Tom Powers just sent this to me, for any readers in the Jerusalem area:

DATE: Monday, 03 October 2005

TIME: 6 p.m.

TITLE: “The Archaeological Traces of the Crusader Presence in the Holy Land”

SPEAKER: Dr. Khader Salameh

This is an illustrated lecture in English, with simultaneous translation in French. Admission is free. Free parking is available on the grounds. The Ecole Biblique (St. Stephens Monastery) is located at 6 Nablus Road, one block north of Damascus Gate.

The lecture is sponsored jointly by the Ecole and the French Cultural Center of Jerusalem. (This event was originally scheduled for last Spring). For more information, call the FCCJ at 628-2451.

After mentioning the prize in yesterday’s post, I received the Zondervan Academic catalog in the mail which has info about the “NIV Archaeological Study Bible.” As I mentioned before, I wrote about 13 articles and contributed more than 100 photos, so I’m interested in its publication. A few comments for any others who might be interested.

1. The translation is now the NIV. Originally it was to be in NASB but apparently the major donor to the project allowed Zondervan to use the (more popular) NIV instead.

2. The working name was the “Archaeology Study Bible,” which has now been changed to “Archaeological.” I think both names are awkward and mis-leading. Many of the articles are about things that aren’t related to archaeology at all, but more to geography and history. There is a sense in which “archaeological” can mean “pertaining to things which are old,” and in that case, the title works.

3. Listed as authors are Walter Kaiser and Duane Garrett. The latter was the project coordinator as far as I ever saw in my work in writing and supplying photographs. I wonder if Kaiser actually did anything or if he is the “name that sells.” Because of Kaiser’s published plagiarism, I’m sad that his name is associated with the project. That doesn’t mean that the Bible won’t be good.

4. The Bible will be printed in 4-colors throughout (is this a first for a Bible?), and will include 500 photographs and 520 articles.

5. The entire content of the Bible, including photos, maps and charts, will be included on a CD that is included with the Bible.

6. The retail price is $50 in hardcover; about $80 for leather.

7. The Bible will be released in March 2006.

Based on what I have seen, I expect that the Bible will be very useful. I saw a list of articles when I had the opportunity to choose and there were many that I thought would be quite interesting. The downside: the articles had to be short and consequently don’t have much depth. But it’s a study Bible and not a Bible dictionary.

There were some interesting guesses to the question of what is hanging on my bedroom wall. Indeed, I do have the jawbone of a donkey (and I used it yesterday when telling the Samson story at Beth Shemesh), but I keep it on a shelf in my office and not on the wall of my bedroom. :-) The same is true of a mummified foot which was presented to me one day in class, on the podium, under a newspaper, without warning.

Ilena gets the award for effort, but there is no picture of my wife (or of me) on our bedroom wall! I don’t own a Marshalltown trowel, and that hat that you remember is, fortunately, resting in peace in some Israeli landfill. I have a “stiffer” hat now :-).

Happy gets the most smiles from me with his suggestion of a Yasser Arafat painting. Indeed, he must have read my recent post about Arafat posters.

Cindi wonders if it’s something related to “Square B.” That honestly is one of the most bizarre episodes in my life. For two days (not more!) we excavated and this group of 5-6 students in that square have perpetuated that memory in the most curious ways for 5 years now! I can’t even have a blog without it coming up :-). I think too that she overestimates my degree of dislike for her semester group. In fact, I did say they were characterized by an “independent spirit” but that is different from saying that I didn’t like them. Many of them are blessings to me until this day.

But the prize goes to Danny. He should know, since he helped me paste that map on the wall. It actually covers the entire width and height of the long wall in our bedroom. So when I lay in bed, and the light is on, I stare at it and a million thoughts are prompted. It’s a huge map, with India about the size of my hand. If you have a TV in your bedroom, I’d recommend replacing it with a huge map of the world (like this one).

Danny’s prize is the forthcoming Archaeology Study Bible, to be published by Zondervan in March 2006. I contributed some articles and photos to that and look forward to seeing it in print. I don’t know of any information about it publicly available yet, but I do know that the publisher will have free calendars promoting the Bible at the ETS/SBL meetings in November. Grab one if you’re there.

Well, maybe not, but I can now claim the dubious distinction of having my name cut into someone’s hair.

I did not initiate, motivate, or encourage such behavior. I only found out after the deed was done.

Today was the Shephelah trip and it went well. In addition to a number of “regular” sites, we got out to Gath before the sun went down. They have made progress in the excavations there, though I didn’t have enough time or light to see it all. I did visit the “moat of Hazael” and adjacent building (described here), though I wasn’t as impressed as I had hoped. I had seen the moat before and there was no change to that.

I also found the Middle Bronze gate that was excavated this summer at Beth Shemesh. The stone foundation of the gate is clear and well-preserved. The style is exactly like that of the gates at Shechem, Hazor, Gezer, etc. It was good review for my students, who will see a question about it on the Archaeology mid-term in the morning.

A prize to the first person who can tell me (via a comment) what is hanging on my bedroom wall. It’s been there for some years, and I’m expecting that some of the readers of this blog have seen it. Although random guesses could be fun too :-).

Tomorrow we go to the Shephelah, and I’m going to try to squeeze in a “bonus” stop at a site I haven’t seen for years. Now it’s time to go home for dinner.

The third frequent failure I see in students is the disregard of instructions. That includes both written guidelines and spoken words. There is not a single cause for this. Some simply think that they’ll remember and then they don’t (see Sin #2). Some don’t take the time to read the material given to them. Some think if they get it “mostly right” then that is good enough. All, I believe, are careless.

I was never in the military, so I could be wrong on this, but from what I’ve heard, I believe that the rigorous training the military gives to teach compliance is very good. The premise is that the soldier has to be so well trained to obey instructions no matter what, that in the toughest situation he won’t think of doing anything other than following the commander’s directions. There is no such thing as “grace.”

In a Christian college, I’m dealing with students of all stripes. Some were taught to be very careful in following instructions. Others were taught (or learned) that their actions aren’t important because there is always forgiveness. I don’t agree. I don’t think there always is forgiveness. At least, there’s not in the military. Or in business. And often in relationships. Even where there is forgiveness, there are usually consequences.

This, I think, is one thing that teachers should help their students to learn: there are consequences. Applying “grace” to the student who doesn’t follow instructions only teaches them that the rules don’t matter. And in fact, if there’s one thing we should be teaching our students, it is that the rules do matter. Above all, God’s rules matter. He who is sloppy with his homework is likely sloppy in his walk with the Lord.

If we can teach soldiers to follow instructions with great care, why shouldn’t we teach the “soldiers” of Christ to live with even greater care?

If you’re a student who is not living with care, expect consequences in this life and the next. And don’t expect your Commander-in-Chief to say “well done.”

“If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules” (Paul in his 2nd letter to Timothy, 2:5).

I was intending merely to add a new link to my previous post Take Photo Now, Find Story Later, but the article in Haaretz is so good that I decided to mention it separately. If you’re interested in the Jewish presence in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, and its connection with archaeology, this is worth reading. Unlike too many articles, this one is full of good information, and it seems to be an even-handed presentation. A few comments, on peripheral points of the article:

1. The excavation is on “Hagai Street.” That is Hebrew for “The Valley Street.” (Or in Arabic, el-Wad Street). It is so-called because it follows the Central (Tyropoean) Valley.

2. One of the things the excavations have uncovered is a portion of the Valley Cardo Street from the Byzantine period. Portions of this have been found further south, but none this far north, that I know of. This road is depicted on the Medeba Map, lined with columns.

3. The director of the dig is Haim Barba. I studied with him in Ulpan (Hebrew language class) about 9 years ago. Which makes me question why they label him a “new immigrant.” I remember him giving me a book he wrote (in French) about excavations he had done in his homeland. I’m glad to hear that he’s broken into the archaeological world here. I wonder if he would remember me?

4. From the perspective of one interested in archaeology of the biblical period, the most important detail is skimmed over: the discovery of a “monumental building” from Herod’s time. I would love to know more about that!

A visitor went by the “palace of David” excavations and got some good shots (I wonder if he climbed the fence?) which are posted on deinde. The photos are better than mine, which I haven’t posted anyway. And he has a few comments to help you get your bearings. High-res photos are here. HT: Jim West.

And the Jerusalem Post has an interview with Asher Kaufman, the one who proposed (20 years ago) that the Holy of Holies was north of the Dome of the Rock (at the Dome of the Tablets). The big plus to the theory: the Temple could be re-built without tearing the Dome of the Rock down. The minus: no archaeologists believe that his theory has merit (that I know of). HT: Paleojudaica.

A while back I listened to a series of messages that John MacArthur gave at seminary chapel. One portion in particular got my attention and I went back and transcribed it. I include it below for your benefit, with the note that it’s from an audio message (bolding is mine).

We are in process and we constantly are aware of our weaknesses. I really do believe, and this is from my heart to you…people ask me what the most difficult issue in the ministry. The most difficult issue in the ministry for me to deal with is not some what we call the front-row funnies who distract you and take up your time. The most difficult part of ministry is not trying to sort through marital problems although that can be very challenging to put together the pieces of shattered relationships. The most difficult is not the disappointment of people who fall into sin when you know they know better.

The most difficult issue in ministry for me, bar none, is to realize that I preach a better message than I live. That to me is the greatest burden that I bear. And I know that’s true and it will always be true and I think Paul knew it was true. Nothing made his wretchedness more evident to him than the message that he continually preached about holiness. Do you understand that? So unless you sort of become so self-centered and proud that you in some kind of pattern of sin ride above the reality of your true spiritual condition, all your life long as you minister the word of God you will suffer from the reality that you are not the man you preach. The challenge is to be as close to it as you can. If you are really passionate about the truth and you really care about the truth and it matters to you and holiness is important to you and honoring Christ and worshipping God is important to you, you will all your life suffer the pain of having to preach truth of which you cannot consistently live. Now that’s not to say that you ‘re a hypocrite, that you ‘re willfully doing this. It is to say that unwillingly you are caught in the reality of your humanness and the thing you most despise is not the sin in others but the sin in yourself. We are weak and there is no question about that.

Off to Work Day!

Today was a glorious day. Fortunately I was in town early for a lecture and had some free time before the church service, and I took advantage of it. I confess that of late I have become something of a poofy white cloud fanatic. So often the sky in Israel is flat blue and when you get poofy white clouds, the effect is dramatic. Here’s Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives:

I could dig up a picture without the clouds, but it’s late and I’m tired, so just imagine :-).

And here’s Bethlehem this morning (from the north). This could be my favorite Bethlehem picture. I had to wait a while for the clouds to move so the city was in the sunlight. What I probably like most about the picture is that Bethlehem is hard to see :-). The countryside grabs more of your attention, which is how it all used to be. Now the modern city is so un-photogenic that you really can’t get anything interesting inside it.

My only regret on the day is that I wasn’t on the Mount of Olives for the beautiful sunset. Instead I watched it in my rearview mirror as I drove back into town for an evening lecture.