Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities recently announced that rare mummified scarab beetles as well as dozens of mummified cats were uncovered in Saqqara. 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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Saqqara Tombs Reveal More Animal Mummies
• 11/13/2018
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Did Camels Exist in Biblical Times?
• 11/12/2018
Mark W. Chavalas explores the history of camel domestication in BAR. Read more…
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What Does the Bible Say About Children—and What Does Archaeology Say?
• 10/22/2018
What was it like to be a child in the ancient Near East? What role did they play in the household? Read more…
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Saving Aramaic, the Language Jesus Spoke
• 10/15/2018
Once spoken across most of the ancient Near East, Aramaic was most likely the language Jesus spoke. Yona Sabar, a scholar and one of the last living native speakers of Read more…
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Who Is the Queen of Sheba in the Bible?
• 10/13/2018
The meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba is described in the Bible. Bringing exquisite gifts, the Queen of Sheba came from an exotic land—but where exactly? Ethiopians Read more…
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“Aramaic Comics” Decorate Roman Tomb in Beit Ras, Jordan
• 10/03/2018
In a Roman tomb in northern Jordan, archaeologists have discovered what they are calling the “first Aramaic comics.” Read more…
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Where Did the Philistines Come From?
• 09/22/2018
Excavators at Tell es-Safi/Gath, the site of Gath of the Philistines mentioned in the Bible, found an exceptionally well preserved horned altar reminiscent of the Israelite horned altars described in 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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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…
