Biblical Archaeology Review, September 1977

Have the legendary gold mines of King Solomon been found? In the past year, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that they may have found King Solomon’s mines at Mahd adh Dhahab, an ancient mine in central Saudi Arabia between Mecca and Medina. The New York Times quoted Dr. Robert Luce, one of the geologists […]

Isaiah 40:18 asks: “To whom can you liken El? What likeness can you compare him to?” (Similar questions are posed in Isaiah 40:25 and 46:5.) The questions are rhetorical. The prophet’s point is that God is incomparable. As the verses following Isaiah 40:18 explain, it is absurd to make an image of God. Many […]

The first BAR trip to Egypt, Jordan and Israel was a rousing success.

Digging into archaeological sites will probably not yield any philatelic finds, but digging into postage stamps will often yield a good deal about archaeology. Thus, Biblical archaeology buffs may be interested in a series of five stamps recently released by the Israel Philatelic Services entitled “Archaeology In Jerusalem.” The stamps, tabs and First Day […]

This is in response to your article in the March 1977 issue about alleged bama at Beer-Sheva (“Yigael Yadin Finds a Bama at Beer-Sheva,” BAR 03:01).

“Temples and High Places in Biblical Times” was the subject of Jerusalem colloquium held last spring to commemorate the centennial of the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. A distinguished group of archaeologists and Biblical scholars from all over the world—from as far away as Australia—gathered to deliver papers and offer comments. Dr. […]

Anson Rainey’s eulogy to Yohanan Aharoni (“Yohanan Aharoni—The Man and His Work,” BAR 02:04) notes Aharoni’s refusal to “bow down and worship at the balk.”a As one who has helped remove more than one balk, I appreciate Aharoni’s flexibility. I note with interest too, his openness to new evidence and his refusal to waste […]

Many of Israel’s archaeological sites—among them Tell Dan, Gezer, Beit Yerach, Tell Mor, Beit Shean, Ashdod, the citadel at Ramat Rachel and the temple at Nahariya—are being slowly destroyed by the elements because after excavation they were not preserved and restored.

Let me relieve your embarrassment at reading and enjoying Robert Payne’s “The Splendor of the Holy Land—Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon”a True, it is far below the level of most BAR readers. The author deals with four countries and a host of civilizations in a bare 190 pages printed in easy-to-read (i.e. large) type. And […]

The Buqe’ah (pronounced like a French “bouquet” with a short “a” added at the end) is an isolated basin about a mile and a half wide and 5 miles long at the confluence of several major wadies (dry river beds) in the midst of the Judean wilderness, about three miles west of the Dead […]