What is the significance of the Aramaic texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls for elucidating the literary, societal, political, and religious contexts of ancient Judaism and nascent Christianity? Read more…
Biblical Artifacts
Biblical artifacts are manmade objects, often found during archaeological excavations, that make a contribution to our understanding of the Bible and/or the historicity of Biblical events.
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The Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls
• 09/11/2018
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The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible
• 09/10/2018
Few modern Biblical archaeology discoveries have attracted as much attention as the Tel Dan inscription—writing on a ninth-century B.C. stone slab (or stela) that furnished the first historical evidence of Read more…
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Word Play
• 07/28/2018
Three thousand years ago, when alphabetic writing had just begun to spread across the masses of the ancient Near East, written words were far more than idle marks meant simply Read more…
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Scribes in the Dead Sea Scrolls
• 07/23/2018
What can we learn about scribes and scribal activity from the Dead Sea Scrolls? Read more…
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Ancient Scribe Links Qumran Scrolls to Masada
• 07/14/2018
Paleographer Ada Yardeni identified the handwriting of a single scribe on more than 50 Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran and Masada. What can this tell us about the scribal community Read more…
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First Person: Was the Dead Sea Scroll Community Celibate?
• 07/13/2018
One of the many fascinating questions about the Dead Sea Scroll community living at Qumran is whether its members were celibate. Did they marry and have children or not? Read more…
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The Doorways of Solomon’s Temple
• 06/26/2018
In the Bible, the inner shrine of Solomon’s Temple is described as having five mezuzot. What are they? The question has puzzled Biblical scholars for centuries. Does a recently discovered Read more…
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The Animals Went in Two by Two, According to Babylonian Ark Tablet
• 06/18/2018
A recently translated Old Babylonian flood tablet describes how to build a circular ark.
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Papyrus Amherst 63 Up Close
• 06/01/2018
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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Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud
• 05/20/2018
“Yahweh and his Asherah” is written across the top of this eighth-century B.C. drawing on a ceramic pithos from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud in the eastern Sinai. Some scholars have theorized that Read more…
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Advanced Technology Shines Light on More Dead Sea Scrolls
• 05/04/2018
Thanks to advanced imaging technology, Dead Sea Scroll fragments containing writing too faint to read with the naked eye have now been deciphered. Read more…
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How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh
• 04/17/2018
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 evidence for how ancient taxes were Read more…
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The Oldest Hebrew Script and Language
• 04/01/2018
In a BAR article, epigraphy scholar Christopher Rollston asks a seemingly straightforward question: What is the oldest Hebrew inscription? Read more…
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He Who Freed the Dead Sea Scrolls
• 03/19/2018
In 1991, with the support of Hershel Shanks and the Biblical Archaeology Society, Martin Abegg, Jr., contemplated doing something unprecedented that had the potential to derail his academic career: publishing Read more…
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The Dead Sea Scrolls in Denver
• 03/16/2018
Select Dead Sea Scrolls are on display at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in Denver, Colorado, from March 16 to September 3, 2018. Two scrolls have never been Read more…
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Dead Sea Scrolls Online: IAA Expands Digital Library
• 03/10/2018
The Israel Antiquities Authority launched the updated Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, a website that allows visitors to view and search high-resolution images of the complete Dead Read more…
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SCOTUS Declines Dead Sea Scroll Case
• 02/26/2018
On February 20, 2018, the Supreme Court chose not to hear the case of Raphael Golb, who was convicted of harassing and impersonating the academic critics of his father, Dead Read more…
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King Hezekiah in the Bible: Royal Seal of Hezekiah Comes to Light
• 02/21/2018
For the first time, the royal seal of King Hezekiah in the Bible has been found in an archaeological excavation. Read more…
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Lawrence H. Schiffman on the Dead Sea Scrolls’ History
• 02/20/2018
In the May/June 2015 issue of BAR, Lawrence H. Schiffman describes the Dead Sea Scrolls’ history, from their discovery in the Qumran caves to the state of present-day scroll research. Read more…
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Newly Deciphered Dead Sea Scroll Reveals 364-Day Calendar
• 02/02/2018
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 Read more…
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Miniature Writing on Ancient Amulets
• 01/29/2018
In 1979, archaeologist Gabriel Barkay discovered two miniature silver scrolls from a late Iron Age (seventh century B.C.E.) tomb in Ketef Hinnom outside of Jerusalem. When unrolled, the scrolls had Read more…
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Can Abecedaries Be Used to Date the Book of Psalms?
• 01/13/2018
Mitchell First compares ancient abecedaries to the Book of Psalms for a new perspective on letter order in the ancient Hebrew alphabet. Read more…
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Josephus on the Essenes
• 01/11/2018
Josephus’s commentaries on the laws and characteristics of the Essene community have been invaluable to scholars studying ancient Jewish laws and customs. Read more…
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The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament
• 01/10/2018
What do the Dead Sea Scrolls say about Jesus? What do they say about the world in which Jesus lived? In BAR, James C. VanderKam examines the overlap between the Read more…
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Ancient Amulets with Incipits
• 01/06/2018
Ancient amulets containing incipits of Biblical passages have been uncovered in Egypt and were used as protective charms to ward off evil. Learn about early Christian amulets with incipits in Read more…
