Temple Mount Archives - Page 13 of 57

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

More than 1,000 Hellenistic-era seal impressions were recently discovered in excavations at Maresha.

Underwater archaeologists are searching the sea near Dor in advance of the construction of a gas pipeline.

US military veterans are participating in excavations at Beth Shearim in a program providing therapy for PTSD.

A plan to build a cable car to transport visitors to the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not making everyone happy.

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem now offers a virtual reality tour that visits nine vantage points in the Old City.

The IAA is opposed to plans by the Temple Mount Faithful to hold a concert in the excavations area south of the Temple Mount.

The 12th annual conference on “New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Vicinity” will be held next month. Aren Maeir has posted the program.

Joel Kramer has announced the dates of his next study tour in Israel.

Carl Rasmussen links to two videos from Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations of Jericho.

The Methuselah date palm tree is male, but six more ancient date seeds have been planted in hopes of raising a female for Methuselah to pollinate.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Joseph Lauer

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jordan Rift, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

A Roman-era cemetery with 32 tombs has been discovered near Hebron.

Archaeologists have discovered what is “probably the most ancient archaeological solid residue of cheese ever found” in the sands near Saqqara.

Erez Ben-Yosef and Aaron Greener explain the significance of Edom’s copper mines in Timna.

A couple of new studies identify the sources of ancient Egyptian copper.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities Newsletter for July 2018 includes the latest archaeological discoveries, repatriated antiquities, meetings, temporary exhibits, and increased fees.

“An antiquities museum in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib” has reopened after five years. The museum holds some of the Ebla tablets and was damaged in the war.

“The UCLA Library and Early Manuscripts Electronic Library have partnered with St. Catherine’s Monastery to digitize and publish online on an open access basis some 1,100 rare and unique Syriac and Arabic manuscripts dating from the fourth to the 17th centuries.”

Alexander Schick has written an extended article about the Temple Mount. If you don’t read German, there are many photos of interest.

Gabriel Barkay’s lecture, “Was Jesus Buried in the Garden Tomb?” from 2006 is now available online at Jerusalem Perspective.

The latest excursion of Israel’s Good Name takes him to Gath and the Museum of Philistine Culture in Ashdod.

The September/October issue of Biblical Archaeology Review features articles on Masada, Tel Shimron, and dating.

The Columbian has a touristy piece on Jaffa.

Candida Moss identifies the best ancient Christian sites in Egypt.

A number of streams in the Golan Heights that are popular with hikers have been closed due to contamination.

The oldest hippopotamus in captivity has died at the age of 59 at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.

The four volumes of the Tel Beth Shean excavation reports are now available for free in pdf format from Amihai Mazar’s academia website. He has also posted a chapter on Tel Rehov in the 10th-9th centuries.

HT: Agade, Charles Savelle, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Excavations, Golan, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Judah, Museums, Philistines, Temple Mount, Tomb of Jesus, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

The Getty Museum has opened a new exhibit featuring the Rothschild Pentateuch along with old copies of the Bible and Quran.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem has released Out of the Blue, a catalog for its exhibition on dyes of the ancient world.

The British Museum will be returning eight ancient artifacts looted from Iraq after identifying the temple where they originated.

The Oklahoma exhibit of the seals of Hezekiah and Isaiah has been extended from August 19 until January 27, 2019.

The BBC posts a series of photos from the Sinai Trail, a 137-mile (220-km) path that runs from the Gulf of Aqaba to Jebel Katarina.

Ben Witherington traveled this summer to Greece, Israel, and Jordan, and the first of 40+ illustrated posts is here.

An ASOR fellowship recipient writes about her experience in the last season of excavations at Omrit in Galilee.

Clyde Billington and Gordon Govier discuss the latest discoveries from the ARTIFAX magazine in this week’s episode of The Book and the Spade.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project met their funding goal.

It wasn’t only Solomon who imported cedars of Lebanon for his building projects, explains Ferrell Jenkins.

The Uffii Digitization Project is making 3-D images of many Greek and Roman sculptures.

The Biblical Archaeology Society links to a number of virtual tours, including Isaiah, Pharaoh in Canaan, and the Lachish Reliefs.

Jean-Claude Golvin has created beautiful reconstructions from all over the ancient world, including Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and more.

HT: Ted Weis, Agade, Charles Savelle, Joseph Lauer, Daniel Wright

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Greece, Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, Museums, New Exhibits, Temple Mount, Tourism

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A British Museum team excavating in Sidon has discovered the remains of a Canaanite child and its funerary jar.

“A Hellenistic era temple which dates back to more than 2,000 years has been unearthed in archeological excavations in central Turkey.”

Electricians working near the Tiber River may have uncovered remains of one of the earliest churches in Rome.

Students at the University of Pennsylvania are studying the human remains of the ancient Gibeonites unearthed in the excavations of James Pritchard.

The founder of the Sinai Peninsula Research describes the recent survey project in light of the 150-year history of mapping the region.

A $1.2 million ancient Persian bas-relief must be returned to Iran, the New York Supreme Court ruled this week.

The Dunes Center in Guadalupe, CA, excavates and preserves “Egyptian artifacts” left in the desert by Cecil B. DeMille after filming The Ten Commandments in 1923.

Wayne Stiles explains why the Tel Dan Stele is so significant.

David Hansen addresses the difficult problems of biblical texts that speak of the tribe of Zebulun having seafront property.

Ferrell Jenkins notes the passing of Jack P. Lewis.

Leen Ritmeyer recommends a new video entitled “Solomon’s Temple Explained.”

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of the little-known “Tomb of the Royal Steward” in Jerusalem.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Museums, Sad News, Samaria, Temple Mount, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

The big story of the week was that a stone in the Western Wall came crashing down near the prayer area by Robinson’s Arch. There’s a video here. The whole wall is a “danger zone” and no one should be allowed near, says Zachi Dvira. The public needs to do some serious “soul searching,” insists one rabbi. No need to worry, says a geologist.

A crane has now removed this fallen stone. Joseph Lauer remarks, “In watching the videos showing the stone’s removal by the special crane, imagine what it took 2,000 years ago to place that stone and all of the other ones in the Wall.

Before the stone fell, archaeologist Dan Bahat petitioned Israel’s supreme court to halt construction of the egalitarian prayer area here.

The archaeologist directing the dig at el-Araj believes that the case for identifying it as Bethsaida is strengthened by the discovery of a reliquary, which may not be a reliquary, but which may just as well be the reliquary of Peter, Philip, and Andrew, at the Church of the Apostles. The stone box was discovered in the debris of a 19th-century house at the site (Haaretz premium).

Marc Turnage is interviewed by OnScript about his participation in the excavations of el-Araj (Bethsaida?).

Researchers are bringing the ancient city of Beit Lehi in the Shephelah to life by launching a digital guide to this restricted-access archaeological site. (Did the archaeologist really say that this site is a “gold mine”?!)

Walking the Text (with Brad Gray) began a new series on Zacchaeus, focusing this week on the background of the story and including many photos of the geographical context.

The Institute of Biblical Culture is now offering free study groups in several areas, including

Inscriptions from Ancient Israel, Dead Sea Scrolls, The Book of Jonah, and more. All study groups are live and online.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Alexander Schick, Lois Tverberg

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Technology, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

Archaeologists working at et-Tell (aka Bethsaida) have been uncovering an 11th-10th century BC wall with towers this season.

The excavation season has concluded at el-Araj (aka Bethsaida) and daily updates have been posted here. An excerpt from the last day: “This year we demonstrated that the settlement was widespread, and not limited to a small area. This was no mean city. What began around 30 CE as Herod Philip’s transformation of a Jewish fishing village into a polis, evolved over the centuries into a wealthy community.”

Excavations this summer at Huqoq revealed mosaics in the synagogue’s north aisle, including a scene of the Israelite spies, a youth leading an animal, and a fragmentary Hebrew inscription reading
“Amen selah.”

Archaeologists are drawing conclusions on Christian-Muslim relations in the 7th century on the basis of a brass weight discovered at Hippos (Sussita).

The work at Tel Burna is still humming along.

From Aren Maeir’s posts, the excavators at Gath keep having one great day after another.

The wheeled cart depicted at the Capernaum synagogue is not the ark of the covenant.

Sixteen images of Qumran taken by Philip R. Davies in 1970–71 are posted online.

A new exhibit focused on life in New Testament times has opened in the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem.

A rare coin from the fourth year of the Jewish Revolt has been discovered in debris from the City of David.

A complex rescue operation salvaged pottery from the Second Temple period in western Galilee.
Israel’s Good Name visited the Carmel region, with stops at Ramat HaNadiv, the Carmel Caves, Dor HaBonim, Tel Dor, and more.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project is running out of funds, and they now have a quadruple match grant.

New: A Walk to Caesarea, by Joseph Patrich. (Available only in Israel, apparently.)

Ephraim Stern’s life is remembered by Hillel Geva in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Ada Yardeni died recently.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Agade, Ted Weis, Charles Savelle, Mike Harney

Tagged 10th Century, Dead Sea, Discoveries, Excavations, Galilee, Israel's Coast, Jerusalem, Museums, New Exhibits, Philistines, Resources, Sad News, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup