The Book of Exodus describes ten Egyptian plagues that bring suffering to the land of pharaoh. Are these Biblical plagues plausible on any level? 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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Exodus in the Bible and the Egyptian Plagues
• 03/22/2019
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Site-Seeing: Surprising Susa
• 03/18/2019
Even for the intrepid traveler who tours Iran, the ancient Persian capital of Susa often gets left off the itinerary. Read more…
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Jewish Captives in the Imperial City
• 03/17/2019
Ancient Rome was the superpower of its day. Yet, when the Romans conquered the tiny province of Judea and quashed the First Jewish Revolt in 70 C.E., it was actually Read more…
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What a Lotus in the Left Hand Means
• 03/15/2019
What does holding a lotus in the left hand mean in ancient Near Eastern art? Read more…
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Origins: 3.14159265…
• 03/14/2019
Why did the ancients invent increasingly subtle and ingenious methods to arrive at an exact value of pi? Human curiosity. Read more…
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Israelite Kings Depicted in Ancient Art?
• 03/10/2019
Has archaeology uncovered portraits of two Israelite kings? One contender is on the famous Black Obelisk from Nimurd/Calah, but scholars differ about the identification. Another more recent candidate for an Read more…
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Acting Out Revenge—Babylonian Style
• 02/27/2019
Dr. Martin Worthington of Cambridge University and students from his Assyriology class dramatized an ancient Babylonian story and captured it on film. Read more…
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Trilingual Inscription Surfaces Near Darius the Great’s Tomb
• 02/26/2019
An ancient trilingual inscription has surfaced on a hillside near the tomb of Persian king Darius the Great 4 miles northwest of Persepolis, Iran. Read more…
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The Origins of Democracy
• 02/18/2019
When we think of democracy, we usually think of the ancient Greeks, but identifying the exact origins of political practices can be tricky. Read more…
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The Athenian Acropolis
• 02/17/2019
Prior to its destruction by the Persians in 490 B.C.E. and again in 480–479 B.C.E., the Acropolis was a sacred precinct with a temple to Athens’s tutelary goddess, Athena. The Read more…
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I Am Ashurbanipal at the British Museum
• 01/30/2019
I Am Ashurbanipal, featured at the British Museum in London through February 24, 2019, is a magnificent exhibition. Read more…
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How Bad Was the Babylonian Exile?
• 01/27/2019
Was there really weeping from the Judahite exiles by the rivers of Babylon? New evidence suggests that life was actually pretty good for some Judahite deportees and their successors. Read more…
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What Did Gladiators Eat?
• 01/21/2019
A study published in PLOS ONE suggests that gladiators really did eat mostly plants and may have drunk an ash tonic as described by ancient authors. Read more…
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A Feast for the Senses … and the Soul
• 01/20/2019
Go on a journey of the senses through history and discover the significance of ritual feasts and meals in antiquity. Read more…
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The Magdala Stone: The Jerusalem Temple Embodied
• 01/19/2019
For a people living in the diaspora, unable to visit the Jerusalem Temple frequently, what kept the memory and centrality of the Temple fresh in their minds? An intriguing stone Read more…
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First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist?
• 01/18/2019
Archaeologist Amihai Mazar contends that while the Biblical narratives were written hundreds of years after the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, they “retain memories of reality.” Read more…
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Daily Life in Ancient Israel
• 01/13/2019
What was life like for the tribes of Israel in the time of the Biblical Judges, the period archaeologists call Iron Age I (1200–1000 B.C.E.)? Read more…
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What Does the Aegean World Have to Do with the Biblical World?
• 01/08/2019
What does the ancient Aegean world in the west have to do with the Biblical world in the east? Quite a lot, according to Aegean archaeology specialist Louise Hitchcock. Read more…
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Classical Corner: Phidias and Pericles: Hold My Wine
• 01/07/2019
One way we protect our things is to label them. Ancient Greeks were no different when it came to such practices, including two famous fifth-century B.C.E. Athenians. Read more…
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What Was Life Like for Roman Slaves?
• 01/04/2019
In the southwest of Asia Minor, at the site of Aphrodisias, Turkey, archaeology has provided insight into the lives of Roman slaves, including a man named Zoilos who earned his Read more…
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How Did Ancient Bureaucrats Set Their Interest Rates?
• 01/02/2019
When did people begin issuing interest-bearing loans? And how did they decide how much to charge for the privilege of borrowing money? Read more…
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How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh
• 01/01/2019
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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Roman Emperor Nerva’s Reform of the Jewish Tax
• 01/01/2019
Roman Emperor Nerva’s reform of the Jewish Tax had a significant effect on Jews and Christians of the first century C.E. Read more…
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How Ancient Jews Dated Years
• 12/30/2018
During the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–70 C.E.), which ended with the destruction of the Temple, Jews minted their own coins dated to the first, second, third, fourth and, Read more…
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IAA Announces Recovery of 9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Stone Mask
• 12/11/2018
The Israel Antiquities Authority recently announced that its Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit recovered a rare 9,000-year-old stone mask. Read more…
