Report of Queen of Sheba's Palace

Trend News reports the discovery of Queen of Sheba's palace.  I have no independent knowledge of this excavation, so it not impossible that there's a kernel of truth in the story.  But I would note a few things that suggest caution before you include this in your list of "greatest discoveries of the Bible."  1) The news sources which are currently carrying the story are not ones I'm familiar with.  If this was carried by a source like the Associated Press, then it would carry more weight. 2) The story's claim that Sheba was married to Solomon is based on late tradition, and certainly is not mentioned in the Bible, as the article says.  Getting simple facts like these wrong makes me wonder if the rest of the facts are based on such flimsy reporting.  3) There is no evidence that the ark of the covenant went to Ethiopia.  The tradition is based in part on the tradition that Sheba was married to Solomon (or at least gave birth to his child).  4) Many scholars believe that Sheba was in modern Yemen. 

Archaeologists believe they have found the Queen of Sheba's palace at Axum, Ethiopia and an altar which held the most precious treasure of ancient Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant, the University of Hamburg said Wednesday, the dpa reported.

Scientists from the German city made the startling find during their spring excavation of the site over the past three months.

The Ethiopian queen was the bride of King Solomon of Israel in the 10th century before the Christian era. The royal match is among the memorable events in the Bible.

Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which allegedly contained Moses' stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country.

The University said scientists led by Helmut Ziegert had found remains of a 10th-century-BC palace at Axum-Dungur under the palace of a later Christian king. There was evidence the early palace had been torn down and realigned to the path of the star Sirius.

The story continues here.

HT: Paleojudaica

Interview with Leen Ritmeyer

Many readers of this blog are familiar with Leen Ritmeyer from his articles in Biblical Archaeology Review, his reconstruction drawings of the Temple Mount, and his recent book, The Quest: Revealing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  You can gain some insight into the man and how he came to create his wonderful reconstructions in an interview at the Bible Illustration Blog. 

CT article on Amateur Archaeologists

Gordon Govier has written an excellent article in this month's Christianity Today on the problem of amateur "archaeologists" who make sensational, but unfounded, claims.  As Govier notes, I have commented on the issue here before.  What this means to you: the next time someone forwards you an email that shows chariot wheels under the Red Sea or similar phenomena, hit the delete key. 

Recommended Book: In Their Sandals

I was just reminded of a book that I read last year that I intended to mention here.  David Hansen's In Their Sandals is a helpful work in thinking through different aspects of Jesus' ministry from a fresh perspective.  Hansen is driven to understand Jesus in his original context, thus avoiding some of the pitfalls that beset us when reading the Gospels from such a great distance.  Among the stories that he considers are the woman at the well, the feeding of the 4,000, the penitent thief, and the writing on the ground.  Hansen makes his points clearly and concisely, and I enjoyed being provoked along the way.  I certainly recommend the book for those seeing to better understand the ministry of Christ in the context of the land.

Nebi Samwil is not Mizpah

The May/June issue of Biblical Archaeology Review arrived in the mail yesterday (and it's online here), and it includes an article entitled Nebi Samwil: Where Samuel Crowned Israel's First King.  The article is primarily a means of making public the results of the excavations at the site by Yitzhak Magen from 1992 until 2003.  An article like this is to me a primary reason for the existence of BAR: it puts otherwise inaccessible material into the hands of the average Bible reader.  I've read a summary of Magen's report elsewhere before, but the book is very expensive and won't be at your local library.  With that commendation of the article and magazine aside, I'll tell you why I think the central premise of the article, that Nebi Samwil is biblical Mizpah, is wrong.

The most detailed geographic passage in the Bible mentioning Mizpah is 1 Kings 15:17-22.  In the story, the northern king Baasha takes Ramah away from the Judean king Asa.  When Asa succeeds in getting Baasha to withdraw, Asa fortifies Geba and Mizpah.  By fortifying Geba, Asa ensures that Ramah cannot be taken by the road from the east.  By fortifying Mizpah (according to where nearly everyone except Magen locates it), he prevents Ramah from being retaken by the road from the north.  If Mizpah is at Nebi Samwil, Asa was an idiot.

Though this story is critical to the premise, the article only deals with it in a footnote.  There are two problems with Magen's argument as presented in the footnote.  First, it wrongly identifies Gibeah of Saul (= Tel el-Ful) with Geba of Benjamin (= Jaba).  More importantly, it doesn't make any sense what Asa gained by fortifying the two sites that Magen says he did (Nebi Samwil and Gibeah).  Baasha could simply come back, re-fortify Ramah, and Asa is back at square one.  But if you control en-Nasbeh (Mizpah) and Jaba (Geba), you control the two main arteries into Judah from the north and prevent Baasha from returning to Ramah.

 
BAR has a map but it omits key data.
I made this using the free Bible Mapper.
As labeled, Gibeah=Tell el-Ful; Mizpah = Tell en-Nasbeh; Geba = Jaba

The archaeological evidence from the Iron Age at Nebi Samwil is so pathetic that it's a wonder that Magen even tried.  Knowing that you can read the whole thing yourself, I don't mind isolating a few clips to make the point:

We did not find any remains from the time of the Judges... [that is, the time when Samuel allegedly crowned Saul here!]

Interestingly enough, we found not a single structure or even a standing wall from this period.  On this basis, it might be tempting to conclude that the site was unoccupied at this time [Iron II]....  [He's right; it is tempting...]

All this suggests caution in concluding that the site was not occupied until later.  [In other words, the natural conclusion is that it wasn't occupied until later, but we found a few scraps of evidence that should be considered.]

I commend him for his honesty, but does he really want us to assume that because he found a few Iron Age seal impressions that the site was a major military fortress in the Iron Age?  We're not idiots either.  (Compare these remains with the significant Iron Age evidence at en-Nasbeh and it's an open-shut case.)

 
Iron Age wall at en-Nasbeh

Here's a reality I've seen time and again: archaeologists often identify their site with something biblical, even if the evidence is thin.  It's a natural human response to want to be associated with something great, and if it's archaeology in the land of Israel, a biblical connection brings lots of interest. Let's face it: most of us wouldn't read the article if it was all about Hellenistic buildings and a Crusader castle.  But here's what this all means to you: be careful before trusting the archaeologist when he claims the site he is excavating is mentioned in the Bible.

New Temple Replica Coming to Jerusalem

Ynet is reporting that Aish HaTorah is currently building a large museum opposite the Western Wall which will feature "an elaborated massive replica of the Temple."  The rest of the brief article discusses the museum and no other details are given about the model.

The three-storey museum, whose construction is valued at nearly $20 million will be erected in the Aish HaTorah ("Fire of the Torah") Yeshiva complex. The museum will feature a journey through Jewish history, from the days of Abraham to the present, emphasizing the message and significance of the Jewish people’s presence in the Land of Israel and their degree of accomplishment in world improvement....

In addition to the great lavish interior, the museum’s crowning glory is no doubt the massive amphitheater, whose cost is being sponsored by veteran Hollywood star Kirk Douglas, and his no less famous son, Michael.

The amphitheater will feature a three-dimensional film depicting the history of the Jewish nation over a huge glass screen through which one can see the Western Wall. The museum will also include a learning center with a VIP wing to host movie stars, politicians and other celebrities from Israel and abroad.

The brief article is here.

The Aish HaTorah building is on the left, marked with an arrow.

The South Wind

David Bivin has posted a helpful reflection on a sirocco in Israel on the Jerusalem Perspective Blog.  This condition is also sometimes referred to as a khamsin or sharav (though there is a difference between the two).

Bible Mapper: New Wiki

With the release of version 3.0 of Bible Mapper, the program became free but support was discontinued.  Now, Mark Vitalis Hoffman has begun a wiki for Bible Mapper where all users can pass on ideas, post questions, and share their maps with others.  I think this will be a great resource for those creating their own maps.

I recently recommended Bible Mapper and shared an experience here.

Recommended Newsletter: Tyndale Tech

One of the most useful newsletters I receive is Tyndale Tech, published by David Instone-Brewer at Tyndale House, Cambridge.  This month's newsletter is on "Maps & Geography in Biblical Studies," and he points the readers to numerous helpful resources for maps and photos, both for use in study and teaching.  I'm sure you'll find something here you didn't know about before.  And as he says, "There is now no excuse to teach or preach without pictures and maps."

If you're new to the newsletter, you'll also want to take a look at last month's "Tyndale Toolbar."

Interview: Eric Cline on Pseudo-Archaeologists

Book and the Spade has posted its latest program, this one an interview with Eric Cline, entitled "Pseudo-archaeologists and the lost Arks."  The host, Gordon Govier, tells me that he has written an article about a similar subject in the May issue of Christianity Today.  Cline has a related book that came out last year: From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible.

Interview with Jerome Murphy-O'Connor

The Book and the Spade radio program now features an interview with Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, author of The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (mentioned before here).  There are two parts, each about 15 minutes each.  Part two is currently posted, but this link should get you part one.  If you're interested, grab them now as the mp3 files are archived relatively quickly and I don't think the podcast link is currently working.

Holy Sepulcher Brawl

Did Jesus ever imagine that a few hundred yards from where he told the disciples that Christians would be known by their love that Jewish authorities would break up a brawl among his followers?  And not just once, as "brawls are not uncommon at the church."

Israeli police rushed into Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre to break up fist fights between dozens of Greek and Armenian worshippers on Orthodox Palm Sunday, witnesses said.

Some 20 officers intervened after Armenian worshippers threw a Greek Orthodox priest out of the church, sparking a free-for-all, they said.

Several worshippers then started beating the police officers with palm fronds they were holding for the Palm Sunday celebrations that mark the return of Jesus to the Holy City a week before he was crucified.

After the incident, dozens of members of Jerusalem's Armenian community marched from the church to the Old City's police headquarters in protest at the detention of two Armenians.

Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is shared by various branches of Christianity, each of which controls and jealously guards part of site -- considered one of the holiest in Christianity.

Precisely in order to prevent such disturbances, two Muslim families have been entrusted for the past 800 years with opening and closing the gates of the church, a cavernous labyrinth of chapels and crypts built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

The full story is here.

Lesser Known Museums in Israel

The Jerusalem Post has a short article on the work of the Council of Restoration and Preservation of Historic Sites in Israel.  Most of those singled out are kibbutz museums, which are usually ignored by tourists.  If you live in Israel, or plan to be back for the third - or thirtieth - time, you might find a few sites to add to your list.

For a small country, Israel has an amazing number of historic sites and museums. But then, the entire country is a museum and open history book in itself. There hardly seems to be a place, certainly in the central and northern parts of the country, where there isn't a sign at the roadside pointing to some historical site from any time period ranging from the Biblical to recent history....

Some years ago, an overseas visitor commented after a trip through the Galilee that northern Israel seemed to him to be one huge park and picnic ground!...

Founded over 20 years ago, the council maintains a long list's worth of sites and monuments and, working industriously alongside other organizations and special interest groups, has successfully restored important sites throughout the country dedicated to protecting Israel's rich heritage....

Under the motto "Our future, inspired by our past," the council identifies, restores, conserves and protects major heritage buildings and sites associated with Israel's rebirth, beginning in 1860, the time the first settlement outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City was established.

The rest is here.

Kibbutz Nahsholim Museum: Marine Archaeology and Tel Dor Excavations

"House of Anchors" Fishing Museum at Kibbutz En Gev

Passover Preparations

Arutz-7 has a helpful photo essay showing preparations for the Passover in Jerusalem.  Subjects including cleaning out leaven, kashering pots, making matza, and an "educational" sacrifice.

Video: Passover Sacrifice in Jerusalem

Recently I noted an article about a planned animal sacrifice in Jerusalem.  This event was controversial because 1) there is no temple or altar in Jerusalem today; 2) killing an animal makes some people mad.

Friends in Jerusalem went to the Old City that day and saw a guy they suspected of carrying a ritual knife in his briefcase and followed the guy through a wild maze of streets in pursuit.  It turned out they followed the right guy.  They filmed the service.

We talked about the appropriateness of putting this online.  The 5-minute video is as graphic as it gets.  More and more people today don't realize that meat doesn't originate at a grocery store.  They have little concept of an animal being raised and then slaughtered.  Furthermore, almost no one in the Western world has ever sacrificed an animal for religious purposes. 

I think, however, that is precisely why this *graphic* video should be shown.  We read about sacrifice in the Bible but we don't really understand what that means.  We read passages that talk about the "life being in the blood," but those are just words that we don't really consider.  We "know" that the wages of sin are high, but we don't get the life lesson that the ancient Israelites received every year.

The point of sacrifice was simply this: you deserve to die because of your sin.  This animal is dying in your place.  Watching the priest slice his throat and watching the blood drain out drove the point home much better than reading a chapter of Leviticus.

Today New Testament believers know that the blood of bulls and goats is not enough to take away sin.  But I think that we can often just take for granted Jesus' death in our place.  We don't think about his innocent blood draining away because we can't conceptualize it.  We don't always appropriate the idea of substitute because we've never seen a living object die in our place.  But our loss can be this: sin is easy because forgiveness (we think) is cheap.

The video was made by SourceFlix Productions.  Instead of dubbing over the scene with English commentary, they chose to include some explanatory text below.  Don't watch this video while eating, and if you're thinking about showing your children, watch it yourself first.

Link to Passover Sacrifice video

Passover begins Saturday at sundown.

Related: for photos and explanation of the Samaritan Passover, see BiblePlaces.com (modern photos) or LifeintheHolyLand.com (19th century photos and text).  Several years ago I wrote an article about a visit to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice (En Gedi Resource Center).

Western Wall Stones Crumbling

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that stones in the Western Wall are crumbling.  A little background:

The "Western Wall" is a 60-meter section of a 480-meter long western compound wall of Herod's Temple Mount.  This portion of the wall has been revered by Jewish people for centuries as a place of prayer because the temple does not exist and access to the temple court areas has been forbidden (either by rabbis or Muslim rulers or both).

Three distinct sections of construction are visible in the prayer portion of the Western Wall today.  The lowest seven courses (blue box in photo below) were constructed by King Herod in the 1st century B.C.  The wall above this was destroyed, probably mostly in the Roman destruction of A.D. 70.  Arab rulers in the 7th-8th centuries rebuilt part of the wall and these stones are visible above the Herodian stones (between blue and red boxes). 

In the 19th century, there were problems with Muslims throwing objects and trash from the Temple Mount down on Jewish worshipers at the wall and so the British-Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore donated so that the wall could be built to a higher level.  It is these stones (in red box) that are the subject of this JPost story.  Read the article to learn more about whether the rabbis will permit restoration or not.

The crumbling stones are the smallest and most recent stones (red box). 
The original Herodian stones are in the blue box.

Update (4/17): Leen Ritmeyer has a lengthy explanation of the situation on his blog.

Forgery Trial, 3 Years Going (and Going)

Haaretz gives an update of the forgery trial against Oded Golan and Robert Deutsch.  Most of what is "new" here seems to be taken from the courageously honest 60 Minutes report.  I'm always reluctant to analyze a news article written by a journalist because I know how skewed facts can get between the interview and the printed page.  But I'll make a few comments on the assumption that the record is generally accurate.

1. The prosecution has been presenting its case for three years.  Israel doesn't have constitutional protections like the United States, but some judge should intervene to tell them that there's something humane about a speedy trial, and if the prosecution can't present its case in short order, it's over.

2. The "silver bullet" in the case is an Egyptian artist.  The article says that he "confessed to manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription."  I need more evidence than the reporter's word (or the prosecution's statement).  Note that 60 Minutes, who interviewed him on TV, did not have a statement from him that he forged it.  Maybe he did, or maybe the prosecution wants to make you think he did.  That's why there's such a thing called cross-examination.  (For those of you new to the case, it's simply incredible that a guy with a shop in an Egyptian market has the necessary skills to make an object of this nature that has fooled many experts into thinking it is authentic.  Scholars have told me that there's not a single person alive with all of the knowledge necessary to make the Jehoash Inscription.  Maybe five scholars collaborated, each contributing their own specialized knowledge.  But one artist in Egypt?)

3. The article says:

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution in court: photos and exhibits taken from the labs in Golan's home, where, according to the indictment, the forgeries were made; various sketches and other materials that were used in the preparation of the forgeries.

Now this sounds convincing to the reader at home.  Open-and-shut case.  If so, then why all of the delay?  Why do they need to bring the Egyptian artist to testify?  Again, this is why this case cannot be decided in the media alone.

I've said it before, but I'll note it again: I don't know if any of these items are authentic or not.  And I don't care.  It doesn't change my view of the Bible or archaeology if the James Ossuary or the Jehoash Inscription are forgeries.  But there are very significant problems with the way that these matters have been handled by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the prosecution, and some scholars.  There are other agendas.

Philistine Temple (Found) and Gate (Rebuilt)

A couple of developments in the land of the Philistines are worth noting:

A Philistine temple is being excavated at a site south of the five major Philistine cities.  The temple dates to late Iron I (circa 1000 B.C.) and is a few miles south of biblical Gerar (Tel Haror) and northwest of Beersheba.  Aren Maier has a brief report of his visit and some of the finds.

The Canaanite gate at Ashkelon has now been completely restored.  They claim that it is the "oldest arched gate in the world," but pushing the date of the Ashkelon gate a little earlier and the date of the Dan gate a little later.  Even archaeologists are competitive!  The JPost has a picture of the gate with a modern arch which looks like it was designed for schoolkids.  Below is a photo before they added the arch.

Ashkelon Middle Bronze Gate (circa 1800 B.C.)

Making My Own Map

I recently worked on a project that required me to create some maps and I thought I might share a few tips for those who might be interested in making their own.

First, I'm using Bible Mapper.  This program has lots of functions which makes it easy to add and remove cities, put labels, etc.  The program used to cost $35, but it is now free.  It does requires a free registration key from the author to unlock all of the features.  (No technical support is available.)

Next, let's say I want to make a map of Turkey.  I only want to include certain places.  This requires that I remove some of the ones listed.  That's easy.  Adding sites that aren't already defined is a bit more work.  But this too is not hard with several free resources.

Let's say I want to put Catal Huyuk on the map.  This is an important Neolithic site, but it's not already in the map program (I had to pick a lesser-known site like this one, because all of the biblical sites are already listed; if you're just teaching about the biblical sites, you may never have to do this).  To get the location coordinates for it, I go to the Wikipedia article.  I can then copy the coordinates to Google Earth, if I want to get a close-up look at the site with a satellite view (or to verify the coordinates).  Alternately, I can click on the coordinates in Wikipedia which brings me to a list of maps that I can locate the site on, including Google Earth.  It also gives the coordinates in decimal form which I can copy over to Bible Mapper.

Here's the map I made of Turkey.  It took me about 30 minutes to create, but it would take less time for those who don't have as many specific needs as I do.  There is a learning curve in using the Bible Mapper program, which means that it'll take you a little longer when you start.  Undoubtedly more savvy individuals can make a much nicer map with all of the options available.

One day I hope to add maps like these to BiblePlaces.com so that one can click a site on the map and immediately go to the relevant page of photos.

Which reminds me - and this is a great feature of Bible Mapper - you can use the maps you create for anything!  (From the license: "No copyright restrictions are placed on any maps created with Bible Mapper.")  Most maps and map programs have restrictions on them, which can make your maps of limited usefulness.  Among its many other features, this makes Bible Mapper a terrific tool.

5th Volume of NEAEH

It has been noted on the ANE-2 list that the 5th (Supplement) volume to the New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEH) is off the press.  The book is co-published by the Israel Exploration Society and the Biblical Archaeology Society, which should make it easy to buy in either the US or Israel.  Neither site yet has it listed for sale.  When it becomes available, I'll note it here.  I commented on the original set previously here.

Update (4/8): The Israel Exploration Society has a 4-page pdf file describing the new volume.  On this side of the ocean, Eisenbrauns has it listed for sale (but not yet shipping).  The volume is 600 pages and costs $150 (which is the same as the price for the entire 4-volume set).

Update (4/9): The Biblical Archaeology Society is selling it now for $120 plus $10 shipping.  The first 25 orders get a free copy of The City of David, Revisiting Early Excavations (reg. $150).  There doesn't seem to be a way to indicate if you are in the first 25 or not, so I would assume that once 25 orders have been taken, they will remove the red print of the special offer so as to not mislead customers into thinking that they might qualify.

Update (4/16): BAS has extended the special offer to the first 115 orders.  For those more advanced in their interest of archaeology in Israel and Jerusalem, this is a great deal.

New Blog: Tel Dan Excavations

The first excavation in Israel to have a running blog is the The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog.  But it's been several years and no one else seems to have caught on.  Until now.  The Tel Dan Excavations has started a new blog.  At this point, the blog looks more like a website, with static pages but not daily updates.  Presumably, with the start of the season this summer, they'll keep us regularly informed of the progress. 

Permit me one comment on the recruiting banner, as they encourage volunteers to sign up.  The slogan says, on top of the graphic: "The 2008 season begins June 22!  Will you find the missing pieces of the David inscription?  Mail your volunteer application soon."  That's certainly a tantalizing suggestion.  Even though it's been 14-15 years since the three fragments were found, there certainly could be more.  And if more are discovered, you can bet that many of the scholarly theories about the Tel Dan Inscription (TDI) will be cast aside.  In fact, here's something that I had not picked up on until research last week.  Perhaps you know that the TDI was probably written by the Aramean king Hazael and it mentions his killing of King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah.  This appears to contradict 2 Kings 9 which says that Jehu, not Hazael, killed these two kings.  But here's what I didn't realize: the contradiction entirely hangs on two hypothesized words and letters in the TDI (they are reconstructed because the fragment breaks off at these points).  In other words, we only know that it says "I killed Jehoram" because scholars hypothesized the words "I killed."  Of Ahaziah, it says "killed Ahaziah," but the "I" is reconstructed.  Whether this is a reasonable or unreasonable guess, it is only a guess.  I sure hope they find more fragments.  Maybe it'll be you.

 
Iron Age gate and plaza at Dan