Shephelah Archives - Page 19 of 64

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Stanford University researchers believe they’ve found evidence of the world’s oldest brewery in the Raqefet Cave, near Haifa.

Miriam Feinberg Vamosh writes about an ancient convent discovered at a possible site of Hannah’s tomb (Haaretz premium).

Haaretz (premium) has an article on the history of the pomegranate.

Aren Maeir will be teaching a MOOC entitled “Biblical Archaeology: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Judah” and a trailer is now out.

There is a conference today on Ctesiphon, and Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo from his visit to this city in Iraq.

Luke Chandler explains why there is an island in the Sea of Galilee now.

Leon Mauldin has written an illustrated post about the revolt of Libnah and Edom.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is offering new courses in October, including the Samaritan Pentateuch and Ancient Near Eastern Texts.

New from Oxford University Press: The Oxford Illustrated History of the Holy Land, edited by H. G. M. Williamson and Robert G. Hoyland.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Steven Anderson, Gordon Franz

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jordan, Lectures, Mesopotamia, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

More than 1,000 Hellenistic-era seal impressions were recently discovered in excavations at Maresha.

Underwater archaeologists are searching the sea near Dor in advance of the construction of a gas pipeline.

US military veterans are participating in excavations at Beth Shearim in a program providing therapy for PTSD.

A plan to build a cable car to transport visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not making everyone happy.

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem now offers a virtual reality tour that visits nine vantage points in the Old City.

The IAA is opposed to plans by the Temple Mount Faithful to hold a concert in the excavations area south of the Temple Mount.

The 12th annual conference on “New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Vicinity” will be held next month. Aren Maeir has posted the program.

Joel Kramer has announced the dates of his next study tour in Israel.

Carl Rasmussen links to two videos from Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations of Jericho.

The Methuselah date palm tree is male, but six more ancient date seeds have been planted in hopes of raising a female for Methuselah to pollinate.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Scholars are studying sites in the Jordan Valley to see if they are related to early Israelite settlement.

Zahi Hawass tells the story of the discovery of the Solar Boat of Khufu.

An 10-year-old boy hiking in Galilee discovered an ancient stone figure.

Aren Maeir has written an initial summary of this summer’s excavations of Gath. They found quite a bit related to Hazael’s destruction of the city.

Israel’s Good Name describes his excavation experience at Gath.

Gonzalo Rubio explains how eclipses were regarded as omens in the ancient world.

Yosef Garfinkel is lecturing on Khirbet Qeiyafa and Khirbet al-Ra’i on September 15 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston.

Jerusalem Perspective has posted a lecture by Ronny Reich on “The Mikveh and Ritual Immersion in Jesus’ Day.” Reich is the leading expert on ancient Jewish ritual baths.

The J. Paul Getty Museum has posted a catalog of 630 ancient lamps in their collections.

“Tomb of Christ: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre Experience” will open on November 15 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. The website includes a digital guide for the exhibition.

Biblical Israel Ministries & Tours has launched an updated website, including a list of their upcoming Israel tours.

The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible releases on Tuesday. This is a revision of the NIV Zondervan Study Bible, and one major improvement is the more-readable font. We contributed many of the photos, and I wrote the notes for 2 Kings. Westminster Bookstore has it on sale.

Accordance has many graphics collections for sale, including the American Colony Collection and Cultural Images of the Holy Land.

Wipf and Stock are offering 40% off their catalog with code LABOR40.

Now available in the US (from Biblical Archaeology Society):

Megiddo-Armageddon, by David Ussishkin
A Walk to Caesarea, by Joseph Patrich

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, A.D. Riddle, Alexander Schick, Paleojudica

Tagged Egypt, Galilee, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Museums, New Exhibits, Philistines, Photo Resources, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

While building an on-site museum to house the massive Lod mosaic, they discovered another mosaic.

Archaeologists working at Gedera have uncovered a 20-bath spa, a game room, and a pottery workshop.

The final season has wrapped up at the site of Horvat Kur near the Sea of Galilee.

Whether one swallowed Jonah or not, whales used to live in the Mediterranean, according to a new study.

Thomas Hikade and Jane Roy assess the evidence for human sacrifice in early Egyptian history.

New: An excavation report from Khirbet Qeiyafa: In the Footsteps of King David: Revelations from an Ancient Biblical City, by Yosef Garfinkel, Saar Ganor, and Michael G. Hasel.

Carl Rasmussen writes about the Solomonic gate at Gezer and shares a photo of Bill Dever and Yohanan Aharoni at the site.

John DeLancey shares about his recent volunteer experience at Gath on The Book and the Spade.

Ferrell Jenkins explains the importance of the cedars of Lebanon and shares many photos.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Israel's Coast, Lebanon, Museums, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The big story of the week was that a stone in the Western Wall came crashing down near the prayer area by Robinson’s Arch. There’s a video here. The whole wall is a “danger zone” and no one should be allowed near, says Zachi Dvira. The public needs to do some serious “soul searching,” insists one rabbi. No need to worry, says a geologist.

A crane has now removed this fallen stone. Joseph Lauer remarks, “In watching the videos showing the stone’s removal by the special crane, imagine what it took 2,000 years ago to place that stone and all of the other ones in the Wall.

Before the stone fell, archaeologist Dan Bahat petitioned Israel’s supreme court to halt construction of the egalitarian prayer area here.

The archaeologist directing the dig at el-Araj believes that the case for identifying it as Bethsaida is strengthened by the discovery of a reliquary, which may not be a reliquary, but which may just as well be the reliquary of Peter, Philip, and Andrew, at the Church of the Apostles. The stone box was discovered in the debris of a 19th-century house at the site (Haaretz premium).

Marc Turnage is interviewed by OnScript about his participation in the excavations of el-Araj (Bethsaida?).

Researchers are bringing the ancient city of Beit Lehi in the Shephelah to life by launching a digital guide to this restricted-access archaeological site. (Did the archaeologist really say that this site is a “gold mine”?!)

Walking the Text (with Brad Gray) began a new series on Zacchaeus, focusing this week on the background of the story and including many photos of the geographical context.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is now offering free study groups in several areas, including

Inscriptions from Ancient Israel, Dead Sea Scrolls, The Book of Jonah, and more. All study groups are live and online.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Lois Tverberg

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists have discovered a large Neolithic village in Motza not far from Jerusalem.

Researchers working in northeastern Jordan have found early evidence of breadmaking.

The sealed black sarcophagus from Alexandria has been opened to reveal three decomposed bodies.

A pottery-making workshop from the 4th Dynasty has been discovered in Aswan.

Excavations at Sardis have uncovered military equipment believed to have been used in the war with the Persians.

A mysterious papyrus housed at the University of Basel since the 16th century is now believed to be a medical document written by the physician Galen.

The seasons have wrapped up at Gath and Tel Burna.

Scott Stripling speaks about this year’s excavations at Shiloh on The Book and the Spade.

Israel’s Good Name’s tour of Lower Galilee took him to Tel Shimron, Tel Hanaton, Horvat Rosh Zayit, and Tel Keisan.

Mary Shepperson writes an interesting piece about the history of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq.

John DeLancey shares a drone video he created of the Philistine site of Gath. [Link updated]

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo of a replica of the Shema servant of Jeroboam seal that he purchased in the late 1960s.

Leon Mauldin shares several photos of the cities of the Decapolis.

Wayne Stiles looks at lessons to learn on temptation from the pinnacle of temple.

Lawrence H. Schiffman reflects on the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls in light of the 70th anniversary of their discovery.

I have learned that the new book, A Walk to Caesarea, by Joseph Patrich, will soon be available in the Biblical Archaeology Society store. I’ll include a note in a future roundup when it is.

You can get 30% off all Eisenbrauns titles with code RAI18.

If you’ve benefited from the ministry of Bryant Wood, you can learn how to support his work here.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Jerusalem, Jordan, Judah, Philistines, Resources, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup