Minhagim, Venice, 1593, BM700.I818 1593, Fol. 73v – Purim.
Persian Period
The Galilee Boat—2,000-Year-Old Hull Recovered Intact, Shelley Wachsmann, BAR 14:05, Sep/Oct 1988
A severe drought gripped Israel in 1985 and 1986. The winter rains barely came. Water was pumped from the Sea of Galilee to irrigate parched fields throughout the country. Predictably, the Kinneret (the Hebrew name of the freshwater inland lake also known as the Sea of Galilee) shrank. Wide expanses of lakebed, normally covered with […]
Persian Period, 537-332 BCE
Highlights- Cyrus Cylinder, c. 535 BCE The Passover Papyrus from Elephantine, 419 BCE The Elephantine Temple, 407 BCE Yehud Coin 1, 4th century BCE Overview Overview- Jews in the Persian Period (520-332 BCE) …and the Rise 537, Teddy Kollek and Moshe Pearlman, Jerusalem- Sacred City of Mankind, Steimatzky Ltd., Jerusalem, 1991. Biblical History- Jeremiah, Ezra […]
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, 285-247 BCE
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the lighthouse was built at the port of Alexandria, Egypt. Completed in about 279 B.C. by the second Ptolemy, the lighthouse soared to a height of 300 to 500 feet, the equivalent of a modern 40-story building; it was the tallest structure ever made until the […]
Big City, Few People, David Ussishkin, Biblical Archaeology Review (31:4), Jul/Aug 2005.
Jerusalem in the Persian Period I would like to take a somewhat radical, maximalist view of the size of Jerusalem when the Israelites (or, more precisely, the Judahites) returned from the Babylonian Exile and restored the city walls, as described in the Book of Nehemiah. There is no doubt that the walls of the city […]
Maagan Michael Ship, 4th-5th century BCE
Maagan Michael Ship In 1985 a kibbutznik named Ami Eshel of Kibbutz Ma‘agan Mikhael was diving not far from the beach of the kibbutz, 20 miles south of Haifa, when he noticed an unusual pile of rocks with a beam of blackened wood protruding from it. This was, it turned out, what fellow-kibbutz-member Elisha Linder […]
Fruits of the Sea, Michael R. Shurkin, Biblical Archaeology Review (30:5), Sep/Oct 2004.
with reporting by Suzanne F. Singer and Judith Sudilovsky The Ma‘agan Mikhael Ship- The Recovery of a 2,400-Year-Old Merchantman Edited by Eve Black (Jerusalem- Israel Exploration Society and the University of Haifa, 2003), 268 pp. plus fold-out diagrams. $72. Available through BAS; call 1–800-221–4644. Please add $13 for shipping from Israel. In 1985 a kibbutznik […]
When Palestine Meant Israel, David Jacobson, Biblical Archaelogy Review (27:3), May/Jun 2001.
Most people assume that the name Palestine derives from “Land of the Philistines” (Peleshetin the Hebrew Bible; see Psalms 60-10; Isaiah 14-29, 31), via the Greek Palaistinê and the Latin Palaestina. But there is evidence, both philological and geographical, that questions this traditional attribution. The name Palestine, surprisingly, may have originated as a Greek pun […]
Oxus Treasure, 5th-4th century BCE
Oxus Treasure Gold model chariot found with 150 gold and silver artifacts and 1,500 coins on the banks of the Oxus River, on the northern border of modern Afghanistan. The Oxus treasure is the most important collection of silver and gold to have survived from the Achaemenid period. See also- WorldWide- Oxus River Valley, BAR […]
WorldWide: Oxus River Valley, Biblical Archaeology Review (24:2), Mar/Apr 1998.
A Persian nobleman enjoys the view from his chariot as his driver takes control of the reins. Made of solid gold, the 4-inch-long chariot model was reportedly found in 1877 with 150 gold and silver artifacts and 1,500 coins on the banks of the Oxus River, on the northern border of modern Afghanistan. The Oxus […]