AncientNearEast.net

Exciting news announced today in Jerusalem by Yossi Garfinkel: the summer excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa have turned up what promises to be the oldest Hebrew text yet found. (Aren Maier, of course, tipped us off that this news was coming a few weeks back on the ANE-2 bulletin board). As is to be expected, the announcement has generated much interest and early debate… Much more to follow, no doubt!

‘Oldest Hebrew script’ is found (BBC)

News just in that the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East will be held in my adopted home base of London, from the 12th to the 16th April 2010. 7ICAANE will be jointly hosted by the British Museum and the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Consult the ICAANE web site for more details.

Couldn’t concentrate on my writing, so went along to the British Museum this afternoon. I was glad I did, as I’d been meaning to see the Hadrian exhibition before it closes: the last day of the exhibition is Sunday 26 October 2008. If you’re in London—or planning to be—over the next 3 days, I’d highly recommend taking it in.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

Hadrian's lover Antinous, depicted as the Egyptian deity Osiris

Bronze head and torso of Hadrian from Tel Shalem, Israel

Welcome to AncientNearEast.net. This site has been in operation—in one form or another—since August of the year 2000. As of autumn 2008, the site is undergoing another transformation and—after several months of hibernation—discovering a new life.