BiblePlaces Blog

Crossway ESV Bible Atlas

2009-11-19T18:47:00.001-06:00

On the one-year anniversary of the ESV Study Bible, Justin Taylor reveals that a new Bible atlas is in production.

For those who have appreciated the maps and illustrations in the ESVSB, in June we’ll release the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, which we’re very excited about. It was a huge project, but OT scholar and archaeologist John Currid (RTS-Charlotte) and cartographer David Barrett have done an outstanding job with it. There’s about 65,000 words explaining the geography and cultures of the biblical world, along with 175 full-color maps, including some in 3D, 70 photos, numerous recreations, a fully searchable CD, and a detailed 16.5 x 22-inch map of Palestine.

He does not mention that David Barrett is also the creator of the recently released Bible Mapper 4. Readers here may be interested to know that the majority of the photos in the new atlas come from the image collection of BiblePlaces.com.

HT: Ted Weis

View from Mount Nebo, Then and Now

2009-11-18T07:07:00.000-06:00

What is your favorite view in the Middle East? I have a number of places that I aspire to be on the rare day when the air is crystal clear. Perhaps my top three viewpoints in Israel are Nebi Samwil, Mount Carmel, and Arbel. On the other side of the Jordan River, Mount Nebo ranks first. Unfortunately, I have never been there on a really clear day.

The photo below was taken in the 1930s, when factories and automobiles were less troublesome to photographers. The view is from Mount Nebo, and you can see beyond the northern end of the Dead Sea to the Judean wilderness and even Jerusalem.

View from Mount Nebo with Dead Sea

I’m linking this photo to the highest resolution available (5200 x 3700 pixels), which will make it a slow download, but those of you with interest will be able to pick out a lot of detail.

For comparison, the photo below was taken from Mount Nebo on a more typical day.

The top photo is taken from the Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-03779). The bottom photo is rotten and will never appear in one of my photo collections.

Tuesday Roundup

2009-11-17T08:55:00.001-06:00

Apparently the story has been circulating that Cambyses’ lost army has been found. But it’s not true.

This week UNESCO is holding in Acco the second annual World Heritage Workshop on “Disaster Risk Reduction to Cultural Heritage Sites.”

Ferrell Jenkins posts a beautiful aerial photo of the coastal side of Tel Dor.

We’re glad to see that The Bible and Interpretation now has an RSS feed.

I am off in a few hours to New Orleans for a couple of conferences related to the Bible and archaeology. I don’t know if I’ll have an internet connection or much time, but if I do, I may post some observations. Readers of this blog going to the ETS meeting may be interested in this paper:

Seth Rodriquez, Site Identification: In Search of a Methodology
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 10:10-10-50am
Marriott, Ile de France I, 3rd Floor

Amman, Then and Now

2009-11-16T11:13:00.001-06:00

If you’re not a subscriber to the BiblePlaces Newsletter (or if it landed in your spam box), you may not know that the Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection is now available. Here is one of my favorite photos from the CD:

This is an aerial view of Amman, looking down on the acropolis (foreground) and the ancient heart of the Roman city, including the theater. The acropolis is notable because it is almost untouched, whereas today it has roads, a museum, and many excavated areas. The area around the theater is now the center of a dense urban city.

In biblical times, the city was known as Rabbah or Rabbath-ammon. In the Roman period, the city was called Philadelphia and was one of the cities of the Decapolis.

My attempts to get in an airplane over the city have been unsuccessful, but the photo below will give you some idea of how the area has changed.

Amman theater from the acropolis

The top photo is one of 25 photos of Amman in the Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-13641). The bottom photo is from the Jordan volume of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.

Weekend Roundup

2009-11-14T10:35:00.001-06:00

Leen Ritmeyer is scheduled to lecture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on November 15 and 16 on:

The History and Archaeology of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The History and Archaeology of Herodian Jerusalem

At the ASOR meeting in New Orleans, Ritmeyer’s lecture is entitled:

The Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount – Deciphering its Story

Joe Lauer notes that the Jerusalem Post Magazine this week has a story on the interesting character of Shlomo Moussaieff. He’s done more in his life than sell expensive jewels and collect rare antiquities.

I’ve been eyeing this book for the last year, and so I was delighted to see that Eisenbrauns has Colin Hemer’s The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History for 60% off ($24, plus $5 shipping) this weekend only. A few months ago I read with great appreciation D. A. Carson’s remembrance of Hemer, now available online here: “Colin John Hemer: In Memoriam” (pdf).

BibleX points to a good sale at Oxford, including:

Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition - James K. Hoffmeier for 50% off = $17.50
A Guide to Biblical Sites in Turkey and Greece - Clyde E. Fant, Mitchell G. Reddish for 65% off = $10.50
The Oxford Companion to the Bible – Michael D. Coogan for 65% off = $28.00
The Holy Land: An Archaeological Guide, 5th edition – Jerome Murphy-O’Connor for 30% off = $26.50 (but $25 at Amazon, or $10 on the Kindle).

Bible Mapper Version 4

2009-11-13T06:55:00.001-06:00

If, like me, you’re a fan of Bible Mapper, you’ll be pleased to know that version 4 has just been released.

Bible Mapper is still the best program for making custom maps of the Middle East, and now it includes 35 pre-made Bible maps that get you off to a quick start. You can see some of these in the gallery.

There are a number of other improvements as well that may not sound so impressive, but really make the program more enjoyable to use. This includes:

Select Object engine that uses the cursor is much faster at any zoom level and is more forgiving about how close you have to click on an object to select it (e.g., routes and rivers are easier to select)
A basic blank map template is included that contains essentially all the basic styles that you need to create a professional-quality map (journey path styles, political label styles, river label styles, etc.)

You can read more of the improvements on the website. If you have any need for maps, I encourage you to check it out. As before, use of the maps you create is virtually unrestricted.

“Samson’s Exploits” – one of the new maps in Bible Mapper 4.0

Lecture: Lederman on Beth Shemesh

2009-11-12T07:34:00.000-06:00

I realize that posting lecture notices only serves to make jealous a large portion of this reading audience, but in the interest of serving those who may be within driving distance, I will persist. I think that there are more lectures in the coming week from non-American archaeologists who are on their way to New Orleans for the annual meetings of ASOR and SBL.

From Pittsburgh Theological Seminary:

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will host Zvi Lederman, a researcher in archaeology at Tel Aviv University, Sun., Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Knox Room. Lederman will present a lecture entitled “At the Border: Iron Age Beth Shemesh.”

Its location, name, and history would indicate that Beth-Shemesh was a community on the Philistine border. When the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines, it was finally returned to the people of Beth-Shemesh, but the Lords of the Philistines, stepping after the Ark, went only “up to the border of Beth-Shemesh.” Dr. Lederman will discuss recent excavations that have illuminated life at Beth-Shemesh from a series of flourishing Iron Age 1 villages (1200-950 BCE) to a fortified Iron 2 city established during the days of the early Monarchy. In the course of its history, this important biblical town became embroiled in conflicts with the neighboring Philistines as well as conflicts between Israel and Judah, Syria and Ephraim, and eventually between Judah and the Assyrians. Lederman was a member of the Land of Ephraim Survey, and has excavated at Beer-Sheba and Shiloh. Since 1990 he has served as co-director of the Te Beth-Shemesh excavations.

A reception will follow the lecture. Additionally, the Bible Lands Museum will be open from 6:00-7:30 p.m. and after the presentation. This event is co-sponsored by the Biblical Archaeology Society of Pittsburgh.

See the website for contact information.

HT: Joe Lauer

Excavations at Beth Shemesh, 1931

This is one of 25 photos of Beth Shemesh in the Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-03005).

Biblical Archaeology Slide-Lecture Series, Queens College, NY

2009-11-11T12:46:00.001-06:00

Jerusalem as a Sanctuary City
Yuval Baruch
Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 7:30 pm

The lecture and slide show will focus on recent excavations, along with new trends in the archaeological study of the Second Temple Period, which reflects Jerusalem as a sanctuary city.

Gamla's War: The Archaeology of Religious Intensity
Yoav Arbel
Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 7:30 pm

Location of lectures: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, New York

Admission for reserved seating: $5.

For more information, including details of the lecturers, see the Queens College website.

HT: Joe Lauer

5 Volumes on Bible Backgrounds on OT

2009-11-11T07:51:00.001-06:00

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary is out, according to a couple of friends who have received their 5-volume sets in the mail. The editor, John Walton, hams it up in this 1.5-minute promo video. If you prefer a more serious approach, take a look at this 2.5-minute descriptive video. I see that an electronic version will be produced for Logos, but unfortunately Zondervan’s pricing strategy on electronic volumes does not seem to include discounting. This month you can read the Judges commentary, written by Daniel I. Block, for free. I commented on this set before here, but I didn’t note that hundreds of the 2,000 photos came from the BiblePlaces.com archive.

2010 Calendar

2009-11-10T07:33:00.000-06:00

You know that the year is drawing to a close when you see calendars for 2010 on store racks. I just received yesterday the 2010 Holy Land Calendar produced by Lamb and Lion Ministries, which exclusively features photographs from BiblePlaces.com. The calendar notes all the major American holidays, and its inclusion of the Jewish holy days makes it a great way to keep track of important events not on many American calendars. You can purchase this beautiful calendar online, and if you order 10 (for Christmas gifts), they will give you two for free.

Minoan-Style Wall Painting Remains Found on Israel’s Coast

2009-11-10T06:30:00.001-06:00

From a press release from the University of Haifa:

The remains of a Minoan-style wall painting, characterized by a blue background, the first of its kind to be found in Israel, was discovered in the course of the recent excavation season at Tel Kabri. This fresco joins others of Aegean style that have been uncovered during earlier seasons at the Canaanite palace in Kabri. “It was, without doubt, a conscious decision made by the city’s rulers who wished to associate with Mediterranean culture and not adopt Syrian and Mesopotamian styles of art like other cities in Canaan did. The Canaanites were living in the Levant and wanted to feel European,” explains Dr. Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University of Haifa, who directed the excavations.

The remains of a Canaanite city from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 B.C.) have been exposed at Tel Kabri, next to Kibbutz Kabri near Nahariya. A palace for the city’s rulers stands in the center of the city, which was the most important of the cities in the Western Galilee during that period. Excavations began at Tel Kabri in 1986, conducted by the late Prof. Aharon Kempinski, and were halted in 1993. Over the past years, excavations have been renewed by teams directed by Dr. Yasur-Landau of the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa and Prof. Eric Cline of The George Washington University. Tel Kabri is unique in that after the city was deserted, no other city was built over its remains. Therefore, this is the only Canaanite city that can be excavated in its entirety. The palace too, which has been measured with geophysical tools at 1 to 1.5 acres, is the only such palace of this period that can be excavated fully. “The city’s preservation enables us to get a complete picture of political and social life in the Canaanite period. We can reveal whether or not it had a central government, whether taxes were levied, what sort of agriculture there was and how politics were conducted at the time,” Dr. Yasur-Landau explains.

The full press release is here, and an Arutz-7 story is here. If you’ve been to Crete, you may be a bit disappointed with the photos.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tell Kabri, Middle Bronze palace, October 2005

Weekend Roundup

2009-11-07T10:22:00.001-06:00

Hundreds of Crusader-era marble pieces were discovered in Acco recently. You can read the press release, the JPost report or the Arutz-7 account, story here, or download high-res photos here.

The house in Luxor of Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen, has been opened as a museum.

The NY Times has an interesting and humorous article on Raphael Golb, arrested for impersonation and identity theft in an attempt to stem the tide that rejected his father’s conclusions about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Golb is delighted that the articles he wrote under the name of “Charles Gadda” have been read by so many. I wonder how happy he is that so many are reading about his desperate attempts to stay out of jail.

BibleWorks has a sale for new customers now, offering $30 off the purchase of BibleWorks 8 and one module. For more, see here.

Logos Bible Software released a major new version this week. So far, everything I’ve heard is positive. I don’t use anything with an “i” in it, but if I did, I’d be real happy about the ability to have my entire library on my phone at no extra cost.

Rare Coin Exhibit in Jerusalem

2009-11-06T10:05:00.001-06:00

A new exhibit opens on November 11 at the Davidson Center south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. From Arutz-7:

Among the artifacts to be displayed next week is a rare collection of 2,000-year-old coins that were burnt during the Great Revolt by the Jews against the Roman occupation, in which the Second Holy Temple was destroyed. The Western Wall, which was outside the Temple and not a part of it, is the only remaining part of the immediate area that remained standing following the destruction. The collection includes unique coins that were minted in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period.

One extraordinary find to be presented to the public for the first time is an extremely rare shekel that was minted by the Jewish rebels during the last months of the revolt, in the year 70 CE.

Also on display will be other coins that were found in different excavations in the region and have a wide geographic origin, from Persia, via North Africa and as far away as France. These coins attest to the centrality of Jerusalem for all of the people who visited the city thousands of years ago, while leaving behind a "souvenir" in the area.

It is interesting to note the difference between the Jewish coins and others on display. Contrary to pagan coins, the ruler was not usually depicted on coins of Jewish origin, due to the Jewish prohibition against making a "graven image" or idol. According to an IAA statement, it is for this reason that a variety of symbols of inanimate objects, such as a wreath or scepter and helmet, appear on many Jewish coins.

The Arutz-7 article also notes that the sarcophagus lid with the inscription “son of the high priest” will be on display. The article has several beautiful photos of coins.

New Discoveries Related to Temple Mount

2009-11-06T07:02:00.001-06:00

Foundation Stone has a fascinating interview with Zachi Zweig, who co-leads the Temple Mount Sifting Project with Gabriel Barkay. It was Zweig who brought public attention to the Muslim dumping of the Temple Mount material many years ago, and his initiative led Barkay to secure a permit for the project. Barkay was interviewed recently about the project, and now Zweig provides more detail about some of the latest discoveries.

You can listen to the 45-minute interview (here, select part 2), but here are a few of the highlights:

They have been working 6 days a week for about 5 years now, but they have sifted only 20% of the material. They estimate 15 more years of work!
Their interest is in knowledge, in understanding the ancient world. This is sharply contrasted with the Arabs who removed this ancient material from the Temple Mount and dumped it in the Kidron Valley.
There are some tunnels and hollow spaces under the Temple Mount that have not been previously known, including one with an Aramaic inscription.
There is a mikveh on the Temple Mount, found in the 1930s but not accurately identified until recently.
Recently the Franciscans were digging on their property on eastern slope of Temple Mount in the Kidron Valley and they found the dump from the Temple Mount in use during the periods of the First and Second Temples. They found restorable vessels from the First Temple period, maybe as early as the 10th century (time of Solomon). They discovered lots of bones from sacrifices eaten on Temple Mount. They also found cultic figurines, which the Bible says were destroyed by King Josiah and dumped in the Kidron Valley (2 Kings 23:12).
Why does no one else care? Why is there so little interest in Israel for the only archaeological work possible on the Temple Mount?
Politics hurts archaeology and our understanding of the past.
The Temple Mount is a house of prayer for ~~all nations~~ the Muslims only.
A Byzantine mosaic was discovered under the Al Aqsa Mosque during the British Mandate but never publicized. Zweig published an article about it last year.
A massive wall uprooted by the Muslim authorities in 1970 may date to First Temple period.

In all, this is quite interesting, particularly the longest bullet point above.

Debris on the Temple Mount, 2005

Rachel’s Tomb, Then and Now

2009-11-05T07:22:00.000-06:00

The traditional location of the tomb of Jacob’s beloved wife is located on the north side of Bethlehem, next to the main highway that has run from Jerusalem to Hebron for thousands of years now. The photo below gives a good idea of what the monument looked like in the early 1900s. It’s quite picturesque.

The traditional Tomb of Rachel, early 1900s

Today, it’s a little harder to get a photo (see below). The tomb is here, just behind that fortified IDF watchtower on the right. The ancient highway now has “walls reaching up to heaven,” and Joshua himself might have despaired of getting through.

The reason for such security is that the tomb is a holy site for some religious Jews, but the Arab city of Bethlehem has grown up around the tomb. When the Israelis built the partition wall, they designed its route so that the tomb and the road accessing it would stay on the Israeli side of the wall. In difficult days, even this protection is not enough and travel to the tomb is banned. The Palestinians who live next to the tomb can no longer cross the street.

Access to the traditional Tomb of Rachel, Sept. 2004

Looking for a bright spot in all of this? How about this: the tomb has nothing to do with Rachel anyway. According to 1 Samuel 10:2, her tomb was in the tribal territory of Benjamin, which begins five miles north along the Hinnom Valley of Jerusalem. So all this expense and rancor is over Jews who want to pray at what likely was originally the tomb of a Muslim holy man!

The top photo is one of more than 550 photos included in the Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-09188). For less than 4 cents a photo ($20/CD), you get a unique and outstanding collection of high-resolution photographs of Bethlehem, Hebron, the Shephelah, Tell Beit Mirsim, the Judean wilderness, Jericho, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, Masada, Qumran, and the Negev.

Gabriel Barkay Interviewed

2009-11-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

Gabriel Barkay is interviewed in this 10-minute video about the destruction to the Temple Mount, which he claims is carried out not by Israelis but by the Muslims. He talks as well about his long-term project to save ancient remains from that destruction. The content is not really “news,” but it’s worth hearing it from one intimately involved in the matter. The interview concludes with his account of the discovery of the Ketef Hinnom amulets, with the oldest inscriptions of biblical verses known to date.

For more, see the websites about the Temple Mount destruction and sifting project.

HT: Joe Lauer

Photographs Reveal the Past at USC

2009-11-03T08:49:00.001-06:00

If an inscription is discovered today and you want the best photographs of it, you go to the Zuckerman brothers at USC. Their work revealed a more extensive inscription on one of the Ketef Hinnom amulets~~, and they were called on for photographing the recent Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon~~. The LA Times has a brief review of their work, including the equipment they use.

Researchers at USC's West Semitic Research Project have helped uncover its hidden narrative with the aid of lighting and imaging techniques that are credited with revolutionizing the study of ancient texts.

Over the last three decades, the USC project has produced thousands of crisp images of inscriptions and other artifacts from biblical Israel and other Near Eastern locales, making the pictures available to the public in an online archive, InscriptiFact.com.

Among the items shown in the online collection is a Dead Sea Scroll dating to the 1st century that discusses a buried treasure in modern-day Israel. (It's impossible to pinpoint the precise location because landmarks mentioned in the text no longer exist.)

The database also features an Aramaic inscription on a sheet of papyrus written by a group of Jews in Egypt five centuries before the birth of Jesus. In the text -- whose image is so sharp it reveals the grain of the papyrus -- Jews petition distant Persian rulers for permission to rebuild a temple.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," said Bruce Zuckerman, a USC religion professor who founded the research project in the early 1980s. "Sometimes big issues in history can turn on the interpretation of a single letter."

Zuckerman's foray into the world of photography and ancient texts grew out of his frustration over the poor quality of archaeological photos.

[...]

"What West Semitic Research Project did was create a collection of photos of inscriptions that were unlike anything that had been done before," said Wayne Pitard, a religion professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has collaborated with the Zuckermans. "It's just astonishing."

Their research project occupies two floors of an academic building at USC. Its offices are filled with gadgetry dreamed up by the Zuckermans and their research team and by engineers off campus.

One office holds the Twister, a contraption with a large-format camera that snaps pictures of ancient "cylinder seals" about the size and shape of triple-A batteries.

The seals -- featuring pictures and symbols that once served as a form of personal identification -- are mounted on a turntable and slowly moved around in a circle while the camera snaps photos, producing a single large image.

"The picture is better than holding it in your hands," Bruce Zuckerman said.

The full story is here.

HT: Paleojudaica

UPDATE: My memory about photographing the Qeiyafa ostracon may have been mistaken and thus I’ve lined out the statement above. If it’s true, however, that the ostracon was brought to the U.S. for photographing but was not taken to the Zuckerman lab, then I can only wonder why.

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

2009-11-02T09:11:00.001-06:00

This week’s Explorator mentions several articles that may be of interest to readers here:

Evidence for tsunami events at Caesarea:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026093728.htm

Rethinking the ‘odds’ of the Talpiot Tomb:
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/tomb357926.shtnl

Feature on mapping Iraq’s archaeological sites:
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=40707

A Roman-era cemetery from near Hebron:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=235964

Weekend Roundup

2009-11-01T07:33:00.001-06:00

Glo is reviewed in Newsweek. I’d like to say more about this Bible software some time. In some ways, it’s better than being on-site.

David Padfield has reviewed unfavorably the BAS Photo Archives Complete Set.

Arutz-7 Radio has posted a couple of interviews (mp3) this week that may be of interest to readers here. The first half of part one is an interview with Bernie and Fran Alpert, founders of Archaeological Seminars, which for decades has run the “dig for a day” program. They say that one million people have come through their programs, the main one of which is digging for a few hours in Hellenistic caves at Bet Guvrin.

Part two is a 50-minute interview with Eilat Mazar concerning her initial interest in archaeology, some of her previous excavations, and now her work in the City of David. She gives some reasons for why she believes the large stone structure must date to the time of David. I found myself nodding off in the middle, but it was worthwhile to listen to the end.

The real Snake Path is not at Masada, but in San Diego.

Egypt and the Bible Symposium, Toronto

2009-10-31T09:31:00.001-05:00

There was a notice yesterday in ANE-2 of two conferences related to Egypt in Toronto next weekend. You can read more about the Scholarly Colloquium on Ancient Egypt (Nov 6, 8) here.

The Egypt and the Bible symposium falls on the middle day between the colloquium and, while not free like the other, has a number of interesting lectures. I heard Hoffmeier give the same lecture as listed below last month and it was very good. I imagine that most of the others are as well.

EGYPT AND THE BIBLE

Saturday, November 7th, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: University of Toronto campus, 5 Bancroft Ave., Room 1050

Advance online registration: Public $90.00, Member $80.00, Student
$40.00, SSEA Members $80.00

-------------------------------------------

Of plots, women and lawgivers: Egypt as pictured in Genesis & Exodus
Prof. Donald B. Redford, Pennsylvania State University

Abraham in Egypt
Prof. John Gee, Brigham Young University

Exodus Geography and Location of the Re(e)d in the Light of Recent
Archaeological and Geological Work in North Sinai
Prof. James K. Hoffmeier, Trinity International University

The Campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq, the Bible's `Shishak', to the
Levant, ca. 920 B.C: Myth, Legend, or Something you can put your
(hand-)pick into?
Prof. John S. Holladay, Emeritus University of Toronto

The Rescue of Jerusalem: The Alliance between Hebrews and Kushites
Henry T. Aubin, author of The Rescue of Jerusalem

Two Hymns as Praise: Poems, Royal Ideology, and History in Ancient Israel and Ancient Egypt: A Comparative Reflection
Prof. Susan T. Hollis, Empire State College - State University of New York

Egypt and the Infant Jesus
Dr. F. Terry Miosi

Herodium, Then and Now

2009-10-30T08:39:00.001-05:00

Early Western visitors were intrigued by a conical mountain about 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Bethlehem. Known by the Arabs as Jebel el Fureidis (Little Paradise Mountain), the site was believed to be the monument built by King Herod and named after himself.

Herodium, eastern tower, date of photograph: 1910-26.
From the Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-01383).

Edward Robinson visited the site in 1838. He described his visit in his second volume of Biblical Researches in Palestine: “Leaving here our horses, a steep ascent of ten minutes brought us to the top of the mountain, which constitutes a circle of about seven hundred and fifty feet in circumference. The whole of this is enclosed by the ruined walls of a circular fortress, built of hewn stones of good size, with four massive round towers standing one at each of the cardinal points. . . . The tower upon the East is not so thoroughly destroyed as the rest” (170-71).

Today one can see how impressive that solid eastern tower is. Excavations began at Herodium in 1962 under the Franciscan Virgil Corbo. After Israel took the area in 1967, Ehud Netzer continued the archaeological work. Two years ago, Netzer discovered the long-sought-for tomb of Herod.

Herodium with eastern tower on right

Support Sought for Tel Dor

2009-10-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

The Tel Dor team is looking for support and volunteers, and I’m glad to help out by posting a recent letter I received here. Times are tough for archaeology, as noted by Jeffrey Zorn in this column in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. They would appreciate your support.

Dear Madam/Sir,

The exquisite gemstone of Alexander the great that captured your attention is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of one of the largest, long-lasting and high-profile archaeological projects in Israel. If you care about the archaeology of biblical times (Israelites, Phoenicians and Sea People), the Classical periods, and the cultural heritage of Israel and the Mediterranean; and if you are interested in forging a bond between Israel and the international community - please take a moment to look at the attached file. Like almost cultural projects around the globe, we need your help to endure.

We would be grateful if you could pass this message to any other interested parties.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ilan Sharon,
Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University Jerusalem
Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905
Tel. 972-2-2881304

Dr. Ayelet Gilboa
Chair, Dept. of Archaeology,
University of Haifa, Mount Carmel
Haifa 31905, Israel
Tel: 972-4-8240234, 972-4-8240531

Tel Dor website: http://dor.huji.ac.il/
Email: dor-proj@mscc.huji.ac.il

Tel Dor has also a facebook page; you are welcome to visit us.

The cover story this month in BAR is about a beautiful mosaic found in the excavations of Dor.

If your idea of a perfect summer is excavating on the beach in the best climate in the world, you have found what you’re looking for.

Harbor of Dor, looking south

Menorah Cave Opened at Beth Shearim

2009-10-29T07:45:00.000-05:00

The cave previously known as the “Cave of the Coffins” has been restored and renamed. From Arutz-7:

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin unveiled a huge ancient relief depicting a seven branched menorah at Beit Shearim in the Galilee Tuesday. The menorah, which is 1.90 m. (75”) high, is one of the major tourist attractions at the renovated ancient burial cave site.

The burial caves were discovered decades ago but their recent renovation took place largely thanks to Rivlin's initiative. In 2004, during his first term as Knesset Speaker, Rivlin visited the site and was stirred by the site of the numerous depictions of the menorah, which is the modern State of Israel's symbol as well.

He took action to make sure that the site received special preference and that funds were allocated to its restoration and preservation. A team, which included restoration expert Jacques Neger and architect Ram Shoef, got rid of roots that had invaded the caves and restored the wall carvings, and the renewed site was opened to tourists.

The rest of the article, with photos, is here.

The Haaretz report adds this note:

Another two newly discovered burial caves not far from the current archaeological site will be opened to the public in three months.

Another Haaretz article notes the claims of a 93-year-old architect that he discovered the necropolis of Beth Shearim and not the famed watchman Alexander Zaid.

Menorah decoration before restoration, Beth Shearim

HT: Joe Lauer

New Blog for Tel Burna Excavation

2009-10-28T10:24:00.001-05:00

A promising new blog started last week with the intention of chronicling the excavation of a site from the very beginning. The Tel Burna Excavation Project is headed by Itzhaq Shai and Joe Uziel of Bar Ilan University and we look forward to continued informative postings. So far, they have covered:

Welcome to the New Tel Burna Blog—an image of the site using GIS technology
A Little Bit about the Site—with a map of the area and a photo of visible fortifications
Identifying the Site—is this biblical Libnah?
The Survey Season—includes a survey map
A Nice View of the Tel—it’s more a photo of the area next to the tell than the tell itself.

The Arabic name for the site is Tell Bornat, and it has been identified as Libnah by W. F. Albright and A. F. Rainey.

Tel Burna from the west

Pottery Baskets

2009-10-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

If you've ever thought it strange that they call them “pottery baskets” when they’re really just plastic buckets, the photo below may help.

This photo was taken in the first season of William F. Albright’s excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim (1926). It is one of 25 photos taken at the site included in the newly published Southern Palestine volume of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection (originally Library of Congress, LC-matpc-05733).