Monthly Archives: November 2010

New website on biblical archaeology

Rob Bradshaw, in the United Kingdom, adds another website where he provides out-of-print books and periodical articles. This time the subject matter is biblical archaeology. I expect that we will see it grow in helpfulness as has been true of his other sites. Here is his own announcement.

I am very pleased to announce that my new website aimed at providing resources for those studying the archaeology of the Bible lands is officially launched today.

Over the last few months it became apparent that the range of material relating to archaeology would no longer fit within the structure of the biblicalstudies.org.uk website. The new site will eventually offer detailed coverage of all aspects of biblical archaeology from artefacts to bibliographies of noteable archaeologists. Collapsible menus will be added once the site structure is finalised.

Click here to visit the new site.

Model shrines from biblical sites

Model shrines have been uncovered in numerous excavations of biblical cities, but they are common throughout the Ancient Near East. Ziony Zevit says,

Some model shrines were found to contain built-in images of deities while others were empty. In the latter case, some scholars assume that a small portable image was placed inside when the shrine was in use. (The Religions of Ancient Israel, 328).

The model shrines come in a variety of sizes. Here is one excavated at Tell el-Farah, the biblical site of Tirzah.

Model shrine from Tell el Farah. The Louvre. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Model shrine from Tell el Farah. The Louvre. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Tirzah served as the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Baasha (1 Kings 15:21) Elah and Zimri (1 Kings 16:17-18). Omri reigned six years in Tirzah before he purchased the hill of Samaria and moved the capital of Israel there (1 Kings 16:24).

The shrine discovered at Ashkelon is significant because it included a silver plated bull. See a low quality photo here.

Luke Chandler reports on the 2010 discovery of a shrine at Khirbet Qeiyafa, and includes two nice photos here.