September 2008 Archives
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September 30, 2008
I Need Help Finding A Crownwork
I'm looking for an illustration of a crownwork or screening wall (I know they are not exactly the same thing) from the Iron Age Near East or preferably earlier. Something from the Middle Bronze Age would be best but I'm...Read all of "I Need Help Finding A Crownwork"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:25 PM
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September 29, 2008
Good Math on Bad Loans
One of my favorite non-ancient Near East blogs is Mark Chu-Carroll's Good Math, Bad Math. But like all my reading, I sometimes get a little behind in reading Mark's posts. Last Tuesday, Mark wrote a post called Bad Probability and...Read all of "Good Math on Bad Loans"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:28 PM
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September 27, 2008
Back to the Threshing Floor
It had been a long time since I thought about the actual excavations during the 1971 season at Gezer. Most of my memories of that summer revolve around my family who were with me in Israel but not at the...Read all of "Back to the Threshing Floor"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:48 PM
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September 26, 2008
Friday Loanword: nikkassu
Nik(k)assu is a rather common Akkadian word with a meaning in the semantic range of "account," "accounting," or the mathematical result of a calculation, but by Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian times, while retaining the earlier connotations in some contexts, it came...Read all of "Friday Loanword: nikkassu"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:01 PM
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September 25, 2008
Four Stone Hearth #50 Is Up
Yann Klimentidis has published Four Stone Hearth #50 on Yann Klimentidis' Weblog. Where else would he post it? While this anthropology carnival covers a wide range of topics, I found the roundup of posts on Neanderthals abnormally interesting. Go see...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #50 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:38 AM
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September 24, 2008
What Does It Say and How Does It Say It?
I've been spending a little time studying the various tablets that support the possibility, even probability, that Ashurbanipal was literate. Alasdair Livingstone worked with the most important of them in his 2007 study. A short, fragmentary, letter struck me as...Read all of "What Does It Say and How Does It Say It?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:39 PM
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September 23, 2008
New Season, New Music
I intended to post this yesterday morning but yesterday and today were both abnormal, not bad, just abnormal. The Fall, 2008 concert season started Sunday at Pomona College. Shirley and I go to every one of these performances that we...Read all of "New Season, New Music"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:50 PM
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September 21, 2008
Terrible, Unexcusable
But who or what caused it? No one seems to remember. Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, told Tom Brokaw of Meet the Press this morning, What has gone on here is terrible, it's unexcusable, and we need to deal...Read all of "Terrible, Unexcusable "
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:23 PM
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September 20, 2008
Another Bad Ancient Picture
This is our son and daughter sitting on the platform insulation that Avraham Biran discovered inside the Iron Age gate at tel Dan. I took this picture in 1973, before the reconstruction of the area. One of the decorated...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 6:49 PM
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September 19, 2008
Friday Loanword: nakkamtu
Three Akkadian variants representing differing dialects all mean treasure house, storehouse or the like. Nakkamtu is the Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian spelling; nakkandu (nakām/wati plural) is Standard Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian; nakkantu is Neo-Assyrian. The Neo-Babylonian plural is...Read all of "Friday Loanword: nakkamtu "
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:37 PM
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September 18, 2008
Why Was This On The News?
Okay, so it's bad news. More than half of all adults, including one in five of those who say they are not religious, believe that they have been protected by a guardian angel during their life, according to a new...Read all of "Why Was This On The News?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:38 PM
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Gezer VII To Be Published
I emailed Joe Seger to get his permission to do a post on a strange wall from field II at Gezer. As an area supervisor, I excavated it in 1973. It hasn't been published and Joe, as Gezer Phase II...Read all of "Gezer VII To Be Published"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:00 PM
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September 17, 2008
At Least The View Was Great
The other day I said that the toilet facilities at Gezer "were too fierce to photograph." Well, it appears that I was wrong. Now that I look at them I was correct, they were too fierce to photograph. I think...Read all of "At Least The View Was Great"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:19 PM
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September 16, 2008
Avraham Biran Dead at Nearly 99
Todd Bolen posted the following sad note from David Ilan. It is my sad duty to inform you that Prof. Avraham Biran passed away last night. He was one month shy of his 99th birthday. Avraham Biran, a third generation...Read all of "Avraham Biran Dead at Nearly 99"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:23 PM
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September 15, 2008
Creationism and Intelligent Design
according to the British and Foreign Bible Society: The British and Foreign Bible Society has just released "The Bible Style Guide." It's targeted at journalists and broadcasters to assist them in answering basic questions about the Bible and related topics....Read all of "Creationism and Intelligent Design"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:36 PM
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September 14, 2008
A Rare Sight on Site
Here is a picture of part the granary from field VI area 4 at Gezer. I took it during the 1971 excavation season. What's so rare about this picture? It shows Bill Dever working. I'm very sure that it's Bill...Read all of "A Rare Sight on Site"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:39 PM
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September 13, 2008
Oops, Four Stone Hearth #49 Has Been Up A Couple of Days
I almost missed Four Stone Hearth #49. Anyway, it's up at A Hot Cup of Joe. The clan is a little depleted but those that did show up had some abnormally interesting tales to tell. My only excuse for being...Read all of "Oops, Four Stone Hearth #49 Has Been Up A Couple of Days"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:52 PM
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September 12, 2008
Friday Loanword: maškattu
Akkadian maškattu means "account, deposit, storehouse" or the like. In the plural it is maškanātu. Maškattu is well attested in Old Akkadian, Old Assyrian, Middle Babylonian, Standard Babylonian and Neo-Babylonia. But it is unattested in both Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian...Read all of "Friday Loanword: maškattu"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:46 PM
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The Ultimate Teaser
Writing about a "show and tell" by Yossi Garfinkel and Saar Ganorthe, excavators of Khirbet Qeiyafa, here is part of what Aren Maeir reported on the ANE-2 list. This absolutely fantastic, fortified Iron Age site (late Iron I/early Iron IIA)...Read all of "The Ultimate Teaser"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:25 PM
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September 10, 2008
It's A Legend, So Pass It On To The Kids
AP is running the story of a legend concerning a cemetery marked by signs reading "The Graveyard of our mother Eve." Some pilgrims and locals apparently believe that the tomb of Eve was once there. The legend goes back to...Read all of "It's A Legend, So Pass It On To The Kids"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:32 PM
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September 9, 2008
The Old Camp Ground
This is west side of the 1973 Gezer excavation camp looking north. Well, I think it was 1973 but it might have been 1971. The camp layout didn't change much from year to year. The men's luxury suites are on...Read all of "The Old Camp Ground"
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September 8, 2008
A New Toy and Some Old Memories
I've been playing with this new toy. It scans 35mm slides to JPEG files. Between us, Shirley and I have hundreds, maybe thousands, of 35 mm slides. Some are as old as the mid fifties. While we still have a...Read all of "A New Toy and Some Old Memories"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:42 PM
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September 7, 2008
NT Wrong on a Myth of Archaeology and The Bible.
Get over to NT Wrong's blog and read his two posts on "The Myth: ‘Archaeology cannot prove/disprove the Bible’". My usual quibbles about "proof" apply, but NT addressed them in an earlier post. While I don't think avoiding the word...Read all of "NT Wrong on a Myth of Archaeology and The Bible."
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:28 PM
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September 6, 2008
Post It
In general, I don't use this space to make fun of dear and much loved friends or to highlight my upcoming birthdays. But when opportunities coincide, who can resist. Last Thursday Shirley and I had lunch with several friends. Since...
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:15 PM
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September 5, 2008
Friday Loanword: malāḫu
Akkadian malāḫu is a well attested word meaning "sailor" or "boatman" It is itself a loan into Akkadian from Sumerian MÁ-LAḪ4, "boat-bringers(?)." The Akkadian word is used to mean "sailor" from the Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian times on. The...Read all of "Friday Loanword: malāḫu"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:34 PM
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September 3, 2008
Neolithic Trade
Trade has had a significant place in the history of the Levant, indeed the history on humankind. Continuing excavations at Kfar Hahoresh in Nazareth hills of the lower Galilee provide evidence for trade in the Neolithic period. Reports have placed...
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:08 PM
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September 2, 2008
News Report of 2008 Excavations at Oymaağaç in Turkey
The Turkish Daily News has an abnormally interesting report on the ongoing excavations "at the Oymaağaç mound in the Black Sea city of Samsun's Vezirköprü district." Like many such reports, this one almost tells us something useful. According to Zimmermann...Read all of "News Report of 2008 Excavations at Oymaağaç in Turkey"
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September 1, 2008
Another Relevancy in the Election
Senator Obama is correct that the comments about Governor Palin's family are not relevant. I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be...Read all of "Another Relevancy in the Election"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:22 PM
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The Rant That Never Was
I wasted some time this morning drafting a rant on a something I found quite disturbing while many others thought it praiseworthy. The fact that others found what disturbed me praiseworthy isn't why I'm not ranting about it. That would...Read all of "The Rant That Never Was"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:52 PM
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