Shephelah Archives - Page 42 of 64

Weekend Roundup

This is a series I should have done on this blog. But BibleX has done it first and quite well: Picture Taking Tips for the Holy Land, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Thank you, Dr. Savelle.

The Shephelah is a great place to live. The ancients knew it and now modern people are catching on.

That’s bad for those who care about the preservations of ancient sites, as Luke Chandler explains in his well-illustrated post, Khirbet Qeiyafa to be Enveloped by City Expansion.

Beth Shean—A Place for Happy Explorers: Check out the photos, the video, and the city’s lingering lesson.

“Huge flocks of synchronized starlings that appear like a black cloud returned to Israel last year for the first time in 20 years.” This free Haaretz article includes impressive photos.

Jerusalem Online has a 4-minute video on The Search for Herod’s Grave. You can read the transcript at the same link.

The ancient Corinthians liked to feast, a fact confirmed by the recent excavation of more than 100,000 bones excavated in the abandoned theater.

The Guardian reports on Turkey’s on-going efforts to blackmail museums around the world.

For more, check out the Archaeology Weekly Roundup at the ASOR Blog.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Beth Shean aerial from northeast.
Photo from Samaria and the Center.

Tagged Greece, Jezreel Valley, Museums, Shephelah, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

I picked up a brochure for this summer’s excavation at Gezer and was impressed with their season’s goals. In a brief look online at the BAS website and the official website, I did not see the specifics given in the brochure.

The 2013 season will focus on excavating

a Late Bronze Age Pillared Building probably destroyed by the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah,

the Iron Age I occupation (1200-1000 BCE),

the 10th century BCE administrative quarter next to the Solomonic Gate Complex, and

a 9th century destruction possibly due to the Arameans.

If you’re thinking about digging this summer, this is certainly a good excavation to consider. The 9th-century destruction is that of Hazael mentioned in 2 Kings 12:17 and discovered at the nearby Philistine city of Gath.

The best way to get up to speed on the results of the first six seasons of excavations is the recent article in Near Eastern Archaeology, by Steven Ortiz and Sam Wolff, “Guarding the Border to Jerusalem: The Iron Age City of Gezer” (on JSTOR, or subscribe here).

Gezer casemate wall excavations, tb070506121

Excavations of casemate wall of Gezer.
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.

Tagged Excavations, Shephelah

Recent IAA Excavation Reports

Horbat Hadat Modiin – Two strata from the Chalcolithic period were exposed, revealing high quality construction and a flint repertoire with more than 500 pieces.

Petah Tiqwa, Kefar Abraham – This Middle Bronze IIA industrial site with a tabun and kiln was probably related to the major city of Aphek.

Amazya, Al-Dawayima – A survey northwest of Moshav Amazya on the western end of Nahal Lachish in the Shephelah revealed 37 sites with abundant remains from the Iron, Roman, and Byzantine periods.

Amazya South – A survey south of Moshav Amazya identified 40 sites including many cisterns and cave dwellings.

Yattir Forest – A salvage excavation exposed a farming terrace and a square field tower, both of which might date to the Byzantine period.

Be’er Sheva‘, Bet Eshel Street – Excavations in downtown Beersheba uncovered pottery from the 8th century BC and a home from the Byzantine era.

Middle Bronze kiln excavated at Petah Tiqwa, Kefar Abraham.
Photo by Israel Antiquities Authority.

Tagged Excavations, Israel's Coast, Judah, Negev, Shephelah

Recent IAA Excavation Reports

An agricultural complex one mile northeast of the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem in Khirbet el-Qatt was in use during the Roman period and included cisterns, terrace walls, watchman’s huts, winepresses, olive presses, and a coin from the time of Herod.

Some ancient pits excavated in Ramat Aviv in Tel Aviv had remains of mountain gazelle, dogs, and a donkey.

A quarry of unknown date and sections of plastered wall and floors from a Byzantine monastery were excavated along Nablus Road north of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Two squares were excavated on the western slope of Jonah’s hometown of Gath Hepher, revealing remains from the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, and Iron II. If the excavators were a little more media-savvy, they could have made their fame and fortune showing off the cooking pot and jar that were certainly used by Jonah’s mother.

Excavations on the edge of Tel Yafo (biblical Joppa) revealed lots of Iron Age pottery (the canteen Jonah dropped on his way to the boat?) as well as finds from the Hellenistic, Early Islamic, Crusader, and later periods.

Vandals excavated a winepress in Horbat Pezaza but they left a second one untouched for those paid by the day rather than the piece. The archaeologists dated the winepresses to the Late Roman and Byzantine period.

Winepress in Horbat Pezaza. Photo by IAA.

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Judah, Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working at Acco have discovered harbor remains and four shipwrecks from the early 19th century.

Deane Galbraith summarizes a new article in which Yigal Levin rejects the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as Shaaraim and proposes instead that it is the Israelite encampment.

Bible History Daily has a short story on a new exhibit about Famous Americans Who Made Holy Land Tours. Featured tourists include Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Muriel and Jeremy Josse Collection of Holy Land Maps includes more than 250 maps of late 19th- and early 20th-century Palestine and the African continent.

Harvard University is returning to archaeology in Iraq after nearly a century, but they’re doing so without touching the ground.

National Geographic has word (and photos) of the Oldest Pharaoh Rock Art Rediscovered in Egypt.

Bible History Daily posts more than a dozen high-res images of “King David’s Tomb.” You need a subscription to read Jeffrey Zorn’s related article, but the images are available to all. And if you ever teach about the subject, you should grab the nicely colored drawings from Weill’s excavations while they’re available (below the photos).

The city of Jerusalem has approved plans for rebuilding the second of two domed synagogues in the Old City. Both were destroyed in the 48 war, and the Hurvah Synagogue was rebuilt several years ago. A donation of $12 million is launching the rebuilding of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue.

For a look at what’s going on in the broader world of biblical studies in the past month, head over to the Carnival.

HT: David Coppedge

Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

Google Maps now includes floor plans of dozens of museums around the world, including the British Museum and the Smithsonian.

A couple of museums in Israel moved treasures to the vault because of danger from rockets from Gaza.

You can wait years to see an article about the New Testament city of Nain. Miriam Feinberg Vamosh ends the wait.

David Bivin thinks that the Nain where Jesus raised the boy from the dead is near Jerusalem in the upper reaches of the Wadi Qilt (subscription req’d for full article).

Joe Zias attempts to clear things up with regard to his role with the James Ossuary.

Perhaps you didn’t know: Wayne Stiles’ weekly column is available each Monday at the Jerusalem Post, but the edition on his personal site includes more content and higher-resolution photos. This week he travels to Chorazin (“Capernaum with a View”).

The PowerPoint presentation for Itzhaq Shai’s recent lecture on Tel Burna is available for download.

It is interesting to look through even without the audio.

Ferrell Jenkins shares some of his observations from the recent annual meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit formerly at Discovery Times Square and Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute has now rolled into Cincinnati.

A golden brooch from the treasure of King Croesus is returning to Turkey after the museum director sold it to pay off his gambling debts.

The National Museum of Iraq is scheduled to have a grand re-opening early next year.

Conservation efforts at Herculaneum are more successful than at its sister site of Pompeii.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Herculaneum Cardo IV from west, tb111405666

Ruins of Herculaneum from the west
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

Tagged Dead Sea, Galilee, Italy, Mesopotamia, Museums, Shephelah, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Gezer Excavation 2013

Recent IAA Excavation Reports

Recent IAA Excavation Reports

Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup