Current Events Articles: May 2018

ABR's 2018 Excavation Season Begins at Shiloh posted by Bryan Windle

The Associates for Biblical Research has begun its 2018 excavation season at biblical Shiloh. With over 140 volunteers and staff registered, it's the biggest ABR dig to date. This season ABR continues to be on the cutting edge of technological advances in the archaeological field, with a new, state-of-the-art wet-sifting station, fully digital iPad reporting, and 3-D photos of excavation squares. Teams of volunteers led by ABR's archaeologists opened or continued working in eleven squares during Week 1 and uncovered portions of the Middle Bronze fortification wall of the Amorite city. 81 objects were discovered and registered, including 22 coins, 5 sling stones, 2 beads and 1 seal. ABR will continue excavations through June 16, 2018 in order to learn more about the history of the site, and in particular to search for evidence of Israelite occupation and clues as to the location of the tabernacle. The Bible records that Shiloh was the center of Israelite worship for at least 300 years, and home to both Eli and Samuel.

Links:

- http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2018/05/28/Go-Now-To-Shiloh-The-2018-Excavations-Week-One.aspx
- http://www.biblearchaeology.org/page/Join-Us-In-Our-Excavations-at-Biblical-Shiloh.aspx

Test Results Show No Hidden Chamber in King Tut's Tomb posted by Bryan Windle

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt recently announced the results of tests inside the famous tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. A team of scientists from Italy's University of Turin used ground penetrating radar to study the walls of the tomb, and have concluded that no hidden chambers exist. A British Egyptologist, Nicholas Reeves, had proposed a theory that the tomb of Nefertiti, the wife of Tutankhamun's father King Akhenaten, was in a secret chamber behind one of the walls in King Tut's tomb. The theory postulated that when Tutankhamun died at a young age, his burial was rushed and the tomb built for Nefertiti was used. Previous scans of the walls had suggested the possibility of a hidden chamber; however, the new scans have demonstrated conclusively that none exists. Tutankhamun was the Pharaoh of Egypt circa 1332–1323, according to standard Egyptian chronology, which places him during the time of the judges, according to biblical chronology.

Off-site Links:

- https://phys.org/news/2018-05-hidden-tutankhamun-chambers-ministry.html
- http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.ca/2018/05/fully-discovered-by-carter-no-more-to.html

Advanced Imaging Reveals Script on Previously Unreadable Dead Sea Scroll Fragments posted by Bryan Windle

Researchers at the conservation labs of the Israel Antiquities Authority have used advanced multispectral imaging to decipher Hebrew text on several Dead Sea Scroll fragments that had been invisible to the naked eye. In the 1950s archaeologists stored batches of smaller fragments from Cave 11 in cigar boxes. Some of these fragments were recently analysed as part of the digitalization project of the scrolls, resulting in three significant discoveries. One of the fragments seems to come from a previously unknown manuscript. Another belongs to the Temple Scroll, which deals with instructions for conducting services in the Temple. There had been some debate as to whether there were two or three copies of the Temple Scroll in Cave 11; the new portion indicates there were indeed three copies. The third fragment belonged to the Great Psalms scroll and fills in the missing portion that begins Ps. 147:1. It is estimated that there are 19 cigar boxes of Dead Sea Scroll fragments from Cave 11 still to be analyzed. The newly deciphered fragments were recently presented at an international conference in Jerusalem called, "The Dead Sea Scrolls at Seventy: Clear a Path in the Wilderness."

Off-site Links:

- https://www.timesofisrael.com/dead-sea-scroll-fragment-unveiled-in-israel-may-point-to-an-unknown-manuscript/
- https://www.jpost.om/Israel-News/Culture/Ancient-Hebrew-unearthed-using-space-age-technology-553260
- http://www.jewishpress.com/news/archaeology-news/hidden-script-uncovered-in-fragments-of-dead-sea-scrolls/2018/05/01/

Looted Cuneiform Tablets are from Lost Sumerian City of Irisagrig posted by Bryan Windle

U.S. law enforcement agents announced that hundreds of ancient cuneiform tablets looted in Iraq and sold on the antiquities market came from a Sumerian city called Irisagrig. The 4000-year-old tablets are part of a collection of tablets, bricks, clay bullae and cylinder seals that was originally purchased by Hobby Lobby. The collection was turned over to U.S. authorities once it was learned that the artifacts had been looted from Iraq. Irisagrig is an ancient Sumerian city whose exact location is unknown; the city come to light in recent years as numerous cuneiform tablets from Irisagrig have appeared on the antiquities market. The tablets that were confiscated from Hobby Lobby were turned over to Iraqi authorities on May 2, 2018 in a ceremony at the residence of the Iraqi ambassador in Washington D.C. While Irisiagrig is unknown in the Bible, the important Sumerian city of Ur was likely the birthplace of Abraham (Gn 11:27-28).

Off-site Link:

- https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/MAGAZINE-ancient-artifacts-seized-from-hobby-lobby-returned-to-iraq-1.6053308

Link to Original Story:

- http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2017/07/18/Hobby-Lobby-Returns-5000-Artifacts-Fined-243-Million.aspx

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