Author Archives: stevewolfgang

Ancient Sumerian site excavated

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Excavation of Tell Kahiber

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Mike Addelman, Press Officer of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester, has been kind enough to provide us with some photos of the recent excavation of Tell Kahiber.

Some of us might easily drive past the ancient mound without realizing that it was an ancient archaeological site. Prof. Stuart Campbell and Dr. Jane Moore, both of Manchester University, and independent archaeologist Robert Killick, first recognized important features of the tell on satellite images.

Tell Kahiber is located close to Tell Mugheir, thought by some scholars to be the biblical Ur of the Chaldeans, the home of Abraham (Genesis 11:28-31; 15:7). Historically we know this area to be Sumer. The following map from Bible Atlas shows the general area.

The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology points out,

There are no direct references to Sumer in the Bible, although it corresponds to the “land of Shinar”…

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A HYMN FOR TODAY – Beneath the Cross of Jesus

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land,
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat
And the burden of the day.

There lies beneath its shadow,
But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide,
And there between us stands the cross,
Two arms outstretched to save,
A watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.

Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of one
Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart with tears
Two wonders I confess:
The wonders of redeeming love
And my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

Irr. – Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1869

Tune: ST. CHRISTOPHER – Frederick C. Maker, 1881

#537 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Song, 2012

Verse 2 is too often omitted from some hymnals

Stephen Jenks – Singing Master

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Stephen Jenks – Singing Master.

Huberman’s List: Saved from the Holocaust

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Huberman’s List: Saved from the Holocaust

A HYMN FOR TODAY – How Firm a Foundation

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.”

“When through the deep waters I cause thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”

“E’en down to old age all My people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when graying hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.”

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

11.11.11.11 – Rippon’s Selection of Hymns (1787)

Tune: FOUNDATION – Funk’s Genuine Church Music, 1832
arr. Rigdon M. McIntosh, 1866

#400 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

New Resource: Literature Criticism Online

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New Resource: Literature Criticism Online.

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LukeChandler's avatarBible, Archaeology, and Travel with Luke Chandler

An astonishing new technology is bringing damaged and faded ancient texts to light. Scientists demonstrated its potential by scanning and translating the Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription during a news conference this morning.

Researchers at MIT have developed the Subatomic Ultra-Parsing Epigraphic Resolving Digital Uranium-Potassium Electrical Rotoscoping Chemical Oscillating Orthographic Laser computer scanner that can reconstruct any ancient inscription whether faded, damaged, or even missing completely.

Broken and faded inscriptions have confounded scholars for generations. Now, a group of graduate students under the supervision of MIT Professor Q. Rutherford “Scotty” Dufenschmirtz have created a machine able to detect microscopic chemical elements in the writing surface. The machine analyzes the variations caused by ink or chiseling marks and displays patterns on a screen, permitting people to “see” the shapes of ancient letters.

The new method is so precise, it even detects tiny particles that originated from missing/broken portions of a writing surface. By studying…

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A HYMN FOR TODAY – Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

Take Thou our minds, dear Lord, we humbly pray;
Give us the mind of Christ each passing day;
Teach us to know the truth that sets us free;
Grant us in all our thoughts to honor Thee.

Take Thou our hearts, O Christ – they are Thine own;
Come Thou within our souls and claim Thy throne;
Help us to shed abroad Thy deathless love;
Use us to make the earth like heav’n above.

Take Thou ourselves, O Lord – heart, mind, and will;
Through our surrendered souls Thy plans fulfill.
We yield ourselves to Thee – time, talents, all;
We hear, and henceforth heed, Thy sov’reign call.

10.10.10.10 – William H. Foulkes, 1918

Tune: HALL – Calvin W. Laufer, 1918

#485 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

Photos worth 1000 words (or more)

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Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Locusts

Shmuel Browns, Israel guide and photographer, has posted the best photo of a locust that I have seen. And the photos of flowers in the Judean Desert are something most tourists never get to see. Look here.

From the top of the Great Pyramid

Carl Rasmussen, at his HolyLandPhoto’s blog, calls attention to some photos made by some Russians from the top of one of the Great Pyramid of Giza here. There you will find links to the Mail Online (British) and English Russia.

I suppose I never wished to climb the Great Pyramid, but I had two men with me in 1978 who wanted to do so. In the photo below you might be able to make out two men (Jim Puterbaugh and Bob Lyman) to the right of the marker showing the original height of the structure. Click on the photo for a larger…

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