Tag Archives: Israel

Ninth century B.C. chalices uncovered at Gath

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Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

A few chalices dating to the time of the destruction of the Philistine city of Gath by Hazael, king of Aram (Syria), have been announced during the current excavation at Tel es-Safi/Gath. The most recent, larger than usual, chalice was announced by Prof. Aren Maeir on Monday and Tuesday. Follow the excavation reports here.

Prof. Maeir displays the large chalice after the stand was excavated. (I like the T-shirt. Maybe there is another step down — a human stooped over with a mobile phone.)

Vessels of this type were sometimes used for burning incense.

Gath was one of five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis (1 Samuel 6:17). The city was destroyed by the Aramean King Hazael shortly after the middle of the 9th century B.C.

At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go…

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A Day with the Duttons (or, How Much Can Gentiles Pack Into a Sabbath?)

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Great photos — reminiscing about prior visits to several of those locations. We look forward to having Trent & Rebekah back with us in Chicagoland when their sojourn there is over!

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

Last weekend I had the privilege to be with Trent and Rebekah Dutton. The Duttons are a great couple with an interesting story. Both are computer programmers with experience in military applications. Their interest in biblical geography and archaeology grew as they taught Bible classes at church, and piqued after a tour of Israel with Ferrell Jenkins in 2012. In short, they made a career change and are starting the two-year process to earn an M.A. in Biblical Archaeology at Wheaton College. (They were both accepted to Wheaton and are going through the program concurrently.) The first stage of their program is to excavate at Ashkelon with the Leon Levy Expedition for its full six-week season, followed by a semester of coursework in Jerusalem. They will then move to the Chicago area for the remaining 1-1/2 years of the program (with another Bible Lands dig next summer to boot.)

They and I…

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Tenth century B.C. inscription found in Jerusalem

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Notice the commentary following

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Hebrew University announces another significant archaeological discovery today. The entire press release is below.

 —• —

Jerusalem, July 10, 2013 — Working near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar has unearthed the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city.

The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found with six others at the Ophel excavation site. According to Dr. Mazar, the inscription, in the Canaanite language, is the only one of its kind discovered in Jerusalem and an important addition to the city’s history.

Dated to the tenth century BCE, the artifact predates by two hundred and fifty years the earliest known Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem, which is from the period of King Hezekiah at the end of the eighth century BCE.

A third-generation archaeologist working at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Mazar…

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Ashkelon through the Ages, Part I

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More from Trent and Rebekah at Ashkelon

Egyptian sphinx fragment found at Hazor

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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced today the discovery at Hazor of a sphinx fragment of Pharaoh Mycerinus. Mycerinus is the builder of the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The photo below was made facing east toward the Nile Valley. The pyramid of Mycerinus is on the right. The pyramid, built about 2500 B.C., is 204 feet high.

The press release from Jerusalem says,

At a site in Tel Hazor National Park, north of the Sea of Galilee, archeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unearthed part of a unique Sphinx belonging to one of the ancient pyramid-building pharaohs.

The Hazor Excavations are headed by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, the Yigael Yadin Professor in the Archaeology of Eretz Israel at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, a lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology.

Working with a…

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Do we have archaeological evidence the tabernacle was at Shiloh?

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During the midst of the allocation of the land to the various tribes of Israel, all of them gathered at Shiloh (Shilo) and set up the tent of meeting or tabernacle (Hebrew mishkan) (Joshua 18:1), which is also called the house of God in Joshua 18:31. Here they made the final division of the land (Joshua 18:8-10).

Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1 ESV)

Several Israeli newspapers are reporting  a brief notice that archaeologists have discovered holes in the ground at Shiloh which could have held the beams of the Tabernacle. The account in Israel Hayom (Tuesday July 2) is found here.

The findings, which will be presented at a conference of the Shiloh Association scheduled to take place this week in ancient Shiloh, include the discovery…

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Short Video: David’s battlefield up close

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

Since this is our last year to excavate in the Elah valley in Israel, I made a short, up-close video of David’s battlefield with Goliath. You can “be there” as we go over the events of 1 Samuel 17.

 

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Ashkelon excavation underway

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‘Tis the season for archaeological digs. At Ashkelon, the Leon Levy Expedition runs from June 8 – July 19 this year. It is sponsored by Harvard’s Semitic Museum, Boston College, Wheaton College, and Troy University.

I have two young friends, Trent and Rebekah, who are working in the dig. They will not be writing up any marvelous new discoveries that might be made. This is always reserved for the directors of a dig to announce, and then later to publish. My friends are sharing some general information about their participation in the dig as time permits. They are there as part of Dr. Daniel Master’s team from Wheaton College.

Trent has allowed me to use one of his photos of Grid 51. This is the Grid he has been working in during the past week. He informs me that this is about 1/4 mile southwest of the Canaanite Gate…

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Samaria neglected and vandalized

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Back in April I noted here the difficulty of getting to the biblical site of Samaria in Sebastia.

The hill Samaria was bought by Omri, king of Israel, to serve as the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 16:23-24). After a visit to Samaria in December, 2009, I posted a photo of the hill of Samaria suitable for use in teaching. I thought I would share this with you today. Samaria was built on a hill surrounded by a deep valley and then mountains.

Samaria was destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. By New Testament times Samaria had been rebuilt by Herod the Great, and was visited by Peter and John (Acts 8).

A few days ago Todd Bolen (Bible Places Blog) called attention to an Associated Press article reporting that the archaeological site of Samaria is neglected, and is being vandalized. You can…

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More about Ephraim

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Check out the other articles!

Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

In the previous post we pointed out that Ephraim, where Jesus went a short time before His death (John 11:54), is identified with Taybeh on the edge of the wilderness.

Ephraim is included on the Madaba Map dating to about 560-565 A.D. Below is a photo of a portion of the Madaba Map. The large town with palm trees around it represents Jericho. Below Jericho the land color changes to black. The entry closest to Jericho, but a little to the right, is Ephraim.

According to the website dealing with The Madaba Map, provided by the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum – Jerusalem, the two lines of white lettering read,

Ephron also Ephraia, where went the Lord

Here is a larger cropped portion of the map identifying Ephron. If your Byzantine Greek is up to date, you can make out all of the words.

The inscription is located close to the wilderness, but…

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