Ancient Israelite Religion

By: Ellen White

The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar.

By: David Rafael Moulis

According to the Hebrew Bible, Hezekiah “removed the high places, broke down the pillars and cut down the sacred pole” (2 Kings 18:4). What was Hezekiah’s religious reform like on the ground, and what were his motives?

By: BAS Staff

Researchers announced their belief that they may have uncovered the biblical town of Ziklag. Located between Kiryat Gat and Lachish in southern Israel, Khirbet a-Ra‘i […]

By: Hershel Shanks

Archaeologist Hillel Geva says that population estimates for ancient Jerusalem are too high. His new estimates begin with people living on no more than a dozen acres.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

What do Iron Age altars tell us about Biblical sacrifices and worship in ancient Israelite religion?

By: BAS Staff

For millennia, humans have attempted to depict the divine. The Fall 2020 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review offers some intriguing examples of this phenomenon. Early Christian depictions of Jesus in which he holds a "magic wand". What John 1 means when it says “God is love.” And a new archaeological discovery.

By: Robin Ngo

An ancient stone toilet recently unearthed at Lachish may provide archaeological evidence of King Hezekiah’s religious reforms throughout Judah in the eighth century B.C.E. The toilet had been placed in what is interpreted to be a gate-shrine within the largest ancient city gate found in Israel.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

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 the Bible. What can this find tell us about the cultural origins of the Philistines?

By: Michael D. Danti, Darren P. Ashby, Marina Gabriel, and Susan Penacho

Between January 20–22, 2018, the early Iron Age temple at Tell Ain Dara in Syria—considered to be a close parallel to the Temple of Solomon—suffered large-scale damage. Read a special report by ASOR’s Cultural Heritage Initiatives that documents the damage.

By: David Ilan, Yifat Thareani and Jonathan Greer

After a four-year hiatus, the Hebrew Union College is back excavating at Tel Dan, the site where the famous Tel Dan inscription—the first extra-Biblical evidence of King David—was discovered.