Jun
06
2007
The recent unveiling at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem of an Exodus fragment which may date to the 7th or 8th century CE is getting quite a bit of media coverage. The most recent article at Artdaily.org includes an excellent picture of the first few verses of Exodus 15. The text visible in the image is identical to the consonants of the MT (colored red below; the layout may not reflect the pagination of the fragment).
MT:
Exodus Fragment:
The final verses of “the Song of the Sea” from the Leningrad Codex:
As always Jim Davila is on top of the story here and here.
May
21
2007
Reuters reports the discovery of a well-preserved tomb south of Cairo belonging to an Egyptian courtier, named Henu, dating to the First Intermediate Period.
Belgian archaeologists have discovered the intact tomb of an Egyptian courtier who lived about 4,000 years ago, Egypt's culture ministry said on Sunday.
The team from Leuven Catholic University accidentally found the tomb, one of the best preserved of its time, while excavating a later burial site at the Deir al-Barsha necropolis near the Nile Valley town of Minya, south of Cairo.
The tomb belonged to Henu, an estate manager and high-ranking official during the first intermediate period, which lasted from 2181 to 2050 BC and was a time of political chaos in ancient Egypt.
May
07
2007
According to Haaretz.com (also here) and AP, King Herod's grave site was found at the Herodium (Google Map, description of the site with more photos) near Jerusalem by Hebrew University Professor Ehud Nezar:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced Monday night that it has uncovered the grave and tomb of King Herod, who ruled Judea for the Roman empire from circa 37 BCE.
According to a press release from the Hebrew University, the news of the archeological find at Herodium was to be announced Tuesday morning at a special news conference, and was to be kept secret until then, but the discovery by Haaretz of the story had led to the premature announcement.
(HT: Gath weblog via JW)
UPDATE:
Official Hebrew University Press Release
Apr
19
2007
The never coy, hardly ever boring, always insightful Jim West introduces us, once again, to "Bullgeschichte" interpretation. Check it out!
Mar
31
2007
As I am not keeping up with the biblio-blogosphere, I am unsure if anyone else has linked to this presentation on the construction of the Great Pyramid. The main theorist, Jean-Pierre Houdin, is a French architect (download the .pdf of the whole story). Generally, he employs the idea of an internal spiral ramp for the construction of the top two-thirds of the structure. An internal site crane controlled by counterweights also factors into the construction of the internal tomb. I will leave the evaluation of the said theory to the experts. In the mean time you can find a cursory report and excellent VIDEO on the website: http://khufu.3ds.com/.
Excerpt from the website:
The secret of the construction of the pyramid of Khufu in Egypt has always held people in fascination. Numerous theories have been put forward but none has yet stood up to analysis. Eight years ago, the architect Jean-Pierre Houdin had a flash of intuition and developed a revolutionary theory. Considering Khufu' monumental undertaking as the first industrial construction project in history, he turned to Dassault Systèmes technology to test his hypotheses and feed his thought processes. So it was that he joined the 'Passion for Innovation' programme. Having demonstrated the validity of the theory with the aid of their scientific 3D solutions, Dassault Systèmes invite you to enjoy an extraordinary journey through time and space. Relive the Great Pyramid construction project in real-time 3D!
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