New Video from Satellite Bible Atlas

This morning, I received an email from Bill Schlegel, who lives in Israel. He (and the people that work with him) have produced the Satellite Bible Atlas. I first wrote about this book when it came out over two years ago. Since then, my passion for this book has not changed. It is an invaluable piece of my library. Since that time, they have released about ten videos that relate to different maps in the book. The latest video came out today. And it is fantastic. I encourage all of you to watch it...perhaps many times.

Knowledge of the geography of the Bible lands enhances your understanding of the Bible stories. And, this atlas and the videos assist you in that process.

At the very end of the video is a fantastic overlay of a map from the Satellite Bible Atlas on top of a 3D representation of the same area from Google. This segment of the video helps you to better understand the land that a two-dimensional map in the back of your Bible can not do.

Satellite Bible Atlas Video of Samaria

In the past, I have written about the Satellite Bible Atlas by Bill Schlegel.  This is an excellent resource and I encourage everyone to purchase it.  I have also written about the videos that are being produced to accompany the atlas.  These are also very informative. Yesterday, Bill Schlegel released another video covering the hill country of Samaria.  Once again, it is well done and very informative.  I encourage you to watch it (multiple times).  I know that I will.

Note:  The picture at the top of this post is of the mountains in central Samaria. If you are reading this post from an email, you might have to click on the title to see the image. 

Benjamin Plateau Video

Tonight, I am going to conclude my series on the Benjamin Plateau. However, since there are so many other things that I could write about this area, I am sure that I will pick it up again in the near future. In earlier posts on this series, I have written about the plateau itself and the four cities that guard its passages, Gibeon, Gibeah, Geba and Mizpah. I encourage you to go back and read those.

To bring it all together, I invite you to go and watch a video that was produced by Bill Schlegel and the folks associated with the Satellite Bible Atlas. The video covers the Benjamin Plateau and does a great job of graphically showing the many different aspects of this region in light of Scripture. This video is the fourth in a series of (currently) seven videos that accompany the Satellite Bible Atlas.

Ironically, Todd Bolen posted some information about the Satellite Bible Atlas today. Do you know someone who is interested in Biblical geography? If so, I would recommend that you purchase this book for them. Along with it, you get digital copies of all of the maps and you have the option of also purchasing a wall map the land of Israel. It is well worth the money.

Random Items of Interest

Over the past couple of days, a number of little things have come across my desk that I wanted to write about. However, they are starting to pile up, so here is a quick list of items that I thought that you might enjoy. Khirbet Qeiyafa Video - Luke Chandler announced on his blog yesterday that there is a 20 minute video that will be released soon about Khirbet Qeiyafa (sometimes called "The Elah Fortress"). Luke has participated in the dig at that site for a number of years. The video will be released on his blog on June 1. T-minus 10 days and counting....

The Jesus Trail - The BBC has written an interesting piece on the Jesus Trail. It is a 65KM trail that stretches between Nazareth to Capernaum. I have spoken to a couple of people who have hiked this trail. It is on my bucket list. What a fantastic way to learn more about these Biblical lands.

Satellite Bible Atlas - A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about the Satellite Bible Atlas by Bill Schlegel who works at IBEX. Ferrell Jenkins, who recently completed a tour of Israel, provided his tour group with this amazing book. Likewise, I highly recommend that everyone adds this book to your library.

Dig Time - With the summer season approaching, it is time to think about the archaeological digs that will be taking place in the next couple of months. Tel Burna (possibly the site of Biblical Libnah) will be starting their summer dig on June 1. I have some friends that are about to start working with the dig at Ashkelon, one of the Philistine cities during the United and Divided Kingdom periods. Abel Beth Maacah will begin their second season of digging soon. And, of course, there are a number of other digs that are ongoing or will be starting up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates.