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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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A jug containing silver earrings and ingots has been unearthed at Abel Beth Maacah. The find dates to about 1200 BC.

Some missing pieces of the Colossi of Memnon have been discovered.

A new discovery in Crete confirms the practice of human sacrifice in the Mycenean culture circa 1300 BC.

Israeli police have arrested two Muslim workers for illegal excavations on the Temple Mount.

The Vatican is allegedly pressuring Jerusalem officials into turning over control of the Mount Zion complex that houses the traditional Upper Room and the tomb of David.

Titus Kennedy discusses the domestication of camels on this week’s interview on The Book and the Spade (direct link here).

Gordon Franz explains how the Via Egnatia was part of the means that God enabled the spread of the gospel “in the fullness of time.”

The site of Beit Guvrin and Maresha is a candidate for the World Heritage List. The impressive bell caves and ruins of a Roman-period city are among the attractions at this site in the southern Shephelah of Judah.

A couple who spent three days hiking near the Dead Sea share their experiences in a Jerusalem Post travel article.

Aren Maeir links to the full-length version of the Orson Welles movie of David and Goliath.

HT: Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

Bet Guvrin bell caves, tb100902216
The bell caves of Beit Guvrin
Photo from Judah and the Dead Sea
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Excavations in Hebron have already revealed an Iron Age house, artifacts from the 10th century, and Second Temple period items.

Nadav Shragai writes in Israel HaYom on recent Temple Mount discoveries that have not been publicized.

Plans are underway for a new museum at Petra.

The Rapid City Journal recounts how a collection of cuneiform tablets came to be in the collection of Black Hills State University in South Dakota.

National Geographic presents “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology,” a new exhibition coming to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted several entries recently in his Visualizing Isaiah series: a skirt of sackcloth, trusting in horses and chariots, and a booth in a vineyard.

Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo has welcomed a new male lion to replace the one who died last year.

ASOR has a roundup of stories from around the world.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle, Jack Sasson

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Noah Wiener has a follow-up article on the spring tunnel discovered in the Rephaim Valley. He includes a great photo of the tunnel.

Zachi Zweig disagrees with Leen Ritmeyer’s dating of the newly revealed course of ashlar stones on the Temple Mount. He dates it to the Early Islamic period.

A woman has turned over to the IAA a large collection of pottery discovered by a relative in the Mediterranean Sea.

The winter dig at Khirbet el-Maqatir began in the snow. They spent several weeks excavating three caves.

The ancient Myceneans once used portable grills at their picnics.

Archaeologists have discovered grain from the Neolithic period at Çatalhöyük.

The report for the 2013 excavation season at Tall el-Hammam is now online.

The first two volumes of NGSBA Archaeology are available for download. (NGSBA = Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology.)

Just published: The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE, edited by
Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford University Press. 912 pages. $165.

Wayne Stiles explains how to make the maps in your Bible atlas fully searchable.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Tim Graham, Jack Sasson

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Leen Ritmeyer has photos and interpretation of the latest illegal excavations on the Temple Mount.

Ritmeyer suspects the revealed wall line may be the northern boundary of the 500-meter square pre-Herodian Temple Mount.

New excavations began at Tel Hebron this week.

Gershon Galil has translated the earliest Jerusalem alphabetic inscription be a reference to “wine part.”

Some rare fabrics dyed with extract from the murex shell have been discovered. The three colors found “represent the most prestigious colors in antiquity: indigo, purple and crimson.”

A couple of Top Discoveries of 2013 have been posted: Gordon Govier (Christianity Today) and
Noah Wiener (Biblical Archaeology Society).

In 2012, from time to time I surveyed excavation reports published by the Israel Antiquities Authority. I did not have time for that in 2013, but you can peruse the list here.

Scholars are using Google Earth to trace ancient trade routes around Antioch of Syria.

Currently on exhibition at the Israel Museum: Mapping the Holy Land II: Cartographic Treasures from the Trevor and Susan Chinn Collection.

Logos Bible Software has a pre-publication sale on Biblical Archaeologist/Near Eastern Archaeology 1992–2011 ($140).

Timothy Valentino has written an outstanding eulogy for Professor David A. Dorsey.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Jack Sasson, Charles Savelle

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The Book and the Spade has a two-part interview with Kenneth Bailey on the biblical account of Jesus’ birth. (Direct links: part 1, part 2)

Of the James ossuary inscription, Gabriel Barkay says, “It is an authentic inscription.”


The Washington Post reports the Christians who are coming to Bethlehem and the Christians who are leaving.

Ferrell Jenkins takes a moment out to describe the blogs he reads and more.

The Israeli State Comptroller’s report on the illegal excavations on the Temple Mount has been kept secret, until now.

A report in a Knesset committee this week described Israel’s failure to protect ancient wooden beams on the Temple Mount.

Fox News suggests six unusual ways to visit the Holy Land.

Scholars are now studying graffiti left by medieval pilgrims at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.

The ASOR Blog has a roundup from the broader world of archaeology.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Charles Savelle

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