I have two books on my desk right now, and both make the same annoying point. One is Finkelstein’s The Bible Unearthed, and the other is Dever’s Did God Have a Wife. A major premise of the latter and a point made in the former is that according to archaeology, worship of Yahweh only developed… Read More »
I listened to the Book and the Spade interview with Ronny Reich, and it contains much of the same information in the news reports (no surprise). In the interview though, you get to hear it directly from the archaeologist, though the recording isn’t the best quality. The interview is available as an mp3 download is… Read More »
It’s been an interesting week for me to see the Pool of Siloam story play out. Because I made a page about it last month, it was listed in the search engines when the LA Times published their story. But it was the DrudgeReport that posted a teaser about it, without a link to the… Read More »
The LA Times has a story from the press conference by the Biblical Archaeology Society announcing the discovery of the Pool of Siloam. Paleojudaica notes that it’s been more than a year since the pool was initially discovered (as you can see too from my report on the progress here), but the press conference apparently… Read More »
Not exactly a downpour, mind you, but a real sprinkle. It’s probably been going for 5-10 minutes and probably won’t last much longer, but it’s still very unusual. It has never rained in Israel in the summer in the years I’ve been here. And I’ve said on more than one occasion that it never rains… Read More »
Israel’s former prime minister and current finance minister resigned from the government yesterday. Some of his comments are worth repeating. I think we’ll find them accurate, sooner than later. These quotes are from articles in the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, with some comments. “The disengagement is going ahead blindly,” Netanyahu said. “Like in Oslo, the… Read More »
A particularly enjoyable thing to do is to read an article on something you’ve thought a lot about and to come away with a number of insights. Daniel Block’s article on Deuteronomy 12 is excellent, and especially worthwhile for anyone formerly in the History of Ancient Israel class. Entitled “The Joy of Worship: The Mosaic… Read More »
There is a new report about recent excavations on the summit of the City of David. Led by Hebrew U. professor Eilat Mazar, excavations are underway in the area above “Area G” and the Stepped-Stone Structure. Scholars have long theorized that this massive stone structure supported David’s palace, and now Mazar has a chance to… Read More »
So what would you guess would be the worst of these minor summer afflictions? 1) flu-like illness, twice; 2) poison ivy; 3) allergies preventing the wearing of contacts (and the wearing of poor glasses) for 2 weeks; 4) jetlag for 8-10 hour time difference, twice; 5) canker sore on the bottom of your tongue. So… Read More »
The museum at the Oriental Institute was completely renovated over the last half-dozen(?) years and is now nearly finished. The museum is superb in terms of layout, lighting, and especially written explanations. These are an education in themselves (contrast, for example, the archaeology wing of the Israel Museum). But there is a glaring error in… Read More »