1152-1153 The Elah Fortress at Khirbet Qeiyafa

In my opinion, the most exciting archaeological discovery of the new century so far is at Khirbet Qeiyafa, the site that is now being called the Elah Fortress. It's not just the apparent oldest example of a Hebrew text that was found there (still being translated), but the implications for the big debate over the historical roles of Kings David and Solomon. It was one of the five major major discoveries and developments that we reported being announced in the same week one month ago.

So when The Book & The Spade had a chance to talk with head archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel, during a visit to Harvard University, we got the latest details, including a report on some additional excavations done in early November that located a new gate in the city wall and a possible identification for the site.

Post Script: When I talked with Professor Garfinkel, one of the next steps on his schedule was the photographing of the pottery sherd with the ancient Hebrew inscription that he discussed on these programs. The Los Angeles Times now has a story on one of the teams responsible for the photography.

1150-1151 - Nina Burleigh's Unholy Business

Continuing with our series of reports on the major archaeology stories from the last week of October, these two programs are on the James ossuary. Nina Burleigh, a writer for People magazine, has written a People-style story about the ossuary, focusing on the people instead of the artifacts. In so doing she's given us some insight into the personalities involved in the legal but shady antiquity trade in Israel.

The story, as we have reported, is that the judge in the case has told the prosecution that they have not proven that the inscription in the ossuary is a fabrication, as charged. He suggests they decide whether they want to continue or not. Of course, this still doesn't mean that the ossuary is genuine, it just means that the Israeli officials have failed to prove it's fake.

UPDATE: Nina Burleigh offered this commentary to the Los Angeles Times on the news from the Israeli courtroom that postdate publication of her book.