1229-1231 Leen Ritmeyer - Jerusalem's Temple Mount

If you're studying a drawing of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as it looked in the time of Jesus, or some other historical period, chances are that drawing was made by Leen Ritmeyer.

Ritmeyer is a Temple Mount explorer who ranks right alongside Charles Warren, Charles Wilson and Edward Robinson. They got the jump on him, they were 19th century explorers. But our advantage is that Ritmeyer is still active and publishing his work.

About 13½ years ago I had a chance to talk with Ritmeyer about his work. This series of 3 programs from our archives replays that interview. Leen has a website which offers some examples of his work, as well as a blog with some of his commentary.

VIDEO REPORTS

Here are some archaeological video reports, on the discovery of 3,500-year old cultic items in northern Israel, and a time lapse report on archaeology at Khirbet Al-Maqatir which may be the site of Ai.

1227-1228 Mark Chavalas - Women of the Middle Bronze Age

It's always a treat to have Mark Chavalas on the program, a professor of ancient history from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Mark always provides fascinating background information on the cultures of northern Mesopotamia (modern Syria). In the past we've talked about some of the important sites of the region. In these two programs we switch our focus to information gleaned from cuneiform tablets about the lives of the women of the Middle Bronze Age. In the Biblical chronology, this is the period of the patriarchs and women like Sarah, Hagar, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. We talk about how things have changed for women since then, and in some ways very little has changed.

1226 - The Dead Sea Scrolls Documentary

Twelve years ago, for the 50th anniversary of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery, I produced a documentary program featuring comments from William F. Albright, Yigael Yadin and others. At about that time I had inherited a collection of tapes from University of Wisconsin professor Menahem Mansoor featuring interviews done during production of a public radio documentary on the scrolls.

This week, in honor of the two museum displays currently being featured in Milwaukee and St. Paul, I am once again featuring that documentary, telling the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery and relating its importance.