fbpx

“Researchers have revealed a hidden manuscript on a recycled piece of parchment, believed to have been written by the Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer from the ancient Roman Empire: Claudius Ptolemy.”

“Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered broken statues of ancient royalty at a sun temple in Heliopolis.”

Gorgeous zodiac paintings decorating the roof and walls of the 2,200-year-old Temple of Esna in southern Egypt have been revealed during a restoration project that’s clearing away two millennia’s worth of grime, soot and bird poop.”

“The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) has launched the Valley of the Queens and the Western Wadis on the Theban Mapping Project website.”

Mattias Karlsson attempts to explain why a king of Moab was called “the Egyptian,” if indeed he was.

Jason Borges provides a first-person account of the destruction in Antakya (biblical Antioch on the Orontes).

Turkish authorities have begun to “strengthen” historic buildings in Istanbul with “Khorasan mortar,” an ancient method that provides buildings with elasticity during an earthquake.

The Vatican gave to Greece three marble statue heads that once adorned the Parthenon.

The Greek mafia is beating up archaeologists on the island of Mykonos.

“A growing number of researchers now want to reconstruct ancient aromas and use them to learn more about how we used to live.”

Archaeologists are using AI to protect ancient sites, improve dating methods, and analyze old rock art.

The Pergamon Museum in Berlin will be completely closed beginning in October for three and a half years, with the southern wing not reopening until 2037 (!).

Bryan Windle reports on the top three stories in biblical archaeology in the month of March.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Explorator

Share:

The site of Horvat el-Bira, a Roman villa with a later Byzantine church, was cleaned up by local residents during the recent Good Deeds Day.

Ruth Schuster tells the story of Yodfat (Jotapata) in the Jewish Revolt of AD 66-70 and describes the archaeological evidence of its defeat.

Melanie Lidman follows up on the various mistakes that the IAA made in failing to identify the “Darius Ostracon” as a modern inscription.

UC San Diego Today tells the story of Neil Smith, from his days as a 19-year-old using GIS in Wadi Faynan to his work today in co-directing the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability.

Israel Today is offering a free virtual tour of Hazor on April 16.

Aren Maeir is on The Ancients podcast to discuss the Philistines.

New release: The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel – Leviticus ($50). This volume “provides background scholarship for the book of Leviticus, including archaeology, flora/fauna, ancient Near East parallels, language cognates, historical, and geographical perspectives, to the sacrificial procedures, laws, and narratives of the book.”

New release: Ahab’s House of Horrors: A Historiographic Study of the Military Campaigns of the House of Omri, by Kyle R. Greenwood and David B. Schreiner (Lexham Press, $20).

Paleojudaica is celebrating 20 years of blogging. That’s a remarkable run well worth celebrating!

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Explorator

Share:

Researchers have launched a global contest with $250,000 in prizes for teams to use AI for decoding unrolled scrolls from Herculaneum.

The Moabite king Mesha is the latest subject of Bryan Windle’s archaeological biography series.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains the significance of the Cyrus Cylinder and its relevance to the Bible.

Jason Borges tracked down the Istanbul Airport Museum and explains how to find it.

“In a new study, genetics and archaeology combine to reveal the ancient origins of humanity’s first beast of burden,” the donkey.

The Codex Sassoon, to be auctioned off on May 16, will be displayed in Tel Aviv, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York over the next two months.

Chris McKinny, Amy Balogh, and Kyle Keimer discuss “Biblical Geography—The Missing Ingredient” on the Biblical World podcast.

On This Week in the Ancient Near East podcast, “The Archaeology of Ancient Fingerprints, or Profiling Potters for Fun and Profit.”

HT: Agade

Share:

Archaeologists working in Egypt found the body of a child buried together with 142 dogs, most of them puppies who apparently died in a flood.

A copy of the Book of the Dead was recently discovered in Egypt.

“Archaeologists have uncovered a 4,300-year-old mummy wrapped entirely in gold near the Step Pyramids – and it could be the oldest ever found.”

“A 2,300-year-old mummy that was originally found in 1916 but left unexamined, recently underwent CT scans whereby scientists found him wearing 49 ritually-significant amulets and sandals.”

“Egyptian archaeologists announced Wednesday the discovery of the first burial site in the city of Luxor that dates back to the ancient Egyptian 13th Dynasty.” They also discovered a Roman city located near the Luxor Temple.

“Egypt has completed the restoration of 37 columns as part of the Karnak Temples’ Great Hypostyle Hall restoration project.”

Egyptian archaeologists are now engaged in 50 archaeological excavations around the country. This is a shift from previous reliance on foreign expeditions.

Egyptian archaeologist and filmmaker Ramy Romany discusses his fascinating life in an interview with Jordan Harbinger.

The Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen is showing a special exhibition entitled “Amarna – City of the Sun God” from January 26 to June 18.

An 11-minute video explains why Tyrian purple dye is so hard to make and so expensive.

Valerie Abrahamsen looks at how the worship of the Egyptian god Isis influenced the veneration of Mary in the early Christian eras.

Catherine E. Pratt considers the centrality of oil and wine to the people of Greece through the ages.

Efforts to uncover the so-called “first mile” of the Appian Way in Rome have been thwarted by a powerful flow of groundwater. The entire length of the Appian Way is a candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“A sword in Chicago’s Field Museum that was previously thought to be a replica has been revealed to be an actual Bronze Age sword from between 1080 and 900 B.C.”

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator

Share:

Archaeologists have uncovered cultic buildings and materials at what they believe may be the Hittite cultic center and royal city of Zippalanda.

A new decade-long study reveals that the Luwian culture extended further and lasted longer than those of Mycenean Greece or the Hittites.

Nearly two thousand Hittite tablets are being read for the first time using artificial intelligence.

A German undersecretary has called for the return of the Pergamon Altar and the bust of Nefertiti.

Turkish Archaeological News provides a summary of the major stories of 2022.

Archaeologists believe they have discovered a temple of Poseidon near Samikon, Greece.

Large-scale excavations in Thessaloniki are revealing impressive finds from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Greek authorities have announced an upgrade masterplan for the archaeological site of Corinth. The plan includes the building of a new museum.

“A team of international researchers analyzing the genomes of ancient human remains has discovered that, unlike in other European societies of the period, first cousins in Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece frequently married each other.”

NY Times: “The British Museum and Greece’s prime minister are getting closer to a deal on returning the so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens.”

“The archaeological park of Pompeii has found a low-tech way to prevent the site from being overrun by vegetation: hungry sheep.”

A new study of Roman concrete reveals that its longevity owes to its ability to “heal” its own cracks when exposed to water.

After 20 years of restoration, the House of Vettii in Pompeii was opened to the public.

This excellent two-minute video explains explains how the ancient Romans built roads.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Wayne Stiles, Mondo Gonzales, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Share:

Nearly 20 years after a portion of the Pool of Siloam was discovered, the Israel Antiquities Authority has announced that the entirety of the pool will be exposed and opened to the public. The excavation follows the Supreme Court’s decision last year to not challenge a Jewish organization’s purchase of the land’s lease from the Greek Orthodox Church. Predictably, the Greek Orthodox Church is crying foul. The left-wing Emek Shaveh is unhappy. There is a nice artistic rendering of what the pool may look like here. A CBN video (with a passing appearance of Doug Bookman) shows a tractor clearing the area that has long been a garden.

The Jerusalem Post provides a good summary of the excavations of the Roman road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount, with the notice that 300 feet are yet to be excavated before the entire route can be opened to the public.

Jewish visits to the Temple Mount hit a modern record in 2022, with 51,483 going up to the holy site last year.”

Creating more tourist attractions in the City of David will only exacerbate the horrendous traffic problems to the area, writes Gil Zohar.

The Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion was vandalized by a couple of thugs, damaging several grave markers including that of Bishop Gobat. Ynet has many photos of the damage as well as a video of the criminals in action.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin wants state ownership of the Maria Magdalena Monastery, the Ascension Monastery, and the Viri Galilaei Church (People of the Galilee) all situated on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.”

Meir Panim has posted a one-hour virtual tour of Yad VaShem, Israel’s national holocaust memorial.

A spindle whorl with an intricate design is the 120,000 registered object in the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

A 6th-century Byzantine church with beautiful mosaics was uncovered in Jericho.

“A 9,000-year-old human skull discovered near the West Bank city of Jericho has a new face, thanks to technology and a multi-national research team.”

A coin from the Bar Kochba revolt was found recently during an archaeological dig in Murabba’at caves in the Nahal Darga Reserve in the Judean Desert.”

“An ancient fire pit, beside which lay eight ostrich eggs dating back over 4,000 years, was discovered in the Nitzana sand dunes in the Negev region.”

A virtual reality tour of Tel Dan, led by the voice of excavator Avraham Biran, is now available at UCSD’s Qualcomm Institute.

Moshe Gilad writes about his visit to the monasteries and ancient remains of Latrun (subscription).

The conference schedule is now posted for “Conrad Schick and His World,” hosted by the Albright Institute in Jerusalem on February 6-7. Registration closes on February 1 or when full, whichever comes first.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Dickson, Ted Weis, Wayne Stiles, Mondo Gonzales, Alexander Schick, Charles Savelle, Keith Keyser, Explorator

Share: