Arutz-7 has posted a couple dozen photos and two videos of flooding from this week’s rains.
Wadi Qilt
Nahal Shiloh
See the article for more.
The Times of Israel is reporting that Muslim authorities moved tons of illegally excavated earth from the Temple Mount into a city dump.
Aren Maeir posts an astounding video of a flood in the Harod Valley this week.
Frankincense has returned to Israel after 1,500 years.
More tourists visited Israel in 2012 than in any year before.
An Israeli committee will review modern prohibitions against mixed prayer at the Western Wall.
Jean Perrot died this week. Among other things, Perrot excavated several Chalcolithic sites near
Beersheba.
Marked down to $1.99 for Kindle: The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the
Pursuit of an Ancient Bible, by Matti Friedman. These sales are brief.
HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer
Segregated prayer areas at Western Wall.
Photo by Austen Dutton (source).
Photo by Austen Dutton (source).
- Tagged Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Resources, Temple Mount, Weather, Weekend Roundup
The Nash Papyrus is now online, thanks to the University of Cambridge. The Jerusalem Post article gives a new meaning to the word “second”: “It is the world’s second oldest known manuscript containing a text from the Hebrew Bible. The oldest are the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
This Jerusalem Post article suggests the Top 5 Christmas activities in Jerusalem.
The traditional King David’s tomb has been vandalized by a man desperate to get married.
If you missed last week’s Christmas broadcast of the Land and the Book radio program, you can listen to it in the archives.
Simcha Jacobovici is suing Joe Zias in an Israeli court because the warnings of the latter led the Discovery Channel and National Geographic to cancel the broadcast of films of the former. (Note: this article, like many cited on this blog, is on the Haaretz website. Free access to 10 articles per month is available with an easy registration.)
Mark Goodacre notes the publication of Archaeology, Bible, Politics, and the Media and he shares his article “The Talpiyot Tomb and the Bloggers.”
The Huffington Post has a slideshow of the year’s archaeological highlights. None are related to the biblical world.
The full-size replica of Noah’s Ark floats.
Officials are optimistic about the rainfall in Israel this winter. Amir Givati: “To see the Jordan River flowing at this time of year – that’s a phenomenon that takes place once every 20 years.”
Smuggling gangs in Iraq are using satellites to locate antiquities.
HT: Jack Sasson
A view of David’s Tomb taken ca. 1900 before the construction of the Dormition Abbey. Photo from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.
- Tagged Jerusalem, Mesopotamia, Weather, Weekend Roundup
I am going to forego a roundup of the Talpiot tomb(s) at this point, instead pointing you to Paleobabble’s “State of the Question,” Jack Poirier’s rebuttal of the name statistics, James Tabor’s colored drawing of the “fish,” and Robert Cargill’s case that the image was photoshopped. I’m not aware of any scholar who didn’t publish a book on the subject within the last week that subscribes to the fish/Jonah interpretation.
The first three chapters of Lois Tverberg’s Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus are available to read online.
While the snow in Jerusalem was pretty, and the Sea of Galilee rose more than a foot, the weekend storms caused about $8 million in damage to agriculture in Israel.
The “All Out Adventure” column this week describes hikes in the lower and upper sections of Nahal David.
Finding a place to volunteer to excavate in the spring is next to impossible, but Tel Burna is accepting volunteers the week of March 18-22.
Ferrell Jenkins has the latest on discoveries at the Colossi of Memnon. For additional photos, see the Luxor Times.
Luxor Times also reports on the discovery of the name of a king from the 17th Dynasty. While it is the first artifact related to the king, it is not the first time we’ve known of him.
Wayne Stiles has a post for the first day of the Insights for Living tour. (Unfortunately, they seem to have rejected my proposal that Herod Agrippa was struck down not in the theater of Caesarea, but in the amphitheater.)
More than 2,400 years ago, the Lord delivered the Jewish people from evil men in Persia. The remembrance of that deliverance begins tonight. Current threats from modern Persia (Iran) should
keep the celebration sober. Happy Purim!
- Tagged Egypt, Tomb of Jesus, Weather, Weekend Roundup
There are enough items related to the “Jesus Discovery”/Talpiot Tombs that I am going to exclude those from today’s roundup. Perhaps I will catch up next week. In the meantime, you can take a look at new photos posted at the official website.
A bronze Greek warrior’s helmet was discovered off the shore of Haifa.
The City of David is the focus of this week’s Jerusalem Post column by Wayne Stiles.
I think that Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence, by Craig Evans, would be a much better use of time and money than any books about Jesus discoveries. (Two dings: it’s marketed as “provocative,” and it’s only 208 pages.)
A copy of Edward Robinson’s 3-volume Biblical Researches in Palestine just became available for $75. And a copy of Picturesque Palestine (4 vols.) was just listed for $1100. (Or pick up an electronic edition for $55.)
A Jerusalem Post article lists the Top 5 Spring Activities in Jerusalem as: Ramparts Walk, Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, Bezalel Fair, Café Itamar, Sacher Park. (The article’s introduction leaves something to be desired: “When rain let up, Spring will be upon us; here are some great outdoor activities in the capital to prepare for.”)
G. M. Grena has another riddle, but this one is so easy (he claims) that he has disqualified me from answering. So what is this great discovery that is pictured?
Congratulations to Aren Maeir for sending the final proofs off for the first double volume of the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavations.
If you’re interested in the broader world of biblical studies, you might check out the March Biblical Studies Carnival with dozens of links to the latest.
It snowed in Jerusalem on Friday. (For photos of a previous snowfall, see here.) The storm also filled Caesarea’s hippodrome with water.
Snow in Jerusalem. Photo by Austen Dutton.
- Tagged Discoveries, Jerusalem, Philistines, Resources, Weather, Weekend Roundup
Traveling around Galilee last month, it felt like there was just no dodging the rain. It turns out that that was more than a feeling, for the Israel Meteorological Service is reporting that rain fell on 29 out of 31 days in January. From Haaretz:
Measuring stations in Nahariyya and the Galilee registered a new record in the number of rainy days in a row, with rain falling for 27 days in a row, from January 5 to 31. The former record was held by the Druze village of Yarka, where rain fell for 23 days in a row in February and March 1987. According to Dr Amos Porat of the Meteorological Service, there was 250-250 milimeters of rainfall in the north of Israel, 1.5 to 2 times greater than the multi-year average for rainfall in January.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the Sea of Galilee rose 1.5 feet (50 cm) but is still more than 4 inches (11 cm) below the red line. February, however, is a critical month if the seven-year drought is to be ended.
“After the seven drought years we’ve had, the lack of water is so huge that we need much, much, much more to cover even part of that,” Schor said. “We are happy with January, but we can’t be satisfied from it.” It is not possible to determine whether this will also be considered a drought year until the end of the rainy season. However, two-thirds of winter has already elapsed, and 4.31 meters is still missing from the Kinneret’s basin, according to Schor. The average winter Kinneret rise is about 1.6 meters, and thus far, the 2011-2012 winter season has seen only a rise of centimeters. “It’s not a good situation,” Schor said.
The Post also provides rainfall statistics for various sites in the north.
Among areas monitored by the IMS, the highest level of January rain in Israel fell in Rosh Hanikra (316 millimeters, 218% of the area’s average), Eilon (389 millimeters, 194% of average), Mitzpe Harashim (406 millimeters [16 inches], 171% of average), Merom Golan (321 millimeters, 160% of average) and Kfar Giladi (320 millimeters, 156% of average). Jerusalem received 100% of its typical rain, at 124 millimeters, according to the IMS.
Neither of the articles mentions the source of the rain.
Jeremiah 14:22 (NIV) “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.”
Storm clouds over the Sea of Galilee in January
