After nine good years processing the orders for BiblePlaces.com, setSystems  is being closed and our webstore is being transferred to its partner eSellerate.  To kick the tires on our new (and much improved!) site, we're offering a big sale for a brief time. 

The four volumes of Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt are available for $20 each, but for the next 48 hours, you can get the entire set for $20.  That includes free shipping inside the U.S.  To get the discount, you must use this link not later than midnight on September 16. You will see the discount in your cart when you go to checkout.

If you want to pass this deal on to others or post it online, make sure to use this link to get the discount.

Free Digital Maps from the Moody Atlas

I got the scoop for this story from the trash can.  Literally.  Some of you will be impressed by the serious commitment that I and my sources have for bringing you news that even the famous tabloids have not yet learned about.  The scoop is this: all purchasers of the New Moody Atlas of the Bible by Barry Beitzel can get the maps and photos in electronic format, for free.  This tip right here is worth the cost of your subscription to this fine newsletter!

When I heard about this, just a few days ago, from my trash-snooping friend, I immediately ordered the book.  I have wanted it ever since it came out, but knowing that I could get all of the maps and photos in digital format put me over the edge and I couldn't spend my $31.49 fast enough.

Of course, Barry Beitzel is one of the finest historical geographers of the biblical world.  This is not an atlas written by a one-time visitor to the Holy Land (yes, those exist, and no, I'm not going to name them).  Beitzel wrote the first edition of this atlas 25 years ago.  The new edition has the benefit of all of his continued years in the classroom and extensive travels in the Middle East.  It is not surprising that it won the ECPA 2010 Christian Book Award, Medallion of Excellence, in the Bible Study and Reference category.

As for the digital maps and photos, there are a few things that may be worth knowing.  First, the files are available to both past and current purchasers.  If you already bought the atlas, you can email [email protected] or call 1-800-678-8812 to get a code to download the files.  If you buy the atlas as I just did, the code is included in the book (at least it is in the copies sitting on the shelves at Amazon; bookstores with a slow turnover may have earlier printings still around). 

Second, the maps are presented in very high resolution.  You will be impressed!  The photos are available in lower resolution.  (But who reading this newsletter needs more photos of the Bible lands anyway, right?)  Third, you access the materials through WORDsearch.  Though the program is free with this code, I would have preferred to have avoided the hassle of installing another program.  If you have a Mac, you'll have to run WORDsearch using WINE or run it in a Windows environment (via a virtual machine).  From this point, you can save the images in png or pdf format.  (Or you can do as I did and just poke around in your Program Files or Program Data folder, find all of the images, and copy them to a more convenient location if you do not plan to access them via WORDsearch. The pdf files are at a higher resolution than the png images.)

I commented on the blog a few months ago that I really appreciated the publisher's wisdom in making the ESV Bible Atlas maps available on CD to its users and I noted my hope that others would get on board.  I'm delighted to see another publisher following suit.  This is a great service to those of us who research and teach using a computer, and it both spares us the time needed for scanning and gives us clean images without the unsightly crease from the center binding.

You can search the internet for information about this offer, but I don't think you'll find anything.  If you're thinking this is all too good to be true, I've uploaded the official document giving the details.  Of course, I cut off the part encrusted with noodles first.

The most important city in Judah during Old Testament times was Jerusalem, but its northern counterpart was equally impressive during its heyday.  The city of Samaria enjoyed lavish expenditures during the reigns of Ahab and later Herod, and the results of their building campaigns are still visible if seldom visited today.  We have made the opportunity to get to this out-of-the-way location several times in recent years and we're happy to share some of our favorite photos.  Among other things, these images may be helpful in studying and teaching biblical books such as Kings, Chronicles, Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah.