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Mar 11 Blog

Searching for Biblical Mt. Sinai

Where is Mt. Sinai? At a 2013 colloquium in Israel, an international group of scholars debated the question. At the center of the debate was Har Karkom, a mountain ridge in the Negev Desert that archaeologist Emmanuel Anati believes to be the Biblical Mt. Sinai.

Mar 11 Blog

Abraham and Lot in the Bible

By: Megan Sauter

Ancient interpreters frequently painted Lot as greedy and unscrupulous—a foil to Abraham’s righteousness.

Gospel of Thomas (Sayings of Jesus) from the Nag Hammadi

Mar 8 Blog

The Gospel of Thomas’s 114 Sayings of Jesus

By: BAS Staff

Read the 114 sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas as translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson.

Mar 6 Blog

The Origin of Sin and Death in the Bible

By: Megan Sauter

What is the origin of sin and death in the Bible? Who was the first sinner?

Mar 4 Blog

King Hezekiah in the Bible: Royal Seal of Hezekiah Comes to Light

By: Robin Ngo

For the first time, the royal seal of King Hezekiah in the Bible has been found in an archaeological excavation.

Mar 4 Blog

Rock Giants in Noah

By: Megan Sauter

Can the Book of Enoch shed light on Noah the movie? Ronald S. Hendel examines the flood story.

Feb 27 Blog

The Aleppo Codex

By: Jennifer Drummond

The world’s oldest Hebrew Bible, the Aleppo Codex, is missing pages—and not just a couple leaves, but four of the Five Books of Moses! What happened to them?

Cropped illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where God gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897).

Feb 25 Blog

Who Was the Wife of Cain?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Who did Cain marry? Where did she come from? Mary Joan Winn Leith suggests that while the Israelite storyteller knew that other men and women in Genesis existed outside of Eden, they did not matter to him or factor into his account. He was concerned with Adam and Eve and their progeny—not those outside of this group.

The fateful encounter between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar is depicted in this 17th-century painting by Dutch artist Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

Feb 25 Blog

Sacred Prostitution in the Story of Judah and Tamar

By: BAS Staff

While some scholars suggest that temple prostitution was practiced in ancient Israel, Edward Lipiński argues that neither the Bible nor archaeology provides any clear evidence that Israelite religion incorporated the sexual rites of Canaanite goddesses.

Gospel of Ebbo, France, 9th, Saint Matthew, Evangelist

Feb 23 Blog

The Canonical Gospels

By: BAS Staff

BAS editors have hand-selected articles from the BAS Library that cast each of the canonical Gospels in a new light.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life

Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

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