Archaeology Archive
September 1, 2010
Moabite(?) Temple Discovered
AP is reporting that archaeologists have uncovered an Iron Age II temple (8th century) at Khirbat 'Ataroz near the town of Mabada in Jordan. Among the finds is a four legged zoomorphic figure that Ziad Al-Saad, head of the Jordanian...Read all of "Moabite(?) Temple Discovered"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:00 PM
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Claremont Colleges Digital Library And What Isn’t In It
Charles Jones at The Ancient World Online reports on the antiquity related material available from the Claremont Colleges Digital Library. While I was generally aware of these collections and for several years of my life worked within a few feet...Read all of "Claremont Colleges Digital Library And What Isn’t In It"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:17 PM
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August 19, 2010
Four Stone Hearth - 1 Short of 100
"Four Stone Hearth #99: The last two-digit edition" is up at A Very Remote Period Indeed. Julien Riel-Salvatore pulled together an abnormally interesting collection of the last two weeks' anthropology posts. Abnormal readers will surely want to read Chris Feagans’...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth - 1 Short of 100"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:21 PM
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August 15, 2010
The Hazor Law Tablet Fragments A Surface Find
Gordon Franz reports that the much touted cuneiform law fragments from Hazor where surface finds. Robert Cargill asked the question on his blog: “Where was this in 2006 when I was digging there? lol.” The answer is quite simple: “Right...Read all of "The Hazor Law Tablet Fragments A Surface Find"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:46 PM
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August 12, 2010
The Phoenician City Of Aüza (re)Located(?)
Live Science (and others) reports, The site of an ancient city called Aüza, the earliest African city of the Phoenician civilization that existed 3,500 years ago, may have been in a different spot than experts have thought, archaeologists report. Scholars...Read all of "The Phoenician City Of Aüza (re)Located(?)"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:53 PM
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August 6, 2010
Divine Kingship
Do we get it at all? Steve Wiggins has an abnormally interesting post on divine kingship at Sects and Violence in the Ancient World part of which Jim Getz reflects on at Ketuvim. Both posts are well worth the read....Posted by Duane Smith at 3:06 PM
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August 5, 2010
Four Stone Hearth #98 Is Up
Raymond Ho has the 98th edition of the anthropology carnival Four Stone Hearth up at The Prancing Papio. While I found all his selections abnormally interesting, something really struck me about Martin Rundk’s post Future Archaeology of Gaming. When we...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #98 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:03 PM
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August 2, 2010
David, Jerusalem, And Other Underdetermined Questions
All the abnormally interesting problems in archaeology, philology, ancient literature and history, (modern literature and history too) are underdetermined. The more underdetermined they are, the more interesting they are. Answers to questions concerning Iron Age I/early Iron IIA Jerusalem and...Read all of "David, Jerusalem, And Other Underdetermined Questions"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:23 PM
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July 30, 2010
Archaeology And Computer Modeling
Inside Science has an article on using computer modeling in archaeology. The article begins, Making sense of the shards, scraps and other clues left behind by past societies compels archaeologists to study far-ranging topics, from agriculture to art and chemistry...Read all of "Archaeology And Computer Modeling"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:23 PM
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July 26, 2010
More(?) On The Hazor Fragments
The other day I reported on a short note concerning two small fragments of what apparently was a single cuneiform tablet uncovered at Hazor. Well, a little more news and some additional hype are now available. According to Wayne Horowitz,...Read all of "More(?) On The Hazor Fragments"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:38 PM
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July 22, 2010
Friends Of Tayinat
The excavations at Tell Ta’yinat in Southeastern Turkey are among the most exciting and significant of the several exciting and significant excavations currently in the field. Timothy Harrison, Project Director, has just announced Friends of Tayinat. Friends of Tayinat is,...Read all of "Friends Of Tayinat"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:18 PM
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July 12, 2010
Old Snails
Archaeo+Malacology Group Newsletter No. 17 is now available. Several of the short notes will be interesting to anyone with abnormal interests. I found Henk K. Mienis’s note on “Shells from Horvat 'Illin Tahtit, a late Early Bronze I site in...Posted by Duane Smith at 12:18 PM
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July 7, 2010
Kubaba
Kubaba is a new peer reviewed open access journal specializing in the Pre-Classical world of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. The Portuguese Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas - Universidade Nova de Lisboa publishes Kubaba. They accept papers...Posted by Duane Smith at 8:43 AM
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July 6, 2010
The Time Of My Life
The Global Arab Network is reporting on abnormally interesting work from Bronze and Iron Age strata at Tal al-Asharena in Syria. Archaeologists discovered lots of interesting domestic pottery in a Bronze Age mud brick building. Fun and potentially important stuff....Read all of "The Time Of My Life"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:31 PM
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June 26, 2010
Looting In Iraq
War and political instability bring in their wake many unintended consequences. Not uncommonly, among those consequences are the loss and destruction of shared cultural heritage. The New York Times tells a sad story from Iraq. To be sure, it’s not...Posted by Duane Smith at 9:40 AM
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June 24, 2010
Answers and Questions and Real Questions
One of the things Shirley and I do together almost every evening is watch Jeopardy. For the few who may not know the game, the contestants are supposed to provide questions that go with answer clues. Sometimes one or the...Read all of "Answers and Questions and Real Questions"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:40 PM
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June 22, 2010
Do We Still Have This Problem?
Recently two seemingly unrelated accounts struck me. The first comes from a paper by Barbara Nevling Porter, “Notes on the Role of Kings of the Sea in Esarhaddon’s Nineveh A Inscription.” If establishing Esarhaddon’s legitimacy in no uncertain terms was...Read all of "Do We Still Have This Problem?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:34 PM
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June 17, 2010
Closing In On An Absolute Chronology Of Dynastic Egypt
Below is the abstract of Christopher Bronk Ramsey et al’s new study of the chronology of dynastic Egypt. The paper is published in Science. The historical chronologies for dynastic Egypt are based on reign lengths inferred from written and archaeological...Read all of "Closing In On An Absolute Chronology Of Dynastic Egypt"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:42 PM
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June 16, 2010
Why I Am Thankful For Hershel Shanks
Hershel Shanks’ autobiography, Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls: And Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider, is out and Richard Bernstein has a little piece on Shanks and his autobiography in the New York Times. I likely won’t read Shanks’ autobiography....Read all of "Why I Am Thankful For Hershel Shanks"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:44 AM
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June 13, 2010
GT, BGT, GTY
I wish I had some time to research and comment on these Gath(ish) things. In a couple of recent posts Aren Maeir has called our attention to a bulla (“Belonging to Azar, son of Gitti”) and a Persian Period ostracon...Posted by Duane Smith at 8:37 PM
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June 12, 2010
Not Quite Squares
The first pictures from this season’s work at Megiddo reminded me of a rather weird “first day” during the 1973 season at Gezer. For a good part of the season a documentary film crew had been doing their thing. We...Read all of "Not Quite Squares"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:55 PM
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June 9, 2010
A Couple Of Overdue Archaeology Items
Between some personal stuff and some not so personal stuff, I’ve failed to comment on a couple of recent announcements. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to discuss them at the depth they deserve today either. First, and in my view...Read all of "A Couple Of Overdue Archaeology Items"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:07 PM
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June 2, 2010
Ooops
A sculpture that was originally identified as a 3,200-year-old piece of art and installed in a museum’s garden in Van – before it was revealed that the object was created in 2006 – has been returned to Erciş district. The...Posted by Duane Smith at 8:28 PM
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May 30, 2010
Later Occupations Of Ras Shamra
When we think of Ras Shamra, we generally think of the Late Bronze age city of Ugarit and all the wonderful tablets preserved there. But the tell was occupied on and off from as early as the Neolithic Period to...Read all of "Later Occupations Of Ras Shamra"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:13 AM
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May 27, 2010
Middle Assyrian “Cuneiforms” From Tell Qaber Abu al-Atiq
The Global Arab Network story seems somewhat garbled with confusion between the headline and the body of the article. Anyway, a Syrian-French team seems to be working at Dura Europos and a Syrian-Spanish team seems to be working at Tell...Read all of "Middle Assyrian “Cuneiforms” From Tell Qaber Abu al-Atiq"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:44 AM
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May 26, 2010
Water Systems In Text and Archaeology
The latest Journal of Near Eastern Studies is now available. The paper that most aroused my abnormal interests was Jonathan Kaplan’s “The Mesha Inscription and Iron Age II Water Systems.” A little background: in 1969, Yadin suggested a correlation between...Read all of "Water Systems In Text and Archaeology"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:52 PM
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May 19, 2010
Archaeomusicology
Via ABZU I just discovered a link to ARANE, The Archaeomusicological Review of the Ancient Near East, and the website for ICONEA (the International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology). The ARANE issue is from 2009. It has the following abnormally...Read all of "Archaeomusicology"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:13 PM
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May 14, 2010
It’s All Turkish Archaeology To Me
Chuck Jones reports that back issues of several open access Turkish archaeological journals are now available. Türk Arkeoloji Dergisi (1933-1997) Türk Etnografya Dergisi (1956-1997) Türk Arkeoloji ve Etnografya Dergisi Müze Çalışmaları ve Kurtarma Kazıları Sempozyumu Yayınları Kazı Sonuçları Toplantıları Arkeometri...Read all of "It’s All Turkish Archaeology To Me"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:15 AM
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May 10, 2010
The Discover of Cleopatra's Tomb: Is There News Or Is There No News?
Read the following two quotations and the articles from which I took them and see for yourself. A flamboyant archeologist known worldwide for his trademark Indiana Jones hat believes he has identified the site where Cleopatra is buried. Now, with...Read all of "The Discover of Cleopatra's Tomb: Is There News Or Is There No News? "
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:59 PM
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May 7, 2010
Pictures, Drawing, Plans Please
The Independent reports on fortifications at the Minoan town of Gournia. They describe what seems to be a rather complex fortification system but I sure wish there were more details. A drawing would be nice. I’m sure all that will...Read all of "Pictures, Drawing, Plans Please"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:13 PM
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Titles Only From Here On
May 2, 2010
Roman Pornography Halts Construction
April 23, 2010
Temple: Some Assembly Required
April 15, 2010
Four Stone Hearth Is Up, 90th Edition This Time
March 20, 2010
The Latest Anthropology Carnival Is Up
March 18, 2010
Another Book On My Reading List
March 3, 2010
History and Statistical Reasoning
February 22, 2010
A Big Wall Discovered in Jerusalem
February 19, 2010
Oh No, Not Again
February 17, 2010
Child Sacrifice at Carthage
February 1, 2010
Tales From Ancient Egypt: The Birth of Stories
January 27, 2010
Suppressing An Evil Thought About The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon
January 14, 2010
The Ivory Shell Fragment From Kuntillet 'Ajrud
January 13, 2010
Rollston On The Qeiyafa Inscription
January 8, 2010
How Much Weight Can An Inscription Bear?
January 6, 2010
An In-depth Study
December 31, 2009
Four Stone Hearth #83 Is Up
December 30, 2009
Imaging The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon
December 23, 2009
Biblical Archaeology In Perspective
November 21, 2009
Four Stone Hearth #80 Is Up
November 19, 2009
Statistically Orientated
November 10, 2009
The Lost Army Found?
November 9, 2009
Minoan Style Fresco Found at Tel Kabri
November 5, 2009
What's In An Egyptian Name?
October 31, 2009
Joe and Patty Seger
October 30, 2009
Babylonian Seal Found in Hyksos Egypt
October 23, 2009
A Temple of Adda at Aleppo
Bringing Back Memories
October 15, 2009
The Qeiyafa Inscription
October 14, 2009
Spreading Civilization
October 8, 2009
Four Stone Hearth – 77th Is Up
October 7, 2009
AVA/VA, BCE/CE, BC/AD or BP
September 21, 2009
Another Undisturbed Royal Crypt From Qatna, Syria
September 17, 2009
A Private Menagerie At Hierakonpolis?
September 2, 2009
A Middle Bronze II Wall Found At Jerusalem
August 27, 2009
Four Stone Hearth #74 Is Up
August 10, 2009
More News from Tell Tayinat: Tablets This Time
August 2, 2009
Postmortem On A Minor Blog Flurry
July 24, 2009
Massebot And All Those Gods and Goddesses
July 16, 2009
Four Stone Hearth #71 at Neuroanthropology
July 15, 2009
A Duck Rimmed Chalice from Tell es-Safi
July 14, 2009
Archaeomalacology
Psammetichus I's Fortress Unearthed in Egypt, Again
July 6, 2009
Epigraphy By The Numbers
July 5, 2009
It Looks Like I Joined the Wrong Club
June 29, 2009
A Short Brutal Life
June 27, 2009
4th Millennium Camel Cart From Turkmenistan
May 22, 2009
More on Rehydroxylation and Pottery Dating
May 21, 2009
Rehydroxylation, Pottery Dating And The Missing Paper
May 19, 2009
An Inscribed Jar Handle and a Seal
April 15, 2009
Something Worth Following: The Tayinat Excavations
April 11, 2009
What/Where Was Belit-nesheti's City?
April 6, 2009
Recent Discoveries Prove Noah Account
Update On Six Letters And A Word Divider
March 21, 2009
On the Role of the Head in an Argument
March 19, 2009
An Uncertainty I Can Believe In
March 17, 2009
Three Contentious Words
March 15, 2009
Plundering What Your Forefathers Built
March 10, 2009
On Having No Better Solution
March 5, 2009
Statutes of Amenhotep III Found
February 26, 2009
Serabit Al-Khadim Restoration Project
February 25, 2009
Lost and Found Kinglist Fragments
February 23, 2009
Seals and Abecedary from Umm Tuba
February 14, 2009
January 2009 Journal of Near Eastern Studies
January 25, 2009
An Amulet for Rakab-El
January 17, 2009
Snail Shells and Descent of Ištar
January 11, 2009
Ancient Near East Sites on Google Earth
January 1, 2009
Pseudo-Archaeological
December 11, 2008
Göbekli Tepe: Navel of the Earth Pot-bellied Hill
December 4, 2008
Charles Halton on Archaeology
December 3, 2008
Khirbet Qeiyafa, One More Time
December 2, 2008
New Study Confirms C14 Dating for the Eruption of Thera
November 30, 2008
The Kuttamuwa Stele: Another Preliminary Translation
November 29, 2008
Increasingly Improbable or Somewhat Less Probable?
November 24, 2008
The Kuttamuwa Stele (Again)
November 22, 2008
Four Stone Hearth Is Up