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Syria is trying to attract investment in tourism. Aleppo, Crac des Chevaliers, and Palmyra are not accessible, but other places are perfectly safe, according to the minister of tourism.

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism plans to increase the number of campgrounds around the country.

Nazareth will be the title of a new miniseries produced by Fox about the years Jesus spent growing up in this Galilean village. The Bible records nothing of this period in Jesus’ life.

Leen Ritmeyer provides some corrections to the story about the Temple Mount chisel.

Archaeologists working in southern Egypt have discovered two tombs, including one with “a trove of artifacts including reed pens and a bronze inkwell.” They date to about 600 BC.

A cave with human remains from the first century was discovered near Ein Tzurim south of Bethlehem.

Bruce Chilton revisits the issue of the authenticity of the James Ossuary.

Paleojudaica reflects on the latest developments with the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife. Bible History Daily has a much more thorough review.

Publications of the Oriental Institute, 1906-2014: Exploring the History and Civilizations of the Near East. Edited by Thomas G. Urban and Leslie Schramer, compiled by Zuhal K. Sharp. Chicago: The
Oriental Institute, 1991, 2014. Second revised edition. 28 pages (more than 750 titles). All titles published by the Oriental Institute, with active links to their web pages, alphabetically arranged.


The Final Days of Jesus is available today for Kindle for $0.99.

The weekly ASOR roundup is here.

HT: Jack Sasson

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Aren Maeir will be lecturing on the Philistines in Kansas City and Chicago later this month.

Carl Rasmussen ran into a pack of wild boar at Caesarea Philippi and some in his group managed to get photos. (I’ve managed the former but never the latter.)

Israeli police arrested five Jews attempting to sacrifice a goat at the Temple Mount for Passover.

A couple of tombs from the 26th Dynasty were discovered in Pr-Medjet. Luxor Times has photos.

The ruins of Palmyra have suffered from the Syrian civil war, and the New York Times provides an update.

The ASOR roundup has more stories from archaeology around the world.

Bibles-Online is a new site that allows you to view every page of rare and antique copies of the Scriptures, including the 1521 Erasmus Greek NT, the 1535 Coverdale Bible, the 1549 Matthew-Tyndale Bible, and others.

Wayne Stiles is offering a significant discount on his new audiobook this weekend before it is available at Audible.com. I’ve highly recommended the print version of Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus in the past and now the audiobook is available for less than $7.

HT: Jack Sasson, Charles Savelle

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Not all archaeologists agree with the recent claims made for the presence of Sea Peoples at Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley.

Islamic fundamentalists are destroying antiquities in Syria because of their portrayal of human beings.

Wayne Stiles explains how to take a virtual tour of Jerusalem using Google Maps.

Ferrell Jenkins continues his series on Visualizing Isaiah, with recent posts on Isaiah 12, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 10, and Isaiah 9.

The Guardian is looking for photographs from the first excavations of Masada in the 1960s.

Tourism to Israel in January was up 19%, setting a new record.

The ASOR Weekly Roundup has archaeology news from around the world.

For those wondering, we’ll have a separate post on the camels story in the next few days.

HT: Joseph Lauer

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The IAA has launched version 2.0 of the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. The upgraded version includes 10,000 new images.

This looks like a valuable resource: Syria Photo Guide—A Comprehensive Guide to the Cultural and Historical Sites of Syria.

Excavations in Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park uncovered a quarry, a winepress (2nd c. AD), and a storage cave (1st c. BC).

An ‘Antilla’ well from the Byzantine period has been discovered in Tel Aviv.

The Assyrians: Masters of War, a 25-minute episode from the Discovery Channel is online.

The Ancient Near East Today has begun its second year of monthly e-newsletters. If you haven’t signed up already, you can do so here.

The update volume for The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land is on sale for $90. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen it. Until Feb 11. (Amazon: $130.)

Today is International Septuagint Day.

HT: Seth Rodriquez, Jack Sasson

iaa-dss-psalms
Psalms Scroll from Cave 11
Image taken from the
Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
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With the cooperation of local landowners, a new national park may be established at Tal al-Umayri (el-Umeiri) in Jordan.

Archaeologists have discovered what may be the oldest Roman temple at the foot of Capitoline Hill in Rome.

“The remains of a bustling port and barracks for sailors or military troops have been discovered near the Giza Pyramids.”

Archaeologists working at Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley believe they have evidence that some of the Sea Peoples settled there ca. 1100 BC.

A new computer system in use by the Israel Antiquities Authority will enable archaeologists to create “a national database of sherds, a kind of sherd Google.” (Haaretz; registration required)

Some of Syria’s historic sites are being destroyed for political reasons.


A Study Guide of Israel: Historical & Geographical, by Arnold Fruchtenbaum is on now on sale at Logos for $18. ($52 used at Amazon.)

The HCSB Study Bible is on sale for the Kindle for $3.

This diagram shows Paul’s missionary journeys in the form of a London subway map.

Leona Glidden Running, co-author of a biography of W. F. Albright, has died.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson, Mark Hoffman

Port and barracks excavated near Giza pyramids.
Photo by AERA.
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The Israel Museum has acquired the world’s “first Jewish coin.”

Eric Cline and Christopher Rollston have been selected as the new co-editors of BASOR.

Accordance Bible Software has a sale on their collection of Dead Sea Scrolls Images.

The Fall 2013 issue of the electronic newsletter DigSight is now online.

The Top 10 Discoveries of 2013 at Archaeology include Egypt’s oldest port.

Three lectures related to Egyptian history given at the Harvard Semitic Museum are now online.

War-torn Syria is being extensively looted by antiquities thieves, according to the head of UNESCO.

HT: Jack Sasson

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