Fifty years have passed since a young scholar named Geza Vermes published the first Dead Sea Scrolls translation of the texts available at the time. The seventh edition of the Read more…
Biblical Topics
Biblical topics encompass issues in the study of the Bible and Biblical archaeology, scholars and archaeologists who study the Bible, and issues in the interpretation of the Bible and Biblical archaeology findings.
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Fifty Years of Dead Sea Scroll Translation
• 05/11/2012
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With Age Comes Experience
• 05/10/2012
During her time at the 2011 conference of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Francisco, California, BHD contributing blogger Robin Gallaher Branch enjoyed many stimulating lectures, including one by Read more…
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Using Ethnographic Analogy for Biblical Archaeology
• 05/09/2012
Anthropological archaeologist Jill Katz’s column “An Anthropologist’s View of Early Israel” in the May/June 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review discusses how ethnographic analogy and other anthropological tools can be Read more…
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Phoenician Tombs Discovered in Southeastern Cyprus
• 05/03/2012
Renovations to the Larnaca sewer system exposed two Phoenician-period tombs in southeastern Cyprus last weekend. Dated between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C.E., the tombs may be associated with the Read more…
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Excavations at Beersheba Bus Station Expose the Heart of the Byzantine City
• 04/30/2012
When the Israel Antiquity Authority began excavating before renovations at the Beersheba bus station, they did not know that they were sitting just above the center of a Byzantine city. Read more…
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Job Challenges God by Suing: God Responds
• 04/27/2012
For more about how Job questions God and ends up suing God to get a response, read Edward L. Greenstein’s article “When Job Sued God” in the May/June 2012 issue Read more…
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Mikva’ot in Galilean Caves Suggest Lives of Refuge and Religion
• 04/27/2012
Recent investigations have identified five mikva’ot (singular: mikveh), or Jewish ritual baths, in caves on the Galilean cliffs of Arbel, revealing the highly religious orientation of the inhabitants. Read more…
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What’s Funny About the Gospel of Mark?
• 04/26/2012
During her time at the 2011 conference of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Francisco, California, BHD contributing blogger Robin Gallaher Branch enjoyed a stimulating lecture by New Testament Read more…
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God Language in the New Testament
• 04/25/2012
Language can become controversial at times, as New Testament professor Ben Witherington III reveals in his Biblical Views column “Spirited Discourse About God Language in the New Testament,” in the Read more…
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City of David Archaeologists Unearth Late Bronze Age Egyptian Scarab
• 04/19/2012
Israeli archaeologists working at the City of David excavations in Jerusalem recently uncovered a rare 13th century B.C.E. Egyptian scarab. The scarab dates to Egypt’s 19th dynasty, which was marked Read more…
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Why Is the Newest Bible Translation in Modern Hebrew?
• 04/17/2012
Reches Educational Projects in Israel recently published its modern Hebrew translation of the Bible. While some believe this newest Bible translation meets the linguistic reality of modern Israeli society, others Read more…
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Former Egyptian Antiquities Head Faces Charges
• 04/16/2012
Earlier this month, Egypt’s general prosecutor announced that former antiquities chief Zahi Hawass* will face charges of wasting public funds and breaking the country’s antiquities laws. Most of the charges Read more…
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The Bible in the News
• 04/13/2012
In his column The Bible in the News, Leonard J. Greenspoon looks at the various ways the Biblical proverb “Physician, heal thyself” is used by today’s media. Read more…
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Syrian Antiquities Can’t Escape Violence
• 04/11/2012
According to Syria’s director of museums, many of the country’s famous antiquities sites and museums are beginning to suffer from the violent political unrest that has engulfed the country. Hiba Read more…
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How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh
• 04/09/2012
Discovered during the Temple Mount Sifting Project, this seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script with the phrase “Gibeon, for the king” provides new evidence for how ancient taxes Read more…
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The Difference Between Theology and Religious Studies
• 04/06/2012
Not long ago, Bible scholar Michael Coogan was interviewed for the alumni magazine of Stonehill College about his new book God and Sex. In her recent Biblical Views column in Read more…
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Google and Israel Museum Create Virtual Museum Experience
• 04/06/2012
Google and the Israel Museum launched an interactive search engine and Web site this week that allows visitors to take a virtual tour of the museum’s vast collection of Biblical Read more…
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ASOR Offers Free Access to Journals During April
• 04/03/2012
The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) announced this week that during the month of April it is providing free access to the past four years of content from its Read more…
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SBL Meeting Gives New Insights on Paul
• 04/02/2012
While attending the Society of Biblical Literature’s November 2011 conference in San Francisco, California, BHD contributing blogger Robin Gallaher Branch heard two intriguing lectures that presented new ways of thinking Read more…
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Canaan Canine Faces Threat in Israel
• 03/29/2012
First-century rock drawings in the Sinai and more than 700 fifth-century B.C.E. canine skeletons unearthed at the coastal site of Ashkelon south of Tel Aviv attest to the historical prominence Read more…
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The Bible in the News
• 03/29/2012
In his column The Bible in the News, Leonard J. Greenspoon looks at the various ways the famous Biblical story of the ten plagues of Egypt is used by today’s Read more…
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Uncovering the Jewish Context of the New Testament
• 03/26/2012
Most Jewish readers approach the New Testament, if they approach it at all, with at best a certain unfamiliarity. This is unfortunate, according to Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls on the Go
• 03/21/2012
If your eReader travels everywhere with you, why not take the Dead Sea Scrolls with you too? The Biblical Archaeology Society has just released eReader versions of two of our Read more…
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Archaeologists Use Satellites to Identify Thousands of Sites in Syria
• 03/21/2012
A recent innovative project combining 1960s spy-satellite photography, multispectral images and digital maps of the Earth’s surface has mapped 14,000 settlements across 8,880 square miles in northeastern Syria. The study Read more…
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Leaked Memo Signals Danger to Syrian Antiquities
• 03/19/2012
The Facebook page “Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger” (“Syrian Archaeological Ruins in Danger”) released an internal Syrian government memo discussing a large-scale antiquities looting operation being set up by Read more…
