Feb 24
By: Robin Ngo
Pharaoh Akhenaten, who abolished the Egyptian pantheon and instituted worship of a single deity, the sun-disk Aten, in the mid-14th century B.C., may have established the world’s first monotheism. Did this influence the birth of Israelite monotheism?
Dec 20
In the study of Biblical archaeology, Biblical texts and archaeological finds must be examined critically and independently, but ultimately, they must be interpreted together. Such an approach can be applied to King David’s Palace and the Millo.
Nov 29
In 2015, UNESCO added the archaeological complex at Al-Maghtas, Jordan—called the Biblical “Bethany beyond the Jordan”—to its World Heritage List. Another tradition places the baptismal site on the west bank of the Jordan River—in Israel.
Sep 11
In the Bible, a shade of blue called tekhelet was God’s chosen color for the ancient Israelites. Tekhelet drapes adorned Solomon’s Temple, and tekhelet robes were worn by Israel’s high priests. What was the actual color of ancient tekhelet and tzitzit?
Aug 14
Were the creation stories in Genesis meant to be taken literally? Maybe not, says Biblical scholar Shawna Dolansky in her Biblical Views column “The Multiple Truths of Myths” in the January/February 2016 issue of BAR.
Aug 7
According to a recent study, cats were domesticated in Egypt 5,700 years ago—almost two millennia earlier than previously thought.
Aug 2
In the Book of Joshua, Rahab assisted two Israelite spies in escaping out a window and down the city wall of Jericho. Who was Rahab in the Bible? A Biblical prostitute or just an innkeeper?
Jul 29
New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole examines what the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas reveal about the early Christian world in which they were written.
Jul 17
The Assyrians referenced in the Hebrew Bible were a mighty force that exerted power over much of the Near East, including Israel and Judah, in the ninth through seventh centuries B.C.E.
Jun 26
Researchers recently deciphered one of the last two remaining Dead Sea Scrolls. Written in code, the scroll describes a 364-day calendar used by the Qumran community that lived in the Judean Desert.
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