It’s been one of those days when I can’t take the time to do anything more substantive than recommend three items of reading.
I just finished the Caspari Center Media Review, which details the latest in the Israeli media about Jewish-Christian relations in the land. This is especially worthwhile if you haven’t read one of their reports before (unfortunately, they usually sound alike). You can subscribe to get a link sent when a new one is posted.
I’ve recently started reading Jesus Creed, the blog of Scot McKnight, which has had some helpful posts, including On Writing, On Writing: Some Suggestions, Top Ten Biographies, and My Teachers. The last inspires me to write on the subject (but no promises). The first two reveal that my life is not the ideal life of a writer. The third makes me want to read more (I haven’t read any in his top 10).
The excavators at Beth Shemesh have just released a report on their excavation season, focusing on the discovery of a Middle Bronze gate (17th-16th centuries B.C.). The description suggests that it is a typical style gate of the period. If you’re into archaeology, it’s worth reading, but I note just one sentence here: “it is clear now that the gate went out of use already in the Late Bronze Age.” I think that though archaeologists haven’t made much of a point of this, there’s actually much reason to believe that that is the case in many sites around Israel – Middle Bronze fortifications continued in use into the Late Bronze Age.