Category Archives: Photography

If not Tell Ḥesbân, where is Heshbon?

Posted on December 9, 2013 | 1 comment

If Tell Ḥesbân is not biblical Heshbon, then the pool uncovered by S. H. Horn is likely not the pool mentioned in Song of Solomon 7:4.

If Tell Ḥesbân is not biblical Heshbon, then where is biblical Heshbon?

A sign at Tell Ḥesbân, erected by the excavators, lists evidence of occupation during the following periods:

  • Ajarmah [local tribe] village – ca. AD 1870-present
  • Ottoman Village
  • Mamuluk Regional capital – AD 1260-1500
  • Abbasid pilgrim rest. – AD 750-1260
  • Umayyad market town – AD 650-750
  • Byzantine Ecclesiastical center – ca. AD 350-650
  • Roman temple town – ca. 63 BC – AD 350
  • Hellenistic fortress – ca. 198 BC – 63 BC
  • Ammonite citadel – ca. 900 – 500 BC
  • Proto Ammonite village – ca. 1200 – 900 BC
  • Traditional Ammorite Stronghold.
Roman steps and market area at Tell Ḥesbân. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Roman steps and market area at Tell Ḥesbân. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Remember that we are looking for a town of Moab, and there is no evidence of the Moabites at Tell Ḥesbân.

Because not every reader of this blog speaks Bronze Age and Iron Age, I think I should list the general dates of these archaeological periods (following J. A. Thompson, The Biblical World (ed. Charles Pfeiffer).

  • Early Bronze (EB) — ca. 3200 – 2100 BC
  • Middle Bronze (MB) — ca. 2100 – 1550 BC – period of the Patriarchs
  • Late Bronze (LB) — ca. 1550 – 1200 BC – period of Moses, the Exodus, and the Conquest
  • Iron I — ca. 1200 – 900 BC – period of the Judges & the United Kingdom
  • Iron II — ca. 900 – 600 BC – period of the Divided Kingdom
  • Iron III — ca. 600 – 300 BC – period of Exile and Return
  • Hellenistic (Grecian) — ca. 300 – 63 BC – Between the Testaments
  • Roman — ca. 63 BC – AD 323 – New Testament & early Christian period

We are looking for a city belonging to the period of Moses, the Exodus, and the Conquest (the Late Bronze archaeological period). [*see note below]

After the disappointment at Tell Ḥesbân, those associated with Horn formed the Madaba Plains Project in order to continue the search for Heshbon. One of the great things about Todd Bolen’s Pictorial Library of Bible Lands is the fact that many of the photos include brief documentation with the photos. With one of the Tell Ḥesbân photos he says,

After this disappointing series of digs, the Madaba Plains Project was formed and the search for Heshbon continued.  Four Late Bronze sites were found within a 6 mile (10 km) radius of Tel Hesban; Tel Jalul is the biggest and thus the most promising site. Tel Jalul is the largest site in Jordan south of Amman.
Three possibilities exist for the location of biblical Heshbon: Tel Hesban, Tel el-Umeiri, and Tel Jalul. Hesban preserves the name, which makes it a good candidate, but it lacks archaeological evidence.
The PLBL collection includes photos of all of these places. The Institute of Archaeology Siegfried H. Horn Museum at Andrews University maintains a helpful web site that includes information about the Madaba Plains Project here.
Byzantine church at Tel Hesban. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Byzantine church at Tel Hesban. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The photo above shows the ruins of the Byzantine church at Tell Ḥesbân. Tel Jalul may be seen in the distance. Look for the long, plain “hill”, on the top of the hill on the far left of the photo.
Added Note: In the original post I stated that “We are looking for a city belonging to the period of the Patriarchs (the Late Bronze archaeological period).” A friend called my attention to the oversight. The chart above shows that the period of the Patriarchs is the Middle Bronze Age. I should have said, as now corrected above, that “We are looking for a city belonging to the period of Moses, the Exodus, and the Conquest (the Late Bronze archaeological period).”

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Church History, Israel, Jordan, Old Testament, Photography, Travel

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Is Tell Ḥesbân Heshbon?

Posted on December 5, 2013 | 1 comment

S. H. Horn describes the biblical significance of Heshbon.

A city of Transjordan strategically located at the main north-south road, called the King’s Highway in the Bible, some 15 mi. (c. 24 km.) southwest of “Amman (Palestine Under Joshua and the Judges). The Israelites captured it from Sihon, an Amorite king, who had taken it from the Moabites and made it his capital (Num 21:25–30). The city was given to the Reubenites and rebuilt by them (Num 21:34; 32:37; Jos 13:17). However, since it lay on the border between Reuben and Gad, the latter tribe seems eventually to have occupied it (Jos 13:26). It was later assigned, as a town of Gad, to the Levites (Jos 21:39; 1 Chr 6:81). The Moabites reconquered the city in the period of the divided kingdom and occupied it in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah (Is 15:4; 16:8, 9; Jer 48:2, 33, 34). However, during Jeremiah’s lifetime it seems to have changed hands again, since he refers to it as an Ammonite city in one of his later oracles (Jer 49:2, 3). The Ammonites seem to have taken it during an invasion of the Moabite territory referred to in Ezekiel (ch 25:9, 10). It was in the possession of Alexander Jannaeus in the time of the Maccabees, and was later ruled by Herod the Great (Jos. Ant. xiii. 15. 4; xv. 8. 5), who fortified it and made it into a garrison city called Esbus. Later it became a Christian city and seat of a bishop. Several bishops of Heshbon are known by name. In 614 the city suffered greatly during the Persian invasion, when its 3 churches—so far excavated—were destroyed. The Arabs who some 20 years later occupied the country made the city, then called Ḥesbân, the capital of the district. After the 13th cent. the city is never mentioned again.

Excavations were conducted at Tell Ḥesbân under the direction of Siegfried Horn and Larry Gerarty from 1968 to 1976. A large open-air reservoir dating to the Iron Age, the period of the Israelite kings was uncovered. The pool measured about 50 ft. x 50 ft., and was 18 ft. deep. It was large enough to hold 300,000 gallons of water.

The Iron Age Pool at Heshbon. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Iron Age Plastered Reservoir at Heshbon. View West. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Horn says this was “probably a pool to which Song 7:4 refers.”

Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
which looks toward Damascus. (Song of Solomon 7:4)

I have followed the information by S. H. Horn in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary. In a post to come I hope to explain why Tell Ḥesbân may not be biblical Heshbon.

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The Moabite city of Elealeh

Posted on December 3, 2013 | 2 comments

Elealeh (pronounced EL e A lah) is one of those little known cities from Bible times. It is now identified as Tell (or Tall) Al-Elealeh. The mound is located about two miles northeast of Heshbon.

When we first encounter the city of Elealeh it belongs to the Moabites. After the Israelites occupied the area the city was given to the tribe of Reuben as part of their territory (Numbers 32:3, 37).

Map showing Elealeh in Moab. BibleAtlas.org.

Map showing Elealeh in Moab. BibleAtlas.org.

The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary gives this brief information about the city.

A town which the Israelites took from the Amorite king of Heshbon, and which the Reubenites rebuilt (Num 32:3, 37). Later, when the Moabites extended their territory to the north, they reoccupied it (Is 15:4; 16:9; Jer 48:34). It is now el–‘Al, a ruin on top of a hill, 3,082 ft. (940 m.) above sea level, about 2 mi. (c. 3 km.) northeast of Heshbon (Palestine Under Joshua and the Judges). Archeological soundings were conducted at el–‘Al by W. L. Reed in 1962. The excavated evidence indicated that the ancient city had existed from the 3d millennium B.C. down to the Middle Ages with a possible gap in occupation from 1600–1200 B.C. since no Late Bronze Age remains were found. (Horn, Siegfried H. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary 1979 : 318.)

The site of ancient Elealeh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The site of ancient Elealeh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Jordan, Old Testament, Photography, Travel

Just doing a little road work

Posted on November 26, 2013 | Leave a comment

When I was a kid in North Alabama I found Indian arrowheads in the cotton fields when we hoed and picked cotton. (Yes, I really did!) The only Indian I ever heard of (on the radio) was Tonto.

In Israel, ancient ruins are discovered as foundations are dug for new buildings or roads are being widened. It happened recently along Highway 38 at Eshtaol, the area where Samson grew up (physically) (Judges 13:24-25). Eshtaol is located about 10 miles west of Jerusalem as one approaches the Sorek Valley and Beth Shemesh. I have stopped several times for gas and water at the station on the left side of the highway.

An aerial view of the large excavation along Highway 38. Photo: Sky View Company, courtesy of the IAA.

An aerial view of the large excavation along Highway 38. Photograph: Sky View Company, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists working on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority exposed a site belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. Buildings belonging to the end of the Chalcolithic period exposed a large standing stone (massebah) 51 inches high. The archaeologists said,

“The standing stone was smoothed and worked on all six of its sides, and was erected with one of its sides facing east. This unique find alludes to the presence of a cultic temple at the site”.  …  “In the past numerous manifestations have been found of the cultic practice that existed in the Chalcolithic period; however, from the research we know of only a few temples at ‘En Gedi and at Teleilat Ghassul in Transjordan”.

A Chalcolithic period building and the standing stone (massebah) positioned at the end of it. Photo: Assaf Peretz, courtesy IAA.

A Chalcolithic period building and the standing stone (massebah) positioned at the end of it. Photo: Assaf Peretz, courtesy IAA.

The IAA news release is available here. The photos we have used here, and four others, are available here. Several Israeli papers have articles about the find, including the one in Arutz Sheva here.

Todd Bolen discussed the identification of Eshtaol here.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Israel, Old Testament, Photography, Travel

Canaanite Wine Cellar discovered at Tel Kabri

Posted on November 25, 2013 | 1 comment

Tel Kabri is a Canaanite site located a few miles east of Nahariya in the Plain of Akko in northern Israel. Excavations have been conducted at the site for several years under the direction of Prof. Eric H. Cline of Washington University and scholars from the University of Haifa, Israel.

A total of forty clay jars were discovered. Each have a capacity of 13 gallons. You may read more about the discovery here and here.

Wine jars at Tel Kabri. Credit: Prof. Eric H. Cline & Tel Kabri Excavation.

Wine jars at Tel Kabri. Credit: Prof. Eric H. Cline and the Tel Kabri Excavation.

The photo below shows a room in the Canaanite palace at Tel Kbri. The excavators date this structure to 1700 B.C.

Wine cellar at Tel Kabri. Credit: Prof. Eric H. Cline and Tel Kabri Excavation.

Wine cellar at Tel Kabri. Credit: Prof. Eric H. Cline and the Tel Kabri Excavation.

This discovery reminds us of the wine cellars discovered at El-Jib (Gibeon) by James Pritchard in 1959. Sixty-three cellars with a possible capacity of 25,000 gallons were excavated (Pritchard, Gibeon, 79-99).

HT: Joseph Lauer

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Did you know C. S. Lewis died Nov. 22, 1963?

Posted on November 22, 2013 | 4 comments

Recently I have been reading C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alister McGrath. He says that Warnie found his brother dead at the foot of his bed at 5:30 p.m. [in Oxford], “Friday, 22 November 1963.” Then comes this paragraph:

At that same time, President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade left Dallas’s Love Field Airport, beginning its journey downtown. An hour later, Kennedy was fatally wounded by a sniper. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Media reports of Lewis’s death were completely overshadowed by the substantially more significant tragedy that unfolded that day in Dallas.

C. S. Lewis was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry, Oxford after a private, and very small service. Warnie chose a phrase from a Shakespearean calendar that was in their home back in Belfast at the time of their mother’s death in August 1908: “Men must endure their going hence.” The quotation is from Shakespeare’s King Lear.

The grave of C. S. Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The grave of C. S. Lewis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

McAlister suggests that a better epitaph might be one from Lewis’s own words,

a seed patiently waiting in the earth: waiting to come up a flower in the Gardner’s good time, up into the real world, the real waking. I suppose that our whole present life, looked back on from there, will seem only a drowsy half-waking. We are here in the land of dreams. But cock-crow is coming.

C. S. Lewis is appreciated by many for the Chronicles of Narnia. Others have found his popular apologetic writings helpful. More information, including photos, about sites associated with Lewis is available here.

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Where were you on November 22, 1963?

Posted on November 21, 2013 | 3 comments

Most of us who were old enough to remember know exactly where were were and what we were doing the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

I was in a speaking engagement that week in Prescott, Arizona. David Curtis, a college friend, was the minister there at the time and he wanted to take me to see Montezuma Castle and Camp Verde, Arizona. This was an hour’s trip from Prescott. We could easily make the trip, have a little time to visit the sites, and be back in time for the evening service.

Montezuma Castle National Monument. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins, May, 2003.

Montezuma Castle National Monument. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins, May, 2003.

In Camp Verde we visited a small museum with artifacts illustration life about time shortly after the Civil War. We saw a framed newspaper front page on the wall with some wording like “President Dead.” It was about Abraham Lincoln. We stopped at a store in the center of the little town to get some refreshments. Someone came in and said, “Did you hear about the president?” Then another person said something similar. We went along by saying we had heard. We thought it was some of the local promotion.

After a few minutes someone mentioned specifically that Kennedy has been shot in Dallas. Well, you know that we had the car radio on all the way back to Prescott.

In 2003 my wife and I visited the same area. The old newspaper article was no longer displayed on the wall of the little museum. I asked the lady who showed us around about it. She confirmed that it had been there, but that she did not know where it was now (2003).

Where were you that fateful day?

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Damage Reported at Mari in Syria

Posted on November 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

The French archaeologist André Parrot (1901-1980) carried out several excavations at Mari between 1933 and 1960. Having read about recent damage to the ancient buildings of Mari, I wanted to share a couple of photos of artifacts from the site.

The first statue is of the Iku-Shamagan, King of Mari. It dates to about 2650 B.C. and is from the temple of Ishtar in Mari. The statue is about 47 inches high and was displayed in the Damascus Museum in 2002 when I made this photograph.

King of Mari statue in Damascus Museum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins 2002.

Iku-Shamagan, King of Mari, praying. Statue in Damascus Museum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins 2002.

The small (about 20 inches high) statue of Ebih-II, the superintendent of Mari, was discovered in the temple of Ishtar. It dates to the period of about 2900-2750 B.C. and is made of gypsum, with eyes of shells and lapis lazuil. This artifact, along with several others, is displayed in the Louvre.

Attendant to Ebih II of Mari. Louvre. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Statue of Ebih II superintendent of Mari. Louvre. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Mari is located far east in Syria near the Euphrates River. The city was located on the main route between Assyria and Babylon. If Abraham first lived in south Mesopotamia then he might have passed this way on the trip to Haran (Genesis 11:27 – 12:5).

Project Syrian Archaeology has some photos of poor quality showing damage to historical sites at their Facebook page here.

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Caesarea Maritima – the Lower Palace

Posted on November 19, 2013 | Leave a comment

A few columns of the Palace of the Procurators have been restored at Caesarea. The late Jerome Murphy-O’Connor describes the lower level of the Palace.

From the west colonnade one can look down to the sea shore at a point where its dominant feature is a rectangular rock-cut pool (35 x 18). There are channels to the sea on both sides. A square statue base can be discerned in the middle. The colonnaded pool was originally the centerpiece of a two-storey building (83 x 51 m) which surrounded it on all sides. Presumably it was here that the Roman procurators lived. Wave action and the activities of stone robbers have ensured that virtually nothing remains. A staircase in the north-east corner gave access to the upper level. (The Holy Land, Fifth Edition, p. 243)

Our photo below shows this area. In the foreground you will see portions of some mosaics.

The lower level of the Place of the Procurators. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The lower level of the Place of the Procurators. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

This was not a bad place for the Roman procurators to live a luxurious life while the Apostle Paul was held in custody nearby (Acts 23:23 – 26:32).

Procurators associated with Caesarea in the New Testament include…

  • Pilate (A.D. 26-26) – John 18, et al.
  • Felix (A.D. 52-59) – Acts 23-25
  • Festus (A.D. 59-61) – Acts 24-26

The Jewish rulers associated with Caesarea include…

  • Herod the king [Agrippa I] (A.D. 37-44) – Acts 12
  • Herod Agrippa II (lived A.D. 27-100) – Acts 25-26

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The Pool of Siloam like you have never seen it

Posted on November 18, 2013 | 3 comments

Elie, my friend and guide in Israel, sent me a photo just a few minutes ago that he made Sunday at the pool of Siloam.

Water in the pool of Siloam due to a clogged drain. Photo: Elie Ben-Meir

Water in the pool of Siloam due to a clogged channel. Photo: Eliemelech Ben-Meir

Here is the explanation Elie gave:

Thought you might enjoy this shot of the pool. We couldn’t get in because of a clog in the channel that caused the pool to fill up and flood! We had to walk around and come in from the top past Ibrahim Siams antiquities shop and walk down the wooden stairs!

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Israel, New Testament, Photography, Travel