Ancient Cultures

Ancient Cultures

Neolithic Bread from Catal Hoyuk. Courtesy Necmettin Erbakan University

Mar 18

Neolithic Bread at Catal Hoyuk

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Excavations at the important site of Catal Hoyuk in south-central Turkey have uncovered what archaeologists have termed “the world’s oldest bread.” According to a press […]

Preserved hair from a Jewish male found in the 1st-century “Tomb of the Shroud”

Mar 17

The Only Ancient Jewish Male Hair Ever Found

By: James Tabor

The braided hair of a Jewish woman was found at Masada but until recently no example of preserved hair from a Jewish male had ever been found from the late 2nd Temple period. This discovery is one of the many fascinating, but less publicized finds of the 1st century “Tomb of the Shroud,” discovered in the summer of 2000 just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. The secrets this tomb continues to yield are many, including recent correlations with the DNA test results from the Talpiot Jesus tomb.

Tyrian Purple

Mar 15

Ancient Israel’s Tyrian Purple Factory

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

  Tyrian purple, tekhelet, royal purple: All names for an incredibly expensive, ancient dye. While this dye is often associated with the Phoenician city-state of […]

Flat plastered stone installation and limestone pillar in the Azekah sun temple’s inner sanctuary

Mar 13

Bathed in Morning Light

By: BAS Staff

Nestled in the heart of the Shephelah with a commanding view over the Elah Valley, the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE) Canaanite city of […]

The early alphabetic inscription, dated to the mid-15th century B.C.E., was preserved on a tiny sherd of painted Late Bronze Age pottery imported from Cyprus. Image credit: Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Mar 12

Early Alphabetic Writing Found at Lachish

By: BAS Staff

A newly published inscription from Tel Lachish in southern Israel is the earliest alphabetic writing discovered in the southern Levant. The fragmentary inscription features a mere handful of letters inscribed on a tiny pottery sherd, measuring just 4 by 3.5 cm. The sherd is dated by radiocarbon to the 15th century B.C.E., or the first part of the Late Bronze Age.

Mar 11

Pompeii Reborn

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

The Pompeii Archaeological Park is launching a 100-million-euro project aimed at regenerating the archaeological and urban landscape of the ancient Roman city. As well as […]

Mar 8

Rare Bar Kokhba Revolt Coins Found

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

During archaeological survey work in a Judean Desert cave, members of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and the […]

Pi symbol

Mar 5

Origins: 3.14159265…

By: Kim Jonas

Why did the ancients invent increasingly subtle and ingenious methods to arrive at an exact value of pi? Human curiosity.

Inscription on a basalt rock depicting the Babylonian king Nabonidus holding a scepter in his hand

Mar 4

Nabonidus: The First Archaeologist

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

While the modern field of archaeology is no more than a few centuries old, ancient texts show that the world’s first archaeologist lived around two […]

Philistine Gath

Mar 1

Plants and the Philistine Cult at Gath

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Although the Philistines are well known from ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible, and their cities have been extensively excavated, many questions remain about their […]