Current Events Articles: June 2018

ABR's Dig at Shiloh – 2018 Excavation Season in Review posted by Bryan Windle

The 2018 excavation season at Shiloh, overseen by archaeologists and experts from the Associates for Biblical Research, has concluded. In all, over 200 people from 30 states and 4 countries, including students from 11 different universities, participated in the dig. The excavations continued to expose the Amorite fortification wall around Shiloh on the northern side of the site. New technology, such as state-of-the-art, high-resolution 3-D photography, as well as the newly-built wet-sifting station, greatly increased the effectiveness of the fieldwork. The discoveries were numerous and included coins, sling stones, beads, seal impressions, scarabs, oil lamps, pithoi jugs, and much pottery from the Bronze and Iron Ages through to the Islamic era. ABR's archaeologists continued to see evidence of transition from the Amorite period to the Israelite period in the bones and pottery discovered. The teams also worked together to uncover a glacis – a 35-degree sloping earthen rampart, constructed around the outside of the ancient perimeter wall to hinder attacking armies from reaching the base of the fortifications. Perhaps the most significant discovery was a ceramic pomegranate. The pomegranate was a common decoration in the tabernacle and temple (1 Kgs 7:18, 20, 42; 2 Kgs 25:17; 2 Chr 3:16; 4:13; Jer 52:22–23) and on the priestly garments (Ex 28:33–34; 39:24–26). While the actual excavations have been completed for this season, the work of studying, interpreting, and publishing will continue throughout the year.

Links:

Week 1 Report – http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2018/05/28/Go-Now-To-Shiloh-The-2018-Excavations-Week-One.aspx
Week 2 Report – http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2018/06/05/Go-Now-To-Shiloh-The-2018-Excavations-Week-Two.aspx
Week 3 Report – http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2018/06/14/Go-Now-To-Shiloh-The-2018-Excavations-Week-Three.aspx
Week 4 Report – http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2018/06/22/Go-Now-To-Shiloh-The-2018-Excavations-Week-Four.aspx
Shiloh 2018: What A Dig Needs video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=dz2mKkP1lOU

2000-Year-Old Tomb Discovered in Tiberias posted by Bryan Windle

A large, three-room burial cave was discovered in the city of Tiberias, located on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, when a contractor preparing the ground for a new building broke through with his bulldozer. Authorities at the Israel Antiquities Authority were contacted and an initial survey was completed by archaeologists. The main chamber of the Roman-era tomb has several burial niches, and the entrance still has the remains of red, yellow and white paint on the walls. Numerous ossuaries – stone boxes for the secondary burial of bones – were found with Greek inscriptions on them, indicating a father and son were buried there. Despite the Greek inscriptions the tomb is certainly Jewish, as ossuaries were used almost exclusively by Jews from the first century BC to the second century AD. Greek inscriptions have previously been found in numerous ancient Jewish synagogues, including the one in Tiberias. Archaeologists believe the high quality of the burial cave, including the decorations and the Greek inscriptions indicate the tomb belonged to a wealthy family who lived there in the Roman era. In the Bible, people from Tiberias got in their boats and went looking for Jesus after the feeding of the 5000 (John 6:23).

Off-site Links:

- https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-case-of-the-missing-concrete-how-a-2000-year-old-burial-cave-was-found/
- https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-builders-accidentally-discover-roman-era-jewish-catacomb-in-israel-1.6167799
- https://ferrelljenkins.blog/2018/06/14/tomb-complex-discovered-in-tiberias/

2800-Year-Old "Royal" Figurine Discovered at Tel Abel Beth Maacah posted by Bryan Windle

The head of an ancient figurine discovered at the archaeological site identified as the biblical city of Abel Beth Maacah was recently put on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The intricately carved head reveals a regal-looking man with a black beard and black hair encircled with a yellow crown. Scholars have suggested that it represents a king, although which king is unknown. Given that the head dates to the ninth century BC, a time when Abel Beth Maacah changed hands between several ancient kingdoms, researchers have suggested it could depict the face of King Ahab of Israel, King Hazael of Aram-Damascus, or King Ethbaal of Tyre – all biblical kings. It was discovered in a dirt clod located in a large building at the summit of the site, possibly an ancient citadel. Abel Beth Maacah is located in northern Israel, near the border of Lebanon. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, including 1 Kings 15:20, which mentions Able Beth Maacah as one of the cities Ben Hadad, King of Syria in Damascus, conquered from the kingdom of Israel.

Off-site Links:

- https://www.apu.edu/media/news/release/26193/
- https://www.livescience.com/62758-biblical-king-sculpture.html
- https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/one-of-a-kind-royal-figurine-found-in-israel-1.6158138

"First-Century Mark" Manuscript Dated to 150-250 AD posted by Bryan Windle

A long-awaited early manuscript fragment of the Gospel of Mark has finally been published, ending six years of speculation. Known popularly as "First-Century Mark," from the rumour that it had tentatively been dated to the first century, the manuscript is officially designated P.Oxy. LXXXIII 5345 or P137. It was recently published by Oxford papyrologists Daniela Colomo and Dirk Obbink in the latest edition of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 83 (2018). The fragment of Mark is approximately 4.4 by 4 cm in size, and contains portions of Mark 1:7-9 on one side and Mark 1:16-18 on the other. Obbink and Colomon have dated the manuscript to 150-250 AD. While not the first-century manuscript biblical scholars were hoping for, it is still the earliest copy of Mark's Gospel to date. In addition to P137, two other manuscripts were published in the same volume: P138, a third-century papyrus of Luke 13:13–17 and 13:25–30, and P139, a fourth-century papyrus of Philemon 6–8 and 18–20.

Off-site Links:

- https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/may-web-only/mark-manuscript-earliest-not-first-century-fcm.html
- https://danielbwallace.com/2018/05/23/first-century-mark-fragment-update/
- http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2018/05/first-century-mark-published-at-last.html
- https://www.ees.ac.uk/news/poxy-lxxxiii-5345

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