Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines
“Our analysis suggests that this genetic distinction is due to a European-related gene flow introduced in Ashkelon during either the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age. This timing is in accord with estimates of the Philistines arrival to the coast of the Levant, based on archeological and textual records (2–4).”
Michal Feldman et al., Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines. Sci. Adv.5, eaax0061 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0061
Long-lost Assyrian military camp devastated by ‘the angel of the Lord’ finally found, scientist claims
“At the British Museum in London, there is a relief depicting the siege of Lachish, and it shows the Assyrian camp. Stephen Compton, an independent scholar who specializes in Near Eastern Archaeology, compared this relief to photos from the early to mid-20th century which show Lachish. He identified a site north of Lachish with an oval shaped structure with walls that he thinks may have been the Assyrians’ camp.”
Coin hoard from time of the Gallus Revolt unearthed in Lod
“The Gallus Revolt was an uprising by the Jews of Roman Palaestina against the rule of Constantius Gallus (brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II) during the Roman civil war of AD 350–353.
The uprising was in response to the persecution of non-Christians by Constantius and the Christian clergy, who incited riots and destroyed Jewish synagogues and temples.”
Coin hoard from time of the Gallus Revolt unearthed in Lod
“_The Gallus Revolt was an uprising by the Jews of Roman Palaestina against the rule of Constantius Gallus (brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II) during the Roman civil war of AD 350–353.
The uprising was in response to the persecution of non-Christians by Constantius and the Christian clergy, who incited riots and destroyed Jewish synagogues and temples._”
Biblical Gilgal: A Common Place Name or a Cult Site near Jericho?
“Gilgal was a national cult centre of the Kingdom of Israel, and in several references its name appears alongside that of Bethel (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Kgs 2:1–2; Hos 4:15; 12:12; Amos 4:4; 5:4–5). Bethel, located in the highlands, was the seat of a national temple (see Amos 7:13) and the place where the golden calf, the animal sacred to the Storm God, represented the God of Israel in his temple.”
Assyrian conquest and ruralization: unveiling territorial dynamics in the provinces of Magiddû and Samerina
“This study has illustrated that the Assyrian territorial strategy implemented in the provinces of Magiddû and Samerina, established upon the remnants of the Kingdom of Israel, manifested as clusters of sites, termed ‘islands of control’. These ‘islands’ comprised a rural landscape overseen by the principal cities of Tel Dan, Megiddo and Samaria. This territorial approach mirrors a broader modus operandi adopted by the Assyrians across their empire to manage agricultural production.”
Squitieri, A. (2024) ‘Assyrian conquest and ruralization: unveiling territorial dynamics in the provinces of Magiddû and Samerina’, Levant, pp. 1–20. doi: https://www.doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2024.2351677.
“Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back to this period, making it essential viewing for understanding Britain’s legacy in the region and the situation on the ground today.”
#Video length: eighteen minutes and thrity seconds.
“Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back to this period, making it essential viewing for understanding Britain’s legacy in the region and the situation on the ground today.”
#Video length: eighteen minutes and thrity seconds.
“Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back to this period, making it essential viewing for understanding Britain’s legacy in the region and the situation on the ground today.”
#Video length: eighteen minutes and thrity seconds.
“The extent to which the worship of Baal and Asherah affected Israel’s understanding of Yahweh is seen in the inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud. Jezebel was not fully responsible for the ongoing worship of Canaanite deities in Israel and Judah but her reign gave legitimacy to the long held tendency.”
Dolan, M. (2024) “Jezebel: A Hebrew Disaster”, Buried History: The Journal of the Australian Institute of Archaeology, 40, pp. 39–48. https://doi.org/10.62614/7d25h288
"Both sugar trade and spice trade were economic foundations of early European geographic expansion and colonial capitalism. Frankish settlement in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Syria-Palestine may be seen as, arguably, the earliest example of colonial capitalism, preceding early sixteenth-century Portuguese conquests of spice-trading coastal outposts of India, south-east Asia and the Arabian peninsula."