[Google] and Israel announced Tuesday that they are teaming up to give researchers and the public the first comprehensive and searchable database of the scrolls – a 2,000-year-old collection of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek documents that shed light on Judaism during biblical times and the origins of Christianity. For years, experts have complained that access to the scrolls has been too limited.

Once the images are up, anyone will be able to peruse exact copies of the original scrolls as well as an English translation of the text on their computer – for free. Officials said the collection, expected to be available within months, will feature sections that have been made more legible thanks to high-tech infrared technology.

Ben Witherington reports on the ongoing excavation of the biblical city of Laodicea.

Turkish archaeologists have been working very hard indeed on this site over the last several years and the results are remarkable … This city was, along with Hierapolis, [one of] the most important of cities in the Lycus valley … The population size of a city is often judged by the size of its theaters and then one multiplies by 10. On this showing Laodicea was truly urban, with a population around 100,000 at its peak …

There is much more to be said, but let this be said at this juncture. The archaeological evidence at Laodicea simply confirms what the NT suggests about the city — it was large, rich in the first century, a city materially on the rise, but sometimes prosperity has a deadening effect on spirituality as John of Patmos reminds.

See Witherington’s article for more commentary and pictures.

78-year-old Alec Garrard has spent more than 30 years constructing a 1:100 scale model of Herod’s Temple in his back yard. The original temple was built by King Herod the Great between 19 B.C. and A.D. 4 and was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. Garrard’s model measures 20ft by 12 ft and is considered one of the best representations of the historical temple in the world.

“I’ve always loved making models and as I was getting older I started to think about making one big project which would see me through to the end of my life,” Garrard said. “I have an interest in buildings and religion so I thought maybe I could combine the two and I came up with the idea of doing the Temple. I’d seen one or two examples of it in Biblical exhibitions, but I thought they were rubbish and I knew I could do better. I have been working on it for decades but it will never be finished as I’m always finding something new to add.”

Thousands of visitors from all over the world have come to see the model, and Garrard provides them with binoculars so they can see all the details.

Garrard has written a book with information about the temple and detailed photographs of his model: The Splendor Of The Temple: A Pictorial Guide to Herod’s Temple and Its Ceremonies. You can also view a picture gallery of the temple model here.

Related post: Behold the Temple!

The bright red and elegant coffin of Herod, which was displayed last year, is now completely restored, along with a large tomb. Prof. Netzer ascertains that the red coffin is the burial coffin of Herod …

One big question remains: Where is Herod’s body? “We have only found a very small number of human bones at the site and have not been able to come to any conclusions,” Netzer said. “We have not yet finished digging and have only uncovered a small area.” But he does not believe the king’s remains will ever be recovered.

Todd Bolen summarizes the latest discoveries at Herod’s tomb over at BiblePlaces.com.

Related posts:
    • King Herod’s Tomb Found?
    • Is the Bible Relevant to Archaeology?

In the early 1960s, David Bivin went to study at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Armed with a Yashica-D medium-format camera, Bivin traveled the land of Israel and the surrounding regions taking photographs of biblical sites, archaeological excavations, and everyday scenes. Today these photographs provide a window on a land that has changed radically, as a result of the construction of cities, the Six Day War, and the unification of Jerusalem … The collection includes photographs of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Greece, and Rome.

The Photo CD is on sale for only $20 from now until October 31 (free shipping in the U.S.). Click here to see a sample of “then and now” shots from the collection.

Now to get a sense of how massive this was, take a look at the illustration below, showing the entire Temple Mount. According to many scholars, the corner closest to you is the “pinnacle of the Temple” where Satan tempted Jesus — a frighteningly high point that created a 450-foot drop down to the valley below (essentially equivalent to standing on top of a 45-story building and being dared to jump). It was probably near this place — in front of the Royal Stoa — that Jesus cleansed the Temple from moneychangers who were turning a place of prayer into a den of thieves.

                                    (Click image to enlarge)

From the Christian Post:

Archaeologists unearthed in Jordan what they believe to be the world’s first church, according to a report Monday.

“We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 AD to 70 AD,” said Abdul Qader al-Hussan, the head of Jordan’s Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies, to The Jordan Times …

Hussan said his team has evidence to believe “this church sheltered the early Christians – the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ.” These 70 early Christians are said to have fled persecution in Jerusalem, particularly to Rihab, and founded churches in northern Jordan …

The underground church has been described as a cave with several stone seats believed to have been for the clergy and a circular shaped area, thought to be the apse – an area which usually contains the altar.

HT: BiblePlaces Blog

Sounds, archaeological finds and scientific hypotheses all play major roles in an exhibition entitled “Sounds of Ancient Music,” which opened last week at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. Focusing on musical developments in ancient Sumeria, Babylon, Assyria and other cultures of the Ancient Near East, through the periods of the Kingdom of Judea, Greece and the Roman Empire, the exhibition features 137 objects – among them, rare musical instruments that have been preserved from antiquity, as well as full-sized replicas of instruments from those early eras …

Visitors to the exhibition are invited to listen to a trumpet being blown the way the researchers believe it sounded in the courtyard of the Temple. There are also earlier finds on hand – for example, a flute from the Chalcolithic period (the Copper Age, 4,300-3,300 B.C.E.), one of the oldest wind instruments discovered in all of the Near East …

Multimedia stations have been set up in the museum so as to enable visitors to virtually “play” such ancient instruments as the lyre, the flute and drums. Dozens of digital music players provide an audio guide in Hebrew and English with a highlight tour of the exhibition, peppered with the musical interludes based on the sounds of ancient instruments.

HT: BiblePlaces Blog

“You can’t do archaeology in Israel without the Bible.” (Dr. Aren Maier)

“Serious scholars, even if they’re not believers, even if they do not think this is a sacred text, still consider it to be history, because things match up so well … As it’s coming together, there isn’t anything to contradict or anything to make me wary of the testimony of Scripture.” (Dr. Steven Ortiz)

“I can’t ignore the Bible because the Bible is our main text relating to the periods that we excavate … I need some texts to refer to, and the Bible is, of course, the main one.” (Dr. Amihai Mazar)

“You cannot exclude the Bible from archaeology in this part of the country, in this particular period. You can, but then you are missing a very, very important tool … And you are missing not only this, then you are dealing with pots and pans and bones and dust. You lose the soul.” (Dr. Amnon Ben Tor)

(Note: Dr. Gabriel Barkay is also interviewed.)

There is more on the video. If you’ve got three minutes, I encourage you to visit SourceFlix and listen to these men talk on site about their work in archaeology and the Bible.

HT: BiblePlaces Blog