Update on Jerome Murphy-O'Connor's health

By | November 12, 2005
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I asked Tom Powers today and here is his reply:

The news on Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor is quite promising these days, considering that he was only given a 50/50 chance of survival not that long ago. He is up and walking around, talking, eating, etc. and expected to make a full recovery. He is still in hospital in Cork, Ireland but out of Intensive Care, I believe. He has no recollection of anything, though, from mid-August when he was in the States until mid-October when he finally came out of the coma — he was just “gone”! I’m sure it will be a few months before he returns here to Jerusalem and his duties at the Ecole Biblique. He and his family are deeply grateful for so many people’s prayers and other expressions of concern.

Photos of Destroyed Rolling Stone Tomb

By | November 12, 2005
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The first point of this post is that this is not news. It happened about five years ago or so. But it took me a few years after it occurred before I visited the site, and then a few more years before I got the idea to put a photo comparison here.

The Shephelah is full of caves, tunnels, and tombs. One of the nicest rolling stone tombs in the country was in the area of Khirbet Midras. This is how it used to look:


Some years ago, vandals destroyed the majority of the tomb. Most suspect that the vandalism was caused by ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are against the archaeological excavation of tombs. This is how the tomb looks now:

Of course, archaeological sites are being destroyed all the time, but not usually sites that are well-known and extraordinary. Sites are destroyed by 1) building contractors who don’t want the delay that would be caused by an excavation of their property; 2) looters who are looking for artifacts to sell; and 3) vandals. My guess is that the frequency is in the order listed.

Two New Inscriptions in Israel

By | November 11, 2005
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Two very early inscriptions were found in excavations in the Shephelah this summer and word leaked about them both this week, in advance of the annual SBL/ASOR meetings in Philadelphia. Since lots of news reports and bloggers have written about them, I am not motivated to say more, though both are more interesting to me than the “Megiddo church,” which was also announced this week.

An inscription found at Gath (Tell es-Safi) has a name that is similar to the foreign name Goliath, known from the Bible as the giant who was defeated by David. Higgaion has the best summary of the story with lots of links and a few photos.

South of Gath is Tell Zayit, for which a biblical identification is yet unknown. A 38-pound stone had the alphabet written on it in the 10th century B.C. (which constitutes one of my favorite words in the English language, an abecedary; see why?). The best run-down of the best and most recent articles is at the Language Log. This is not the earliest abecedary (the Izbet Saratah inscription dates to the 11th century), nor is it the only 10th century inscription from the Shephelah (the Gezer Calendar is also dated to this time, though not on the basis of stratigraphy as the mound was “excavated” by Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister). It is important because of the paucity of inscriptions from this time.

For Prayer and Practice

By | November 10, 2005
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These are two unrelated items that I read in the last 24 hours that I would recommend to you.

For prayer: The Caspari Media Review gives the latest run-down on events related to Christians in Israel. Just the news, but very thought-provoking.

For practice: Listen Up! Very good insights on talking and listening. Takes 3 minutes to read and 4 days to “apply.” This may result in you destroying fewer lives. Read it!

Two Ways to Come to Israel in January

By | November 9, 2005
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There are a thousand ways to see Israel. And IBEX is essentially booked up for the forseeable future. So the following comments aren’t because we’re looking for more work. Something just stirs in my blood when I see something represented inaccurately, especially when it’s intended to promote their own interests and put others down at the same time.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (the largest seminary in the U.S.?) is bringing a group to Israel in Dec-Jan. Their itinerary boasts that this “is not your typical 10-12 day tour” and “you will see more biblical sites than any other trip.” I don’t know what is included in “any other trip,” but let’s just compare with the program of Talbot School of Theology which will be occurring at the same time. Talbot arrives one day later than SWBTS and departs Israel eight days after the SWBTS departure. So if you come with Talbot, you get seven extra days in Israel. On that basis alone, I would guess that SWBTS will not see “more biblical sites.”

I’m not going to take the time making comparisons all the way through, but a couple of things strike me:

On January 8, SWBTS is going to visit the Central Benjamin Plateau, the Shephelah, Bethlehem, the Holyland Hotel model, and Yad VeShem. By contrast, Talbot will spend a full day studying the Shephelah, a full day in the area of Benjamin, another full day to Bethlehem and neighboring sites, and the other sites will be visited on yet a fourth day. This is not because we’re moving slow, but because SWBTS is apparently skipping major biblical sites like Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Maresha, Lachish, Michmash, Jericho, and Herodium. That’s fine, just don’t advertise this as a trip in which “you will see more biblical sites than any other trip.”

There is more, but I’ll end with this note: “Time permitting we will also cool ourselves in Hezekiah’s Tunnel.” Apparently this means they may or may not see the tunnel, which is absolutely astonishing for a group of seminarians. There are dozens of other things to drop from the schedule before the tunnel. And based on the day’s schedule and the rest of the wording, it seems like if they do see the tunnel, that’s the extent of the City of David that they will see.

On one hand, an itinerary like this is disappointing, especially for seminary students. On the other, I’m glad they’re coming. That’s the most important thing. But the promoters would do well to be more honest in their recruiting.

New photos of Hezekiah's Tunnel

By | November 8, 2005
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I used to think that I took good photos in Hezekiah’s Tunnel. I remember when most people’s photos didn’t come out and mine did (because of the difficulty of focusing in the dark). That was back in the days when I was mainly shooting students in the tunnel for the early IBEX website. But yesterday I had the chance to shoot some photos of the tunnel without students; ones that should have more general use.

As of a few years ago, this was my best shot (currently on the Hezekiah’s Tunnel page at BiblePlaces.com). It was used a few years ago by NationalGeographic.com when they did an article about the tunnel.


This is one of the shots I took yesterday. I think it’s better.


Curiously enough, some poster on a forum at dpreview.com asked a question a couple of days ago about how to get a good photo in Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Now that I had done some experimenting, I had an answer for him.

Ancient Church Found at Megiddo

By | November 7, 2005
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I’m being asked for my opinion on the latest archaeological discovery: the “earliest church” found at Megiddo (AP story, Washington Post, photos and more photos). Frankly, I’m not all that excited. Here’s why.

1. It seems like every few years the “earliest church” is discovered (in Jordan). Of course, they mean the earliest church building, and that means a building which is decorated with things which I do not find necessarily helpful nor biblical.

2. Israel has plenty of ancient churches, chapels, and monasteries. They are everywhere, and usually in exactly the wrong place. Many of them have beautiful mosaics, like this one. Thus the only thing that makes this “newsworthy” is the claim that the church is from the 3rd century (before 300 A.D.). Now that would be remarkable, since Christianity was a persecuted religion until about 310. I suppose I can imagine a group of believers meeting publicly in Israel (far from the Roman center) at this time, but it is harder to imagine them building a lavish structure. Perhaps this will help to re-write history. And if so, that is fine. But I also confess that I am a bit suspicious of the claim, knowing as I do, that this would be a non-story if it were a few decades later. Knowing that the archaeologist can get a lot of attention out of this and quite likely get the site preserved on the basis that this is a unique structure. Perhaps it is, but I see too many other motivations for preferring a lower date if the evidence is ambiguous.

3. Even if it were everything claimed for it, I still wouldn’t be very excited because it’s just a church building. I don’t see how it is going to help me to better understand any of the things I care about, including the Bible and theology. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, just that it’s not important to me.

Today, however, was a good day of excavating in the City of David. There will be more news about the work there in the years to come.

"We Don't Know Anything"

By | November 6, 2005
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These were the words of the archaeologist in charge of the current excavations of the City of David today. Our students were volunteering in the on-going archaeological work there and in the course of the day I had the chance to talk a bit with him. He showed me some of the newest excavations (on the north side of the “Pool Tower”), including significant remains from the 9th century B.C. Nearly a dozen seals from this time were discovered as well, inscribed with designs but not text. But these new discoveries continue to present more questions than answers, and now he’s not even sure that Hezekiah’s Tunnel was dug by Hezekiah. It’s not an issue of denying that Hezekiah made such a tunnel, but rather that everything is so much more complex than previously thought. The more tunnels, towers, and pools that are found, the more difficult it is for the archaeologists to piece it all together. This, of course, is because of the overall lack of information. This is a strange irony of archaeology: the less you know, the more you (think you) know.

We’ll be back tomorrow, excavating the “dead end shaft” excavated by Montague Parker and recorded by Vincent. Maybe we’ll find something new. In which case we’ll know less than we did before.

To My Former Students

By | November 4, 2005
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A couple of days ago I got an email from a long-lost IBEX alumnus. His comments are not the first time I have heard such, and I don’t doubt that others have felt the same but just have never had reason or courage to communicate with me. Indeed, I feel exactly the same way when I think back to my college (or earlier) years. I cringe when I think of it, and I hope that my former teachers and leaders don’t remember me (note: I work for the same institution where I went to college, albeit on a different continent). Here is part of my reply to him, and to all others who might feel the same way.

Dear G—–,
…
You mentioned the trouble you caused me and for being such a punk. I know exactly what you’re talking about. Not because I remember you being a punk (I don’t), but because I remember my college years. I remember making bad decisions, and I remember disappointing my teachers and other leaders. Some of those memories seem like they will never leave me, though I have so easily forgotten so many good things I learned. I suppose in one way I am thankful to God for my foolishness, because it helps me to better understand college students. It’s not hard for me to remember that I did some of the same things. But I’m not the same person now, and I know that you aren’t either. God is good to help us mature. Perhaps you’re a leader now of younger people. My advice: don’t be easy on them. Push them to be honest and hard-working and characterized by integrity. That is one of the ways that God helps them to grow up. Though I don’t remember whatever you were referring to, I remember your semester very vividly. The non-stop rain. The guys who wanted to jump in Solomon’s Pools. The soccer girls who made things a lot of fun. The guys’ Bible study. I’ll always be thankful for that semester. Thanks for writing and may the Lord continue to exalt Himself through you.

Because I live in Israel, not many students get the chance to “stop by” and say hi. Thus years can go by and when they think of it, they may be afraid to because they think I “still remember.” I don’t, and even if I did, I understand.