Last Friday I had the pleasure of hearing Zahi Hawass speak at the historic Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St Paul.  While I’ve seen Dr. Hawass numerous times on television, this was my first opportunity to see him in person.  I was lucky enough to be seated in the first row of the Orchestra pit, so [...]

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I’m catching up on e-mails and just got notice that Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review has published his autobiography titled Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider.  It is published by Continuum and will be available July 24, 2010.  Richard Bernstein had some good things to say about [...]

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HT to Jim West for pointing out this excellent lecture by Lawrence H. Schiffman.  If you have even a passing interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls, I think you’ll find this interesting.  In total, the lectures is just under 90 minutes. If you can’t see the video, click here:  LINK

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If you’re an armchair archaeologist like me, then I’d highly recommend you pick up Nina Burleigh’s latest book:  Unholy Business:  A True Tale of Faith, Greed & Forgery in the Holy Land.  Apparently there’s a whole other world to Biblical Archaeology, that I never read about in Biblical Archaeology Review.  Thanks to the kind folks [...]

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Leen Ritmeyer posted a few comments today about the recent excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas in Jordan.  He also links to a shot video (12:15) about the excavation with commentary by Thomas E. Levy of the University of California San Diego.  You may view this post on Leen’s web site here:  LINK.

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Thanks to Jim West for pointing out a recent Time Magazine article on the ongoing conroversy over the James Ossuary.  Read more here:  LINK.

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This week’s BAR (Biblical Archaeology Review) Online introduces readers to Edgar James Banks.  You can read the brief blurb I got via e-mail below: This week in BAR online, we introduce readers to Edgar James Banks (1866-1945). Mr. Banks was an intrepid explorer and archaeologist who is considered one of the inspirations for the legendary [...]

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Jim West pointed out this forthcoming title a couple of days ago.  I’m always a bit skeptical of titles like this, but I may give it a whirl.  It would be interesting to see a perspective on this topic other than that which I get through reading Biblical Archaeology Review.  Learn more at the book’s [...]

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All hail the kind postman who dropped the Sept/Oct issue of Biblical Archaeology Review in my mailbox today.  I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’ll probably start with the following articles: Sound Proof:  How Hezekiah’s Tunnelers Met by Hershel Shanks  (Pages 50-57; 78) The Shattered Crown:  The Aleppo Codex, 60 years [...]

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A two-part interview with Leen Ritmeyer just went up at Justin Taylor’s blog:  Between Two Worlds. Part 1 – Between Two Worlds: What Did Calvary Look Like? An Interview with Leen Ritmeyer (Part 1) Part 2 – Between Two Worlds: What Did Jesus’ Tomb Look Like? An Interview with Leen Ritmeyer (Part 2) You can [...]

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