Shephelah Archives - Page 38 of 64

Weekend Roundup

Yitzhak Sapir claims that Matthew Kalman has misrepresented the verdict regarding the ownership of Oded Golan’s artifacts. Kalman has responded briefly.

A report from this season’s excavations of the Roman camp of Legio near Megiddo is now online.

Wayne Stiles provides a perspective, with photos and video, from atop the walls of Jerusalem.

The lecture schedule for the Bible and Archaeology Fest is now online. There are many interesting topics planned.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is now offering a masters of arts in biblical archaeology in partnership with Mississippi State University.

Haaretz reports on students excavating in the port of Dor as part of a new English MA in Maritime
Civilizations at Haifa University.

An article at The Christian Science Monitor about Khirbet Qeiyafa is more interesting for its profile of Israel Finkelstein.

Barry Britnell suggests a number of opportunities to learn.

Britnell also links to a beautiful video on the Sky Above Jerusalem.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

The ancient harbor of Dor
Photo from Samaria and the Center

Tagged Forgery, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Lectures, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Gordon Franz reports on his time at the “International Noah and Judi Mountain Symposium” in Sirnak, Turkey. He also provides a summary of a number of the presentations.

On The Book and the Spade this week: “Discovering Dalmanutha” with Ken Dark (direct link).

Norma Franklin believes the Megiddo water system was built during the Middle Bronze Age.

George Athas asks, “What’s New in Biblical Inscriptions?” and he suggests a cautious approach in announcing new discoveries.

An enormous Corinthian capital has been excavated at a temple of Hadrian in western Turkey.

A report in the Belfast Telegraph provides details about the ongoing excavations at Sidon.

Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am provide a tour of Gezer.

Before there was writing, there were clay balls. Scholars are trying to decipher the code from objects found in Iran.

Dove Booksellers reports that the retail price is jumping up to $395 for The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology. It’s on sale for $257 until Tuesday (cheaper than Amazon).

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer, Explorator

Cudi (Judi) Dagh, possible location of Mount Ararat, from west
Photo from Eastern and Central Turkey

Tagged Galilee, Jezreel Valley, Lebanon, Resources, Shephelah, Turkey

DigSight Summer 2013

The latest issue of the SAU Institute of Archaeology DigSight is now available online in pdf format.

Contents include:

Excavating Lachish 2013
Qeiyafa Final Celebration
New Museum Coordinator
Battle Over David in South Africa
Institute of Archaeology at ASI
Director’s Letter
Recent Sightings
Upcoming Events

The first article reports on the initial season of excavations at Lachish. The team hopes to find answers for the following questions:

When was Lachish inhabited for the first time in the Iron Age?
When was Lachish first fortified in the Iron Age?
How did the economy, administration, international connections, writing, cult, and art develop in the first 200 years of the Kingdom of Judah?
Was there a fortified city in Lachish relating to 2 Chronicles 11:5–12, which recounts Rehoboam’s rebuilding of the city?

The archaeologists are focusing their work on the northeast quarter of the site and they have already exposed part of the fortification system near the well.

Information about upcoming lectures is provided on the last page of the newsletter, including these events:

October 22, 2013, 7 p.m.

“Excavating Nebuchadnezzar’s Destruction at Lachish” Michael G. Hasel, PhD (Southern Adventist University)

February 11, 2014, 7 p.m.

“Tell Jalul: A Levitical City of Refuge in Jordan?” Randall W. Younker, PhD (Andrews University)

March 11, 2014, 7 p.m.

“Ossuaries and the Burials of Jesus and James” Jodi Magness, PhD (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Lachish from the south

Tagged Excavations, Lectures, Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

Yosef Garfinkel is interviewed about Khirbet Qeiyafa at The Bible and Interpretation. He explains why he believes that King David “certainly slept there a few nights every year.”

Bryant Wood has a round-up of significant archaeological discoveries made in 2013.

Ferrell Jenkins shares an illustration of bargaining in the Middle Eastern.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the discovery of gold near the Temple Mount on this week’s edition of The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

There’s a new website for the Montfort Castle project.

This video on the Bread Culture of Jordan addresses both ancient and modern aspects of this way of life.

Gordon Franz passes on word that Gabriel Barkay recently presented a paper in Jerusalem suggesting that Absalom’s Pillar in the Kidron Valley belonged to Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:20-23). If I hear
more, I’ll note it in a future blog post.

HT: Jack Sasson, Aren Maeir

Pillar of Absalom with snow, tb022603216

The “Pillar of Absalom” in the Kidron Valley, Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Leen Thobias has some impressive 360-degree images of Israel and Jordan here.

It must be a bit discouraging when you find in your sealed excavation locus a beer bottle cap. (Photos here.)

Theories about the identity of Khirbet Qeiyafa are discussed in this Haaretz article. The most helpful section is what everyone agrees on.

A Tel Aviv professor wants to know if a mound of stones in the Sea of Galilee marks the place where Jesus walked on water.

If you’ve been waiting to see the new Samson mosaic found last summer at the Huqoq synagogue, you should check out Jodi Magness’s new article in Biblical Archaeology Review, currently online for free.

The anarchy in Egypt has not been good for archaeological sites and museums.

Archaeologists have found evidence that cinnamon was produced on the northern coast of Israel in ancient times.

Fifteen foreign archaeological teams are preparing to begin fifteen projects in Saudi Arabia.

Foundation Stone shares a 7-minute video showing some results from this summer’s excavations at Azekah.

Leen Ritmeyer has created some new reconstruction drawings of Jerusalem throughout its history.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged 10th Century, Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Hershel Shanks has weighed in on the Israeli government’s astonishing about-face on the Jehoash Inscription.

Gordon Govier and I discuss the “palace of David” discovery in this week’s broadcast of The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

Luke Chandler has an exclusive scoop on recent finds from Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted a beautiful aerial photo of Gezer.

Wayne Stiles writes about 5 Christian Sites in Jerusalem You Should Know About.

My memory of whitewater rafting on the Jordan River is more thrilling than what this Haaretz writer
describes, but maybe it’s just grown with the telling.

This article about antiquities thieves in Jordan reveals that some ancient sites are guarded by
powerful genies.

The Garden of Eden is to become a national park in Iraq. (If you don’t see a guard armed with a
flaming sword, it may be a swindle.)

Accordance is ending the summer with some deals sure to interest those who love Bible geography,
history, and archaeology.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Walls of alleged “palace of David” at Khirbet Qeiyafa.
Photo by Steven H. Sanchez

Tagged Forgery, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Mesopotamia, Resources, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup