The Phoenician script was borrowed by the Israelites, Greeks and Romans. Learn what sorts of texts the Phoenicians wrote as revealed by a recent archaeological excavation. 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 Phoenician Alphabet in Archaeology
• 09/12/2017
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The Shema‘ Yisrael
• 09/06/2017
In BAR, Armin Lange and Esther Eshel discuss a Jewish amulet that contains one of the earliest monotheistic readings of Deuteronomy. Read more…
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First Person: Should These Looters Go to Jail?
• 07/31/2017
Looters sometimes indirectly alert archaeologists to the existence of valuable finds and are sent to jail if they are caught, while the archaeologists learn from the looters where to dig. Read more…
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Biblical History at What Cost?
• 07/24/2017
Recently, the Hobby Lobby corporation—owned by the Green family—agreed to pay a $3 million fine for the purchase of thousands of artifacts believed to have been smuggled out of Iraq. Read more…
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Is the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife a Fake?
• 06/10/2017
When Harvard’s Karen King announced at a 2012 scholarly conference in Rome that a fragment of an authentic fourth-century gospel had come into her hands in which Jesus, speaking in Read more…
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The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity
• 06/06/2017
Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared Read more…
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Where Did the Philistines Come From?
• 05/20/2017
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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The Doorways of Solomon’s Temple
• 05/11/2017
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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When Was the Hebrew Bible Written?
• 05/10/2017
When was the Hebrew Bible written? Ostraca with Hebrew inscriptions excavated from the Iron Age fortress at Arad in Israel may provide clues, say researchers from Tel Aviv University. Read more…
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First Person: Was the Dead Sea Scroll Community Celibate?
• 05/08/2017
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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Precursor to Paleo-Hebrew Script Discovered in Jerusalem
• 05/05/2017
Alan Millard examines the Proto-Canaanite script of the earliest alphabetic text ever found in Jerusalem. What can it tell us about literacy during the time of David and Solomon? Read more…
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Ancient Scribe Links Qumran Scrolls to Masada
• 04/04/2017
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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Dead Sea Scrolls Online: IAA Expands Digital Library
• 04/03/2017
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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How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh
• 04/01/2017
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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Did Archaeologists Really Discover a New Dead Sea Scroll Cave?
• 02/21/2017
Did archaeologists excavating a cave west of the Dead Sea settlement of Qumran find a new Dead Sea Scroll cave? Scholar Robert R. Cargill examines the evidence. Read more…
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Sold! Earliest Surviving 10 Commandments Stone
• 02/08/2017
A 10 Commandments stone tablet—believed by some to be the oldest stone copy of the 10 Commandments—was sold at an auction in November 2016 for $850,000. Read more…
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Is the “Brother of Jesus” Inscription on the James Ossuary a Forgery?
• 01/31/2017
Although the famous “brother of Jesus” inscription on the so-called James Ossuary has been authenticated by two world-class paleographers, not everyone is convinced that the inscription is authentic. Read more…
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The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls
• 01/20/2017
Do insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls add to the Masoretic text, and if so, should the original Hebrew Bible text be modified based this information? Scholars from both sides Read more…
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Josephus on the Essenes
• 01/20/2017
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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Who Were the Essenes?
• 01/20/2017
A recent study has sought to determine by sophisticated methods whether Khirbet Qumran was home to a community of sectarian Jews, the Essenes. Read more…
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Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud
• 01/06/2017
“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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Where Were the Dead Sea Scrolls Found and Who Put Them There?
• 01/04/2017
For nearly 2,000 years, the Qumran caves protected the secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Might the same caves also shed light on the mystery of who deposited the scrolls Read more…
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10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem
• 01/04/2017
The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts. Read more…
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Lebanese Cedar—The Prized Tree of Ancient Woodworking
• 01/02/2017
From Solomon’s Temple to the Jesus Boat, the Biblical world was built of cedar. Read more…
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The Animals Went in Two by Two, According to Babylonian Ark Tablet
• 12/10/2016
A recently translated Old Babylonian flood tablet describes how to build a circular ark.
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