If you have ever wanted to eat like an ancient person, now you can. Read more…
Ancient Cultures
What does archaeology tell us about the world of the Bible? Explore what life was like in the ancient world, from broad cultural trends to daily habits.
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BAR Test Kitchen
• 09/04/2018
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Fruit in the Bible
• 09/03/2018
Seeds and fruit remains are exciting discoveries for archaeologists, and they provide radiocarbon data to help date buried strata. Fruit also plays an important role in the Biblical narrative. Read more…
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Carchemish in the Bible and History
• 09/02/2018
Carchemish was an important Hittite fortress and provincial capital located on the west bank of the Euphrates River. Read more…
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6,500-Year-Old DNA Points to Ancient Migration
• 08/31/2018
A new DNA study demonstrates that humans migrated from modern-day Turkey and Iran to Israel’s Upper Galilee region 6,500 years ago. Read more…
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What Happened to the Canaanites?
• 08/28/2018
For the first time, researchers have conducted DNA sequencing on ancient Canaanite skeletons and have determined where the Canaanites’ descendants can be found today. Read more…
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Ancient Combat Sports
• 08/26/2018
Three ancient Olympic combat events—wrestling, boxing and pancratium—reveal much about the aspirations and values of ancient Greece, about what was deemed honorable, fair and beautiful, both in the eyes of Read more…
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August 2017: An Eclipse of Biblical Proportions
• 08/21/2018
An eclipse of Biblical proportions was visible across the United States on August 21, 2017. Read more…
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Classical Corner: The Antonine Plague and the Spread of Christianity
• 08/17/2018
In 166 C.E., the Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power. The triumphant Roman legions, under the command of Emperor Lucius Verrus, returned to Rome victorious after having Read more…
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BAR Test Kitchen: Mersu
• 08/15/2018
For this BAR Test Kitchen dish, we made mersu, an ancient Syrian delicacy made of flour, dates, and pistachios. Read more…
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The Prehistoric Diet and the Rise of Complex Societies
• 08/13/2018
Learn about prehistoric dining at Tel Tsaf, an ancient village about 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Read more…
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The Göbekli Tepe Ruins and the Origins of Neolithic Religion
• 08/09/2018
The massive stone enclosures of the Göbekli Tepe ruins may be the earliest examples of Neolithic religion. Read more…
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Çatalhöyük Mural: The Earliest Representation of a Volcanic Eruption?
• 08/08/2018
In the early 1960s, archaeologist James Mellaart uncovered a mural at Çatalhöyük, the world’s largest and best-preserved Neolithic site, which he interpreted to represent a volcanic eruption. A recent Read more…
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Sacred Prostitution in the Story of Judah and Tamar?
• 08/07/2018
According to popular belief, cult prostitution was common throughout the ancient world, particularly associated with the fertility rites of the Canaanites and Phoenicians. While some scholars suggest that temple prostitution Read more…
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Egyptian Papyrus Reveals Israelite Psalms
• 08/06/2018
In BAR, Karel van der Toorn contends that three Israelite psalms appear in Papyrus Amherst 63—although only one is attested in the Bible. Read more…
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Ancient Bread: 14,400-Year-Old Flatbreads Unearthed in Jordan
• 07/25/2018
In northeast Jordan, archaeologists discovered ancient “bread-like” remains that pre-date the emergence of agriculture by at least 4,000 years. Read more…
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Why Study Prehistoric Israel?
• 07/22/2018
Studying prehistoric Israel can give us a better perspective on Israel in the Biblical period, says archaeologist Daniel Nadel. Read more…
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Biblical Bread: Baking Like the Ancient Israelites
• 07/21/2018
A team from the Tell Halif archaeological excavation made their own tannur, a traditional oven referenced in the Hebrew Bible, and baked bread in it. Read more…
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Fragment of Homer’s Odyssey Unearthed at Olympia
• 07/16/2018
Archaeologists working at the Greek site of Olympia, home of the ancient Olympic Games, discovered a Roman-period clay tablet containing 13 lines of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Read more…
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High Places, Altars and the Bamah
• 07/15/2018
The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot Read more…
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Who Were the Phoenicians?
• 07/08/2018
With a commercial empire that lasted a millennium, the Phoenicians were major players in the ancient Mediterranean world. Spreading their culture and goods, they came into contact with many different Read more…
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The “Philistines” to the North
• 07/07/2018
The Philistines, who established the famous five cities in the southern coastal plain, were just one tribe of Sea Peoples who invaded Canaan in the 12th century B.C.E. The northern Read more…
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Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols
• 07/06/2018
Ein Harod is a spring that rises in the valley of Jezreel at the foot of Mt. Gilboa. Gideon gathered his men there to sort out the good soldiers from Read more…
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The “High Place” at Tel Gezer
• 07/05/2018
Tel Gezer’s first excavator, R.A.S. Macalister, believed there was a “high place” dedicated to child sacrifice at the Canaanite site. William G. Dever disagrees. Read more…
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An Ancient Jewish Lamp Workshop in the Galilee
• 07/04/2018
Excavations conducted in an ancient Jewish village near Nazareth in Israel uncovered the remains of an oil lamp workshop. Read more…
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The Last Days of Hattusa
• 07/03/2018
In the latter part of the second millennium B.C., the Hittite empire was a Near Eastern superpower. Its capital, Hattusa, was a great city of palaces and temples surrounded by Read more…
