Some of you may have heard about the new BYU excavations at the Fag el-Gamous necropolis in Egypt. Because the area is so large (300 acres) and the mummies recovered at buried in mass graves (these are commoners of the Roman era through Late Antiquity), some...
archaeology
Two Reviews of Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein’s Minimalist Approach to Monarchic Israel
The Biblical Archaeology Society's Bible History Daily website recently featured two reviews of Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein's new book, The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel (Ancient Near East Monographs). Both have value...
The Racism of the Ancient Astronaut Theory
Readers will know that I've long thought the ancient astronaut theory is tinged with racist thinking. (Think about it -- the AA theory says Egyptians and various South American civilizations couldn't possibly have built their pyramids and temples -- they needed alien...
Just in Time for Christmas: David C. Brown’s Catalogue for Books in Egyptology and Other Ancient Near Eastern Studies
David C. Brown / Oxbow Books is perhaps the "go to" site and catalog for finding books related to ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian, Israel, and other civilizations of the ancient Near East. They have hundreds of titles in each area -- lots of stuff you won't find anywhere...
Archaeologists Discover the House of Elisha – Not So Fast
I'd encourage readers to check out this worthwhile post from Todd Bolen of the Bible Places blog. It's a measured, coherent response to a sensationalist claim reported by CBN. The archaeologist involved (Ami Mazar) and epigrapher Stephen Pfann (a friend of mine) are...
Discoveries of Giants and Giant Human Remains – Stretching the Truth or Just Tall Tales?
Jason Colavito has written some recent pieces on presumed discoveries of giant human specimens. Often such reports are simply not what they claim to be - evidence is misunderstood or even fabricated, or reports get garbled and transformed in transmission. Here are two...
Los Lunas Lunacy
At times I am asked about the evidence for ancient (Jewish) visitation to the Americas. Part of what prompts the question is inscriptional "evidence" like the Los Lunas stone. (Other parts are British Israelite and Mormon apologetic leanings). While I'm not one who...
Simcha Jacobovici Sues Archaeologist Joe Zias
You can read the story here. In a nutshell, Jacobovici is torqued that Zias' criticisms of the former's archaeological claims as erroneous and goofy have cost him money. Since Zias (unlike me) is a professional archaeologist, his criticisms about Jacobovici's...
Doodling and Chicken Scratch of the Gods
It's been a while since I posted anything about the Nazca lines. Fortunately, some thoughtful material has appeared this year online that I thought worth sharing (translation: the analyses at the links below didn't come from the History Channel's Ancient Aliens...
Archaeology and the Queen of Sheba
I've seen a couple news items in the last several days about the possible discovery of a gold mine that archaeologists suspect may be associated with the biblical story of the Queen of Sheba. Examples include this story and this post from the Bible Places blog. This...
Giant Mistaken Identity
Hard to believe, but it's been three years since I blogged about Adrienne Mayor's book explaining references to giant skeletons and bones in ancient classical authors (The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times). It's highly recommended. Tonight I...
The Talpiot Jesus Tomb
An emailer asked me about this today, and I was quite surprised that I had never posted this paper I wrote on the so-called Jesus tomb. I blogged about the tomb back in 2008, but I never posted this link (at least that I could find quickly). So, here it is.
PseudoScience and the Ohio Serpent Mound
An interesting discussion on this over at the "Hot Cup of Joe" blog, which focuses on archaeology and anthropology. Check it out for some holiday PaleoBabble!
Ancient Elongated Skulls: Alien Remains?
Nope. For those who'd like a longer answer, read on. We've all heard people on radio talk shows go on and on about the "mysterious" elongated skulls from South America. There are those who say that scientists and scholars refuse to look at this evidence, or that the...
More Noah’s Flood Nonsense
This is Paleobabble on several levels. Editor's note: content from the link reproduced here:From The Biblia Hebraica Blog: "Proof" of Noah's Flood Discovered ... Again, originally posted on Dec. 10, 2008: "Proof" of Noah's Flood Discovered ... Again Great news,...