Though there is no doubt that crucifixion, well attested in literature, was a form of torture and execution in the Roman Empire (and other cultures); however, there is almost no evidence, in terms of physical human remains, of the practice. Forbes has an article (using information from an article in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences) which highlights the discovery of only the second set of human remains bearing the marks of crucifixion. This discovery was made in Italy. Previously, the only other remains had been found outside of Jerusalem in 1968, in an ossuary bearing the name: Yehohanon ben Hagkol.
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Machaerus Ostraca being translated by Dr. Christopher Rollston
Dr. Christopher Rollston is working on translating ostraca inscriptions found at Machaerus. Machaerus is the site where, according to tradition, John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded under the reign of Herod Antipas. The location is in Jordan. Read a tiny bit more about Machaerus, the ostraca, and the work at the George Washington University link.
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Assyrian Astronomical Tablets Contain Earliest Known Reference to Aurora Glow
From Live Science:
Continue readingThe descriptions, written in cuneiform, were found on three stone tablets, dating from 655 B.C. to 679 B.C. They predate other known historical references to auroras by about a century, researchers reported in a new study.
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Unique 3000 Year-Old Assyrian Seal Found in Turkey
The Archaeology News Network and the DailySabah websites have info on the discovery. Here’s a snippet from the DailySabah website:
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Israel Antiquities Authority showcases Beit Shemesh “Gloriorius Martyr” Church
The Israeli Antiquities Authority showcased information about the excavation of a sixth-century Byzantine church in Beit Shemesh with an exhibit at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. The excavations were directed by Benjamin
Here’s a snippet about the excavation of the church structure from the full article:
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Ein Asawir (En Esur): 5000 year old city in the news
Several different news outlets (MSN, HaAretz, UPI, and others) are carrying the story from the Israeli Antiquities Authority press release about excavations at Ein Asawir (En Esur) of a large 5000 year old city in the north of modern day Israel (southeast of Haifa, in the Sharon plain). The 5000 year old city was also apparently built on another city/village which was inhabited 2000 years earlier, and this earlier city apparently included a temple structure. According to the reports, the location “spanned 160 acres and is estimated to have had 6,000 inhabitants.”
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Great National Geographic Article on the city of Jerash
Jerash, located in modern Jordan, was one of the “10 Cities”, the Decapolis, mentioned in the Gospels (see references to Decapolis here and specific mentions of Jerash [Gerasa] here). National Geographic, as always, does a fantastic job of of a visual presentation, with photos and reconstructions of the ancient city, as well as giving an overview of the history of the location. I have yet to visit Jerash, but I hope to in the near future.
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Tin from 13th-12th century BCE locations on the Eastern Mediterranean may have originated in England
A team has reached some fascinating conclusions in their research into the sources of tin at sites 13th and 12th centalong the eastern Mediterranean coast:
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New research of Nabataean sites in Saudi Arabia
A BBC article about new archeological surveys of Nabataean sites in northern Saudi Arabia. The Nabataeans are best known today for the ruins at Petra.
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Amid Chaos, Discoveries Are Being Made In Iraq
According to reports in LiveScience, new archeological discoveries related to the Urartians, Scythians, and Assyrians are being made in the northern ares of Iraq (in Kurdistan). This comes in the midst of the political and social conflicts in the region: Continue reading
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