ancient inscription

ancient inscription Latest

Nov 30 Blog

Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?

Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense.

Sep 17 Blog

The Oldest Hebrew Script and Language

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

In a BAR article, epigraphy scholar Christopher Rollston asks a seemingly straightforward question: What is the oldest Hebrew inscription?

Aug 28 Blog

Promises and Pitfalls

By: BAS Staff

From time to time, an ancient inscription or group of inscriptions is discovered that substantially illuminates the historical background of the Bible. Written records such […]

The early alphabetic inscription, dated to the mid-15th century B.C.E., was preserved on a tiny sherd of painted Late Bronze Age pottery imported from Cyprus. Image credit: Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Mar 12 Blog

Early Alphabetic Writing Found at Lachish

By: BAS Staff

A newly published inscription from Tel Lachish in southern Israel is the earliest alphabetic writing discovered in the southern Levant. The fragmentary inscription features a mere handful of letters inscribed on a tiny pottery sherd, measuring just 4 by 3.5 cm. The sherd is dated by radiocarbon to the 15th century B.C.E., or the first part of the Late Bronze Age.

Oct 28 Blog

The Nabonidus Inscription at Sela

By: Megan Sauter

In the sixth century B.C.E., the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus inscribed imperial propaganda on a cliff at Sela, a mountain fortress in modern Jordan, after conquering the Edomite site. The 10-by-6.5-foot inscription rests 300 feet above ground—halfway up a 600-foot-tall cliff!

Jul 23 Blog

King David’s Palace at Khirbet Qeiyafa?

By: Noah Wiener

The Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) July 18, 2013 press release is crowned with an extraordinary headline: King David’s Palace was Uncovered in the Judean Shephelah.

Jan 1 Blog

How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

A seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script provides evidence for how ancient taxes were collected during the reign of the Biblical King Manasseh.

Jul 28 Blog

Word Play

By: Glenn J. Corbett

Three thousand years ago, when alphabetic writing had just begun to spread across the masses of the ancient Near East, written words were far more than idle marks meant simply to be read.

Jul 31 Blog

First Person: Should These Looters Go to Jail?

By: Hershel Shanks

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. In his First Person column in BAR, Hershel Shanks explores this paradox.

Dec 8 Blog

Inscription Reveals Governor of Judea Before the Bar-Kokhba Revolt

By: Robin Ngo

Who was the Roman governor of Judea during the time leading up to the Bar-Kokhba revolt, the second Jewish revolt against Rome? This question has now been answered thanks to an inscribed stone block recently discovered off the coast of Tel Dor in northern Israel.

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