Tip o’ the pileus to Barnea Levi Selavan who sent this to me a while ago and it was lost (as often) among the myriad emails I wade through. Heddy Abramowitz is blogging the nine days of the destruction of Jerusalem. Scroll to the first post to go ‘day by day’:

• Golden Ochre: Art and Jerusalem. Painting, Observation and Some Shop Talk

This might end up being a daily thing:

• explorator 14.16 August 7, 2011 david meadows
• The Hippodrome in Constantinople August 7, 2011 Dorothy King
• Power Lunches in the Eastern Roman Empire August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• Latin? What are you going to do with that? August 7, 2011 Mark A. Keith
• Trichoepithelioma and the Kings of Ancient Parthia August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• Entomological Warfare: Insects as Weapons of War August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• Before Athens: Early Popular Government in Phoenician and Greek City States August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• THE DEATH OF PHILIP OF MACEDON August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• Rome’s declaration of war on Carthage in 218 B.C. August 7, 2011 History of the Ancient World
• Round-Up: August 7 August 7, 2011 laura-gibbs@ou.edu (Laura Gibbs)
• Small Houses August 7, 2011 Michael Gilleland
• The Lupercalia from Rome to Central Asia August 6, 2011 Dorothy King

Interesting preview of a paper on the use of Classical metaphors in assorted colonial African writers:

From an IAA press release (that took me forever to find):

During the course of work the Israel Antiquities Authority carried out in Jerusalem’s ancient drainage channel, which begins in the Siloam Pool and runs from the City of David to the archaeological garden (near the Western Wall), impressive finds were recently discovered that breathe new life into the story of the destruction of the Second Temple. The excavations are being conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority and are underwritten by the City of David Foundation.

A 2,000 year old iron sword, still in its leather scabbard, was discovered in work the Israel Antiquities Authority is doing in the channel, which served as a hiding refuge for the residents of Jerusalem from the Romans at the time of the Second Temple’s destruction. In addition, parts of the belt that carried the sword were found. According to the excavation directors Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, “It seems that the sword belonged to an infantryman of the Roman garrison stationed in Israel at the outbreak of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66 CE. The sword’s fine state of preservation is surprising: not only its length (c. 60 cm), but also the preservation of the leather scabbard (a material that generally disintegrates quickly over time) and some of its decoration”.

A stone object adorned with a rare engraving of a menorah was found in the soil beneath the street, on the side of the drainage channel. According to Shukron and Professor Reich, “Interestingly, even though we are dealing with a depiction of the seven-branched candelabrum, only five branches appear here. The portrayal of the menorah’s base is extremely important because it clarifies what the base of the original menorah looked like, which was apparently tripod shaped”. The fact that the stone object was found at the closest proximity to the Temple Mount to date is also important. The researchers suppose a passerby who saw the menorah with his own eyes and was amazed by its beauty incised his impressions on a stone and afterwards tossed his scrawling to the side of the road, without imagining that his creation would be found 2,000 years later.

• via On the eve of Tisha B’Av, artifacts were exposed that breathe new life into the story. (this link will likely change)

Here’s an image of the sword, which accompanies the press release:

ante diem vi idus augustas

… I have nothing for this day! Suggestions welcome!