ago.”

Archaeologists discovered a Hittite seal with the inscription, “Whoever breaks this will die.”

“A pair of 1,500-year-old lady’s sandals with a sweet message in Greek was discovered during a dig in Istanbul.”

A temple of Mithras was discovered in southeastern Turkey.

New release: Antioch on the Orontes: History, Society, Ecology, and Visual Culture, by Andrea U. De Giorgi (Cambridge, $190)

John Drummond explains why Paul’s message was such a threat to the silversmiths in Ephesus.

CNN explains why Termessos, not far from Antalya, is well worth the drive up the mountain.

Turkey is so large and important that we have separate photo collections for Western Turkey (including the Seven Churches of Revelation) and Eastern and Central Turkey. If you prefer the verse-by-verse approach, integrating museum and historic photos, check out the Acts or Revelation volumes in the Photo Companion to the Bible.

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

Tagged Discoveries, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup – Israel

A new study of textiles found in the Judean wilderness reveals that the color scarlet was made using powder of a scale insect.

“A nearly 2,000-year-old ring engraved with the image of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and battle — known to the Greeks as Athena — was found on Mount Carmel.”

An 8th century seal discovered at Hazor “depicts a battle between an unknown figure accompanied by Greek and Egyptian mythical creatures, and a large seven-headed serpent, commonly believed to be an illustration of the Lernaean Hydra from the Greek myth of Hercules’s 12 labors.”

The “altar” on Mount Ebal was recently damaged.

“The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza.”

The final excavation season at Tel Burna (Libnah?) has concluded. Co-director Steven Ortiz is interviewed on The Book and the Spade, which is now available on a number of podcast platforms.

A discovery of lost papers from a dig in 1937 prompted a reevaluation of the Central Church of Shivta in the Negev.

Christopher Rollston explains why three mosaic inscriptions found at the Christian worship site near Megiddo are important in the study of Early Christianity.

A proposed Israeli law would expand the Israel Antiquities Authority’s jurisdiction into the West Bank.

Brent Nongbri shares photos of the Bedouin who first discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. But there are questions. And another photo.

Israel’s Good Name reports on his outings to the Yodfat Monkey Park and Eilat and the Arava (Day I, Day II).

Wave Nunnally is on the Biblical World podcast to discuss recent events in Israel and the parables of the kingdom.

New release: Colonial Archaeology in Palestine in the 1930s: The First Expedition to Lachish, by Yosef Garfinkel (Israel Exploration Society and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; 260 NIS).

New release: The Economy of the Later Roman Province of Third Palestine, by Walter D. Ward (Archaeopress, £16–34)

New release: Ancient Synagogues in Palestine: A Re-evaluation Nearly a Century After Sukenik’s Schweich Lectures, by Jodi Magness (Oxford University Press, $100, free download)

New release: The Dead Sea Scrolls: New Insights on Ancient Texts, by Alex P. Jassen and Lawrence H. Schiffman (Springer, $89–119)

New release: Hesi after 50 Years and 130 Years: Paying Tribute to the Long Excavation History at Tell el-Hesi, edited by John R. Spencer, James W. Hardin, and Jeffrey Blakely (Eisenbrauns, $100, but Amazon has it at 60% off right now; Kindle $53). The Bible and Interpretation has posted the first chapter which is an introduction to the volume.

Israel now requires visitors from visa-exempt countries to purchase electronic travel authorization prior to boarding their flight to Israel. The government website is here.

As a reminder, we have number of useful photo collections related to Israel, including the Pictorial Library’s Galilee and the North, Samaria and the Center, Judah and the Dead Sea, and Negev and the Wilderness. All five Israel volumes are available as a set (6,000 photos) for only $119 today with code RAMAH.

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

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Resources, Samaria, Shephelah, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup – Jerusalem

I’m back from a 9,000-mile road trip, and though there are not many active excavations in Israel this summer, I have a lot of stories to catch up on. This roundup will be a six-parter, with today’s focus on Jerusalem.

A stone quarry with massive building stones was discovered in a northern neighborhood of Jerusalem. It was in use when Herod was carrying out his many construction projects, and the “geological signature” matches that of stone slabs used in the “Pilgrim’s Road” that runs from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.

The publication of a journal article has brought a fresh wave of attention to the discovery of a large moat that separated Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from the City of David during the time of the monarchy.

Construction workers discovered a Medieval altar in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Nails from the sandals of Roman soldiers have been discovered in the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

A stone fragment with a drilled hole was uncovered in the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

“The Kishle moat at the Citadel in Jerusalem is now hosting the ‘Umbilicus’ exhibition . . . [which] delves into ancient ideas of Jerusalem being the center of the world.”

“The Israel Antiquities Authority is offering limited tours this summer of its Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, a new and modern facility, long under construction next to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.” The campus is expected to be fully open in a year or two.

Chandler Collins considers whether the evidence supports the popular interpretation that the Broad Wall in Jerusalem cut through houses, as described in Isaiah 22:10.

Bryan Windle evaluates the evidence to decide whether the ivory pomegranate inscription mentioning the temple is authentic.

Tuvia Pollack provides an overview of the archaeological significance of the City of David.

Ariel David writes about Israel’s Finkelstein’s new book, Jerusalem the Center of the Universe: Its Archaeology and History (1800–100 BCE). The book is available from SBL Press or from Amazon for $50-$85.

Nachi Weinstein interviews Jodi Magness about the city of Jerusalem throughout history (85 min).

On Sept. 4, the Friends of ASOR will be hosting a free webinar with Jodi Magness explaining, “What Makes Jerusalem Special?”

Jodi Magness is guest on the Biblical World podcast to discuss her new book, the Huqoq synagogue mosaic, the importance of pottery, and more.

Registration is now open for fall online courses at the Jerusalem Seminary. Courses include “The Life and Land of Yeshua,” “Journeying with Paul,” and a number of Biblical Hebrew courses.

BiblePlaces.com offers a number of photo collections related to Jerusalem, including our classic Pictorial Library collection on Jerusalem (1,500 photos), the American Colony collection on Jerusalem (650 photos), and the Photo Companion to the Gospels (10,000 slides).

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

Tagged Jerusalem, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“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

Tagged Discoveries, Mesopotamia, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

“The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Monday announced the discovery of 33 archaeological tombs, dating back to the . . . the Greek and Roman eras near the Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan governorate.”

Mohy-Eldin E. Abo-Eleaz writes about foreign visitors to Egypt depicted in tombs in the reign of Thutmose III.

The Smithsonian Magazine has a feature article on the discoveries at Berenike on the shore of the Red Sea.

A new study shows that ancient Egyptian scribes suffered occupational bone damage.

The new study of radiocarbon dates from Jerusalem is the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Jodi Magness is on the Great Books podcast, produced by National Review, to discuss the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The latest issue of the Israel Exploration Journal includes articles on the Millo in Jerusalem, unique figurines from Judah, and forgotten papyri of the Judean desert. You can see the full table of contents here.

The May issue of BASOR has been released. The table of contents is online, but most of the articles require subscription.

New release: Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, volume 35, The Hillel Geva Volume (Israel Exploration Society, 775 pages, ₪400). The IES website has posted the table of contents, but the Hebrew articles are listed in Hebrew and I haven’t found an online listing in English (but here’s a text file). A few of the Hebrew articles I searched for were previously published in English. Geva’s contribution has been immense, and he is rightly honored by a whole host of scholars.

The Bible in Its Traditions is a website created by the École Biblique et Archéologique in Jerusalem that intends “to create the most extensive and helpful set of notes for the entire Bible” with “significant differences between different versions of the text of the Bible in the text itself, rather than in footnotes.”

Pool of Siloam, taken on June 23, 2024 by John Black

There will be no roundups in the month of July.

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

Tagged Dead Sea Scrolls, Discoveries, Egypt, Jerusalem, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

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

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Italy, Mesopotamia, Resources, Weekend Roundup