The Bet Qama discovery

Numerous discoveries are made in Israel during the process of building a house, a road, or some other construction project. It becomes necessary to call the Israel Antiquities Authority so that an emergency excavation can be conducted.

Israel has a wonderful toll road (Highway 6) running from Galilee to the Negev. During preparatory work to extend the highway to the south, a settlement covering almost 1½ acres was uncovered in the fields of Kibbutz Bet Qama (Beit Kama) a few miles north of Beersheba. Shmuel Browns, Israel guide and blogger, attended a briefing by the IAA earlier in the week. He describes the discovery:

The site seems to have consisted of a large estate that included a tower, a church, residential buildings, presumably an inn for travelers, and storerooms, a large cistern, a public building and pools surrounded by farmland. Also found was a stone with a Byzantine cross in secondary usage.

Browns think this would be a good candidate for a monastery. He has granted permission for us to share this photo that he made during the IAA briefing.

The IAA reports on the Beit Qama discovery. Photo by Shmuel Browns.

Take a look at the blog post with a half dozen nice photos by Shmuel Browns here.

The Press Release by the IAA may be read here.

I see that Carl Rasmussen has posted a blog here about the 5th century synagogue that was discovered during construction work in 1993 at Sepphoris. This site is only 3½ miles north of Nazareth, the early home of Jesus.

There is still a lot to be uncovered in the Near East. See my post about “Know but mostly unknown” here.

Syrian archaeological site endangered — a look at Ebla

During the course of the bloody civil war in Syria we have heard of damage to various archaeological sites such as Aleppo and Palmyra. A recent article in The New York Times here includes a report specific to Tell Mardikh in northern Syria, about 30 miles SW of Aleppo.

The headline tells the story, “Grave Robbers and War Steal Syria’s History.” An excellent video illustrates what both of these factors (vandalism and war) are doing to destroy the ancient site.

Tell Mardikh, ancient Ebla, and one of the tablets discovered in 1975. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

We have previously written about Ebla, and the Ebla tablets, here, and here.

More than 17,000 cuneiform tablets were discovered in 1975. They date to the mid-third millennium B.C. when Ebla was the capital of a great Canaanite empire. Scholars state that there are important affinities between the Eblaite language and biblical Hebrew, both being members of the Northwest Semitic family.

The first golden age of Ebla is dated to 2400–2250 B.C. This is long before the time of Abraham who lived north of Ebla at Haran in Padan Aram for a time. Haran is about 150 miles north of Ebla.

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  (Genesis 12:4 ESV)

The death and destruction that has been going on in Syria is almost beyond comprehension. When we destroy our ancient history we become what Elton Trueblood called the Hippie generation, “a cut-flower generation.”

Conrad Schick — architect, explorer, model builder

Conrad Schick was born in Switzerland and first came to Jerusalem with a group of men who planned to teach the local young people vocational trades. This group soon disintegrated, and Schick eventually married Friederike Dubler, a German missionary.

Schick became well known as an architect and city planner. He also became involved with some of the late 19th century explorers. He surveyed significant parts of the Old City, and built models of the temple mount and other structures in Jerusalem to use in teaching.

Schick and his wife are buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion.

Grave marker for Conrad and Frederike Schick. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Epitaphs are often fascinating. This grave stone includes two Scriptures in German.

… for they have wholly followed the LORD (Numbers 32:12)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem … (Hebrews 12:22)

The short lane leading from Nablus Road to the Garden Tomb is named for Conrad Shick [Schick].

Conrad Shick Street leads to the Garden Tomb. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Tom Powers has prepared an article about Conrad Schick, and I have made use of it in this post. The entire paper is fascinating. See here.

There is also a page devoted to Schick here.

Special Note: If you have any interest in the American Colony, and other people buried in this cemetery, please take a look at the comments by Tom Powers (Outremer) following the two earlier posts about the Spaffords.

2012 in review, according to WordPress

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. We have readers in 204 countries.

Here’s an excerpt:

About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 410,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 7 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy New Year to Each Reader.

Reading the Blogs

Charles Savelle (Bible X) tells about his enjoyable afternoon at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible Exhibit (Fort Worth).  He describes the entire visit, step by step, including a list of “the scroll fragments and other manuscripts and Bibles” including a list of the Biblical verses included in the scroll fragments. A Qumran simulated dig is part of the exhibit. Charles includes a a hi-res photo of himself standing in a nice replica of a mikvah (ritual bath) at Qumran. Read the complete report here. The exhibit runs through January 13, 2013.

I enjoyed lunch with Charles one day at the recent ETS annual meeting. I find his Bible X blog helpful.

Luke Chandler reports here that a different Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit is now open at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This exhibit includes about “600 biblically-related artifacts on loan from the Israel[i] Antiquities Authority.” Read more here. This exhibit which runs through April, 2013, has already been in New York and Philadelphia. Check our link to the New York exhibition here. The 39 page guide to the exhibit by Gordon Franz is still available.

The War Scroll displayed at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Luke also comments on a recent comment by Dr. William Dever regarding the lack of evidence for the “Low Chronology” here.

It was only yesterday that I came caught up with a post by Seth Rodriquez (Wild Olive Shoot)  written the day after the U.S. presidential election. He has some important words for those who may have been disappointed in the outcome of the election. See here.

Acts 17 — Photo Illustrations

Paul came to Thessalonica on his second journey (A.D. 50-53; Acts 17).

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:1 ESV)

Thessalonica (called Thessaloniki now) is in biblical Macedonia. The area is still known as Macedonia, but is not to be confused with the modern country by that name. It is marked on maps of Greece as FYROM (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). I know too little about the dispute to make any comments.

Paul wrote two letters to the church at Thessalonica while he was at Corinth. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica accompanied Paul on the voyage to Rome (Acts 27:2). When Demas forsook Paul he went to Thessalonica (2 Timothy 4:10).

The photo below shows excavated ruins of the 2nd-3rd century A.D. Roman Forum in the center of the modern city of Thessalonica. Fant and Reddish comment on the Forum:

Extensive, ongoing excavations are being conducted in this area. Likely the same site was the location for the Hellenistic agora as well. The forum originally covered two extensive terraces. The forum originally covered two extensive terraces. The one to the north contained a large courtyard surrounded on four sides by two-story stoas; to the rear of the stoa on the east side stood the odeion, originally a theater for music and performances, later converted into an arena for gladiatorial contests. (A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, 137).

Roman Forum in the center of Thessalonica. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

I think if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see the odeion to the right of the image.

There are several posts about Thessalonica on this blog. Just put the word Thessalonica in the Search Box. You will also find posts about Amphipolis, Berea, and Athens.

Camels figure prominently in the life of Isaac

When Abraham’s servant went from Canaan to far-away Mesopotamia to arrange a bride for Isaac, he took ten camels with him. These camels figure prominently in the account in Genesis 24.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. (Genesis 24:10 NET)

The Hebrew Aram Naharaim of the text is often translated Mesopotamia in English versions.

Yesterday I saw a nursing camel with her big “baby” as we drove north from Jerusalem toward Shiloh. This was a little east of the main north-south highway. I took the photo to share with my grandson, but I thought I would share it with you also.

A camel in the West Bank near the edge of the wilderness. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Today we traveled south from Jerusalem past Bethlehem, Hebron, and into the Negev. We went west to the site of Gerar and Wadi Gerar. Later I will try to prepare some of the photos from these regions for the blog.

Traveling in Israel

This afternoon we arrived in Israel. My first tour was in 1967, a few weeks before the Six-Day War when Jerusalem was in Jordan. The traditional site of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist was easily accessible.  That changed after the War, and we had no access to the River until Jordan opened a site thought to be the location of Bethany Beyond the Jordan (John 1:28). By 2006 we were able to visit the site.

Last year (2011) Israel opened access to the river, by special permission, on the west side. I understand the site is now open to anyone who wishes to visit.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;  and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17 ESV)

Jordan River at the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

This will be my eightieth foreign tour to direct in these past 46 years. Not all of these have been to Israel, but I’ve led tours to the land so central in the Biblical story almost annually except for those years when political conditions made it impossible. Occasionally there was a second tour the same year. I have made numerous personal study trips in addition to the tours I lead. I’m still learning, and still making efforts to see places I have not yet visited. Last year I spent about six weeks in the country.

Through this blog I have tried to share a little bit of information and a few of the photos I have accumulated. Over the next two or three weeks I hope to share a bit of the excitement of this tour.

Tell your friends about the blog.

At least three blogs are being written about the tour. You might enjoy them, especially if you know someone traveling with us.

Steven Braman — Braman’s Wanderings
http://bramanswanderings.wordpress.com

Barry Britnell — Exploring Bible Lands
http://exploringbiblelands.com

Trent and Rebekah Dutton
http://www.trentandrebekah.com

Our flight from New York was delayed due to bad weather in New York and connecting cities. We were too late to visit Joppa today. Trent and Rebekah Dutton arrived in Israel yesterday. I see they have already posted some information about Joppa.

Tonight all 39 tour members are settled on the Mediterranean coast at Netanya, Israel. Looking forward to a great day of learning tomorrow.

Kinneret Bot

While doing some searching for information I came across an interesting account on Twitter. Kinneret Bot is a computer that tweets “the water level of Lake Kinneret/the Sea of Galilee, Israel.” You can get to KB here.

Thursday the water level was 211.67m below sea level. For most Americans that is 694.46 feet below sea level. We reported the level of the lake November, 2010, at 701.71 ft. below sea level. This shows considerable improvement, but it is nearly three months before much rain can be expected.

I enjoy visiting the pier at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. The gauge that measures the level of the Sea is a nice attraction. The view that we captured in this photos shows the southeastern shore of the Sea.

Gauge on the pier at Tiberias showing level of Sea of Galilee. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Sea of Galilee is also called the Sea of Tiberias by the Gospel of John.

After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). (John 6:1 NAU)

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. (John 21:1 NAU)

Update: Sorry that the link to Kinneret Bot was incorrect. Refresh your browser and check again. Thanks JG.

Another Giveaway by Bible Places Blog

Bible Places Blog is giving away a 6-DVD set featuring 36 half-hour lectures by Dr. Jodi Magness on The Holy Land Revealed. You have two (maybe three) chances to win. Be warned. I have entered this time!

Click here for details.