Rachel's tomb, located south of Jerusalem on the outskirts of Bethlehem in the West Bank, is widely considered the third holiest site in Judaism. Considered the burial spot of Biblical "eternal mother" Rachel, it's marked by a building shaped like a cube topped with a dome. The shrine is a popular pilgramage destination for Jews, particularly women unable to give birth, although access is severly restricted.
Because of security tensions, the shrine is surrounded by a fortified compound, and seperated from the rest of Bethlehem by an extension of the West Bank separation barrier. Only bullet-proof buses are allowed direct access. Palestinians refer to the tomb as Bilal ibn Rabah, and claim it has Muslim origins. They consider the placement of the wall as a land grab, and reject Israeli claims that it's a defensive structure intended to keep attackers out.
In 2010, the shrine was controversially added to Israel's list of national heritage sites by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A researcher has uncovered evidence of a widespread scam in Israel that results in tourists buying recently looted artefacts without their knowledge. Buying antiquities in Israel is legal if they were found before 1978, the year a major antiquities law was passed. There are numerous dealers in Israel, who are required to register with the Israel Antiquities Authority and keep an inventory of the artefacts they have for sale. Dr. Morag Kersel, of Brown University in the United States, has been studying the illegal antiquities trade in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories.
Post-Doctoral Fellow - Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University
Dr. Morag Kersel is a post-doctoral fellow at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University, in Rhode Island USA. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a masters degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia.
Dr. Kersel has done extensive work on studying the illegal antiquity trade in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories. She found evidence that licensed antiquity dealers, in Israel, were selling recently looted artefacts by means of a registry numbers exchange scheme. Her work has also shed light on the motivation of looters to loot. While these include money, other reasons are recreational and, in the West Bank, resistance to Israeli occupation.
She has also done extensive fieldwork, excavating in Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Israel and Turkey. This includes the Cyclades, where her team unearthed nearly 500 fragments of figurines. The fact that they were uncovered in an archaeological excavation means that archaeologists will be able to gain a new understanding into what this figures mean. Beforehand most of the figures from these islands were found in private collections and lack archaeological provenance.
According to Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an, this woman was the Queen of Sheba, ruling the ancient kingdom of Sheba. This kingdom is thought to have included parts or all of modern day Eritrea, Ethiopia and Yemen. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Queen of Sheba heard of the great wisdom of King Solomon of Israel and journeyed there with gifts of spices, gold, precious stones, and beautiful wood. However in the biblical text, Song of Solomon now known as the Song of Songs, references have been interpreted as referring to love between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. It is thought that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had an adulterous affair, sinning against God.
According to the Hebrew Bible Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, was a King of Israel reigning between 971-931 BC. He is described as being the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king which followed the split of Irael into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. According to the Bible Solomon built the first temple of worship to God in Jerusalem. He was known as a wise and powerful king who worshipped God, however Solomon is best known for his sinful, adulterous act against God by having an affair with the Queen of Sheba.
The Book of Exodus is one of best known pieces of scripture in the world. It tells the story of how the Jewish people, with some divine assistance, escape from Egypt and make their way to the land of Israel.
Whether this migration really happened is deeply controversial and is something that I’m not going to get into in this article.
Instead what I’m going to talk about is some intriguing research, done by Professor James Hoffmeier of Trinity International University, which suggests that the events may be set in New Kingdom times – specifically the era of the Ramesside kings. His work also adds some insight into the exact route the Israelites took in the story.
Highlighted Quote:
“We should be open to the possibility that the memory preserved in the exodus tradition has one that goes back to a much earlier date than perhaps some people have thought.”
As we head into the second decade of the 21st century the Middle East continues to be the focus of attention for western foreign policy leaders. Whether it’s warfare in Afghanistan, troop pullouts in Iraq, oil supplies in Saudi Arabia or conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – this region continues to make the news.
I firmly believe that the Ancient Near East has much to teach us about the modern region. Trajan’s debacle in Iraq should have been required reading for George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. Also I think President Obama and Robert Gates would benefit from a few hours of study about attempts to control ancient Afghanistan.
Iraq and Afghanistan both represent crisis situations. But what lessons does the Ancient Near East have to tell us - on a more general level - about dealing with the modern? I came up with three:
The Globe and Mail’s Patrick Martin (the paper’s former Middle East Correspondent), is reporting that Jordan is asking the Canadian government to seize the Dead Sea Scrolls on display in Toronto Canada.
“Summoning the Canadian chargé d'affaires in Amman two weeks ago, Jordan cited the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both Jordan and Canada are signatories, in asking Canada to take custody of the scrolls,” said Martin.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Tue, 12/22/2009 - 08:00
The discovery of a 'Jesus-Era' man buried outside Jerusalem, Israel, has cast doubt on the famous Turin Shroud. The man, who is thought to have suffered from both tuberculosis and leprosy, was buried in a cave called the 'Tomb of the Shroud', part of the 'Field of Blood' (Akeldama), a 1st century AD cemetery in the Lower Hinnom Valley (Gehenna) near Jerusalem. The preservation of bodies in the region is extremely rare, thanks to high humidity levels underground.
A researcher has uncovered evidence of a widespread scam in Israel that results in tourists buying recently 
The Book of Exodus is one of best known pieces of scripture in the world. It tells the story of how the Jewish people, with some divine assistance, escape from Egypt and make their way to the land of Israel.
As we head into the second decade of the 21st century the Middle East continues to be the focus of attention for western foreign policy leaders. Whether it’s warfare in Afghanistan, troop pullouts in Iraq, oil supplies in Saudi Arabia or conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – this region continues to make the news.
The Globe and Mail’s 
The discovery of a 'Jesus-Era' man buried outside 
