Technology Archives - Page 25 of 33

Wednesday Roundup

Free on Kindle today: The Apostle: The Life of Paul, by John Pollock. The ASOR Blog has posted the latest Archaeology Roundup. Three new volumes of the City of David final excavation reports have been published. If you have not had the chance to visit Hebron, you should take the illustrated tour today with Wayne Stiles. (Another version with smaller images is published at the Jerusalem Post.) Is skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee sacrilegious? The Washington Post gives my answer to the question. WiFi access is important enough to visitors in Israel that one biblical village has equipped their donkeys with WiFi routers. HT: Charles Savelle Windsurfer on Sea of Galilee (photo source)

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Resources, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Microarchaeology in Gath Excavations

Nir Hasson of Haaretz reports on the study of ancient plants at the Philistine city of Gath.

Until a few years ago most archaeologists would not even have considered these to be archaeological finds. The focus on them could symbolize the new road the discipline has taken in general, and Israeli archaeology in particular. Known as microarchaeology, this new field use precise scientific instruments to interpret more elements of the ancient record, making it more complex and at times, more human. Instead of great kings vanquishing cities, pillaging, murdering and being murdered, it also tells the story of cultural transformation and of simple urban dwellers. Called phytoliths, the white spots are what remains after most of a plant has decayed, as a kind of skeleton made of minerals. [Yotam] Asher is doing his Ph.D. on what phytoliths can teach us. Those at Tel Tzafit are what is left of plants that lived 3,300 years ago. A preliminary look under the microscope shows that one spot is what remains from a pile of domesticated wheat while another is of unidentified wild plants. "It’s possible that in one place was a sack of hay and in another, a sack of wild plants, or that these are plants that were on a roof that collapsed," Asher says.

The full story is here. The head archaeologist of the Gath project calls the article “great.” Joseph Lauer observes that the “four-horned altar” mentioned only had two horns.

Tagged Excavations, Philistines, Technology

Egyptian Pyramids Discovered with Google Earth

From Heritage Daily:

One of the complex sites contains a distinct, four-sided, truncated, pyramidal shape that is approximately 140 feet in width. This site contains three smaller mounds in a very clear formation, similar to the diagonal alignment of the Giza Plateau pyramids. The second possible site contains four mounds with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau. The two larger mounds at this site are approximately 250 feet in width, with two smaller mounds approximately 100 feet in width. This site complex is arranged in a very clear formation with the large plateau, or butte, nearby in a triangular shape with a width of approximately 600 feet. The sites have been documented and discovered by satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, North Carolina. Angela has been conducting satellite archaeology research for over ten years, searching for ancient sites from space using Google Earth. Angela is a UNC Charlotte alumnus and has studied archaeology since childhood. Google Earth has allowed her to document many possible archaeological sites, including a potential underwater city off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula that has sparked the interest of scientists, researchers and archaeologists. Angela is also a board member of the APEX Institute, founded by archaeologist William Donato, who is pioneering underwater archaeological research in the Bahamas. Angela has been assisted by Don J. Long, fellow APEX researcher and colleague.

The full story includes photos and a link to more of Micol’s discoveries. HT: Jack Sasson

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Technology

Wednesday Roundup

The scaffolding and construction material inside the Dome of the Rock have elicited an emergency petition by the Temple Mount Faithful to Israel’s Supreme Court.

In The Washington Post, Hershel Shanks describes how the Biblical Archaeology Society became caught in a dispute between the two halves of Cyprus.

Wikipedia wins: Photography is now allowed in the archaeology wing of the Israel Museum.

The first summer survey at Abel Beth Maacah was a success.

The finds keep popping out of the ground at the Philistine city of Gath. Aren Maeir is providing daily updates and photos.

The plaster at Ramat Rahel is being studied for traces of pollen in order to understand the character of the ancient royal gardens at the site south of Jerusalem.

“Scientists have used a new x-ray technique to produce spectacular 3D images of Roman coins that were corroded inside pots or blocks of soil.” The article includes a brief video.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit formerly at New York’s Discovery Times Square and currently at the
Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is moving to the Cincinnati Museum Center in November.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Museums, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

We begin with reports from the field. Tel Burna has posted photos of their finds from Week 2. The Jezreel Expedition has completed its first season. Omrit wrapped up its season with the possible discovery of a bath complex. Work and discoveries continue at Ashkelon. Reports and photos from the first couple weeks at Bethsaida are posted. The team at Bethsaida is hoping to reveal a 10th-century gate this season and they have posted reports from Week 1 and Week 2. Excavations are scheduled to begin tomorrow at Tiberias, Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tel Hazor, Kfar HaHoresh, Tel ‘Eton, and Tel Bet Yerah.

The New York Times has a travel piece on the four-day hike through Galilee on the Jesus Trail.

The pilot study for the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project has concluded and results have been announced.

Aren Maeir has posted three short videos on: (1) food in Philistine and Israelite society; (2) Philistine religion; (3) work in the archaeological lab.

National Geographic has photos of gold treasures recently found in Israel.

Claude Mariottini notes the publication of The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal, by Ralph K.
Hawkins. Had another publisher released this work, it would have been certainly included “Joshua’s altar” in the title.

A study by Norwegian archaeologists has revealed how the great city of Palmyra could exist in the middle of the Syrian desert.

Wayne Stiles describes each of the 8 gates of the Old City of Jerusalem, providing a photo with each one as well as video footage of General Allenby entering Jaffa Gate.

Google is sponsoring a project to read some unrollable Dead Sea Scrolls. A video shows how the technology works.

The Times of Israel has more information on the tomb robbers caught in the act of plundering an antiquities site near Modiin.

HT: David Coppedge, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Jordan, Philistines, Technology, Weekend Roundup

Wednesday Roundup

Joseph Patrich provides a great survey of what we know about Caesarea Maritima from archaeological excavations.

Ferrell Jenkins has written a couple of illustrated posts on Saint Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula.

The IAA has more information about the Byzantine prayer box discovered in the City of David (aka
“Walls around Jerusalem” National Park).

The West Semitic Research Project has made three RTI images available to BAR readers to view without requiring registration. (Background here.)

Wayne Stiles transports his readers to the Mount of Beatitudes in the spring.

You can now register for the 2012 season at Gath. This is one of the most popular excavations in the world.

The ancient mikveh discovered near Zorah is the subject of a 1.5 minute video at the Jerusalem Post.

A bill submitted to Israel’s parliament “aims to preserve the Dead Sea and its internationally treasured natural resources, maintain the salty waters for the benefit of the next generation, curb the plunging water levels of the northern basin and determine new terms of management for the region, which will provide for continued reasonable extraction of minerals while protecting the ecosystems and biodiversity.”

Israel’s Knesset has refused to declassify the Temple Mount Report. “Shin Bet officials argued the report should remain confidential on the grounds its contents were sensitive and its publication could result in confrontations and geopolitical changes at the site.”

A scholar claims that the number of ancient stone wheels visible only from the sky may number more than a million. Google Earth is now being used to identify these throughout Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Iraq has budgeted $8.5 million to develop the infrastructure at the ancient city of Babylon.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson

Tagged Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount