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…
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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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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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 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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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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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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Saqqara Tombs Reveal More Animal Mummies
• 11/13/2018
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…
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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…
