bamah

bamah Latest

A rock-hewn altar carved out of limestone located about a mile from Shiloh. The four corners point to the four directions on a compass (Exodus 27:1-2). Photo: Yoel Elitzur

Feb 22 Blog

High Places, Altars and the Bamah

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.

Dec 12 Blog

Hezekiah’s Religious Reform—In the Bible and Archaeology

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?

Jul 23 Blog

Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?

By: Ellen White

Who is Asherah? What is asherah? The reference may be to a particular goddess, a class of goddess or a cult symbol used to represent the goddess. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish what meaning is intended.

Mar 29 Blog

Which Altar Was the Right One in Ancient Israelite Religion?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

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

Jun 27 Blog

Ancient Latrine: A Peek into King Hezekiah’s Reforms in the Bible?

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.

Jul 5 Blog

The “High Place” at Tel Gezer

By: Robin Ngo

Tel Gezer’s first excavator, R.A.S. Macalister, believed there was a “high place” dedicated to child sacrifice at the Canaanite site. William G. Dever disagrees.

Nov 19 Blog

Tel Gezer Water System Built by Canaanites?

By: Henry Curtis Pelgrift

New evidence indicates that the water system at Tel Gezer in Israel may have been built by Canaanites in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1500 B.C.).

Jul 6 Blog

The Solomonic Gate at Gezer

By: Ellen White

A Solomonic Gate stands at Gezer—or does it? In their Archaeological Views column “In the Shadow of Solomon (and Everyone Else)” in the July/August 2015 issue of BAR, excavation codirectors Steve Ortiz and Sam Wolff describe the fresh questions they are bringing to the famous site of Gezer.

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