Archaeological News Roundup

After a month-long hiatus from posting (brought on by heavy time commitments), here are a few recent archaeological/biblical bits that jumped off the page:

• “17 Lost Egyptian Pyramids Discovered From Space” – Almost sounds like a plot line for a sci-fi television series, but this describes the real-life use of high-res satellites to “see” dense mud bricks in the looser earth. Images revealed square outlines below the current ground surface. Initial excavations have turned up foundations for long-forgotten pyramids. Nice!
• “Exploring the Genesis of the King James Version” – A quote from the article: “The words are so familiar that some believers may think that’s how God actually talks. Here, then, is an overview of how this world-changing work came to be.” (HT: PaleoJudaica)
• “Israel Finkelstein Revises his Dating” – This newsletter summarizes a session at the 2010 SBL meeting in Atlanta where Prof. Finkelstein adjusted his dating for the Iron I/Iron II transition (King David in the Bible) back to 950 B.C. For years, Finkelstein has put it around 920-900 B.C. He now moves the transition up to half a century closer to the biblical chronology of ca. 1000 B.C.  “Archaeologists working elsewhere in the southern Levant have found the comparatively short period of Iron Age II problematic because it was difficult to compress their Iron Age II levels into it. …Now that Finkelstein is digging at Megiddo, where there is a significant depth of Iron Age II material, he realises that the period was longer and that an earlier date for the start of Iron Age II is necessary.”  Some will automatically caution against making much of this, but it is certainly worthy of mention. Finkelstein now puts the initial transition to an Israelite monarchy in Solomon’s lifetime, not after it. (HT: Todd Bolen)

Luke Chandler with Prof. Israel Finkelstein at Megiddo in July, 2010. Photo by Royce Chandler.

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