#1318-1319 Rami Arav – Bethsaida

Iron Age Gate at Bethsaida/Geshur

In 1996, and during subsequent study tours to Israel, we have visited the ruins of et-Tell, which archaeologist Rami Arav believes was the Bethsaida of the New Testament.

Intriguingly, the Iron Age remains at the site seem more extensive than those of the later period. They may be 1,000 years older, and Arav believes the city was the capital of the kingdom of Geshur at that time. Geshur was the home of one of King David’s wives, the mother of Absalom.

During that 1996 visit I was able to sit down with Rami Arav and talk about his excavations. So here is our 2-part conversation, from The Book & The Spade archives.

#1317 – Pollen Detectives at Ramat Rachel

Ramat Rachel

Tel Aviv University archaeologists worked with an archaeobotanist to find ancient pollen preserved in the plaster of ancient walls, to determine what plants were planted in a royal garden at Ramat Rachel, the site of a palace of the Judean Kings from Hezekiah through the Hasmonean period.

The second part of this program is a 1996 interview with palynologist Patrick Geyer of the University of San Diego, on how he does his pollen research at Bethsaida and other sites.

#1316 Jodi Magness – The Synagogue at Huqoq

This view of the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee by Ferrell Jenkins shows an area where four early Jewish synagogues are currently in the process of excavation, and two more famous synagogues are nearby. The newest excavation began last summer at Huqoq, directed by Jodi Magness, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

What’s behind all of this attention to Galilee synagogues. Well, Jodi Magness explains the attraction for her. Tune in for a listen, and if you’re interested in volunteering for the excavation, Jodi would be glad to hear from you.

1315 Jodi Magness – Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit

Jodi Magness, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, talks about her new book published by Eerdmans. The book is an outgrowth of her studies of the Qumran community, among other things.

#1314 Jerusalem Cardo & The Samaritan Inn

Western Wall Plaza Excavations

On our last Holyland Study Tour in 2008 we saw some excavations going on along the western edge of the Western Wall Plaza. We had already had reports of discoveries in that area and finally we have a report on the results of the excavation in the January-February issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. So we discussed the article on this week’s program, along with two more articles in the latest issue: the story of the Good Samaritan Inn  Mosaic Museum, and possible evidence for Israel in Egypt that predates the Merneptah stele (More on that to come in the weeks ahead).

Speaking of Holyland Study Tours, we’re finalizing plans for our 2013 tour to Israel. Let us know if you would like to join us, as we visit a number of the sites we’ve been talking about.

#1313 The 2012 Dig Season

Biblical Archaeology Review

An annual Book & The Spade tradition is the January review of the excavations planned for the coming year. Since the beginning this archaeology status report has been facilitated by the January-February issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, which always has information on the institutional digs planned for the coming year. This year once again Dr. Keith Schoville and I scan the list of upcoming digs, check out some new ones and review the older ones.

And again, we invite our listeners to volunteer and join one of these projects so that you can experience Biblical Archaeology for yourself. For information on the various dig opportunities, check out the Biblical Archaeology Review website.

#1312 Stamps and Seals

New discoveries in Jerusalem, a stamp connected to first century temple worship and a seal discovered in the City of David.

Temple Stamp

#1311 Prof. Clyde Billington – The Biblical Archaeology Top Ten of 2011

Gath altar

From the pages of ARTIFAX magazine and the archives of The Book & The Spade, we review our subjective list of top ten discoveries or developments in Biblical Archaeology announced in 2011. Number one on the list, the two-horned altar found at Tel es-Safi/Gath.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 32 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

#1310 – Dead Sea Scrolls Online & Damascus Gate Renovation

A couple of decades ago we spent quite a few of our Book & The Spade programs reporting on how the Dead Sea Scrolls were freed from the control of a handful of scholars and made available to all scholars. Now the Dead Sea Scrolls are even more available, and in much higher resolution, online. So we talk about that on this week’s program, as well as the renovation of one of the main entrances into the Old City of Jerusalem, the Damascus Gate.