Carchemish was an important Hittite fortress and provincial capital located on the west bank of the Euphrates River. Read more…
The Ancient Near Eastern World
The Biblical world existed in a wider context of the ancient Near East and interacted with Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greco-Roman and other contemporaries. See how these other cultures influenced the region through alliances, migrations, trade, material culture and cultural perspectives.
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Carchemish in the Bible and History
• 09/02/2018
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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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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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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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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 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…
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Who Were the Hittites?
• 06/21/2018
Archaeology tells us a lot about the Hittites—and the Neo-Hittites too. But it’s hard to reconcile this with the Hittites of the Bible. Read more…
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The Philistine Marketplace at Ashkelon
• 06/20/2018
In “Buy Low, Sell High: The Marketplace at Ashkelon” in the January/February 2014 issue of BAR, Daniel Master and Lawrence Stager examine what was traded and by whom in Philistine 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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The Athenian Acropolis
• 06/07/2018
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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‘Abdiel: Egyptian Vizier and “Servant of the God El”
• 06/04/2018
Could a vizier with a Semitic name from ancient Egypt illuminate the story of Joseph in the Bible? Read more…
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Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?
• 06/03/2018
Who is Asherah? What is asherah? The reference may be to a particular goddess, a class of goddess or a cult symbol used to represent the goddess. It is sometimes Read more…
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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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Did Pharaoh Sheshonq Attack Jerusalem?
• 05/29/2018
Israeli scholar Yigal Levin’s article “Did Pharaoh Sheshonq Attack Jerusalem” in the July/August 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review examines the historical veracity of both the Egyptian Pharaoh’s account and Read more…
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Israelite Kings Depicted in Ancient Art?
• 05/24/2018
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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Joseph and Esarhaddon of Assyria
• 05/20/2018
Even though he was not the oldest of his brothers, Esarhaddon was named heir apparent of his father Sennacherib, ruler of the Assyrian empire. But because of his jealous brothers, Read more…
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Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans
• 05/19/2018
Who were the Nabataeans, the industrious Arab people who built the city of Petra and its towering rock-cut monuments over 2,000 years ago? Almost everything about them—their history, their culture, Read more…
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Akhenaten and Moses
• 05/14/2018
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 Read more…
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Thonis—A Major Egyptian Port Swallowed by the Sea
• 05/13/2018
At the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea off the Egyptian coast lies the spectacular port city of Thonis. Read more…
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Third Scan Searches for Queen Nefertiti’s Tomb
• 05/11/2018
A research team conducted the third investigation into whether Queen Nefertiti’s tomb is located on the other side of King Tut’s burial chamber. Read more…
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Who Were the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites in the Bible?
• 05/10/2018
During the Iron Age, when Israel and Judah ruled Canaan, the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom ruled east of the Jordan River. They and their gods are featured in Read more…
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Epilepsy, Tutankhamun and Monotheism
• 05/06/2018
Tutankhamun died at a young age with a feminine physique. His closest relatives all shared similar features and fates. Imperial College London surgeon Hutan Ashrafian suggests that the royal family Read more…
