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Rahab assisting the spies sent by Joshua in escaping Jericho through the window of her house, which was built into the city wall, by means of a rope. Engraving by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Germany, 1860. Image: CCI/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

May 12 Blog

Rahab the Harlot?

By: Robin Ngo

In the Book of Joshua, Rahab assisted two Israelite spies in escaping out a window and down the city wall of Jericho. Who was Rahab in the Bible? A Biblical prostitute or just an innkeeper?

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

May 10 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.

Marcello Provenzale's 1608 micro-mosaic represents Cardinal Scipione Borghese as Orpheus, sitting beneath a tree surrounded by both real and imagined creatures.

May 7 Blog

Borrowing from the Neighbors

By: Sarah Yeomans

Living in the Greco-Roman world, early Christians were able to draw from a set of rich artistic paradigms when they set out to depict their stories and beliefs in decorative contexts. This often led to the assimilation of well-established pagan artistic styles and images into early Christian art. The sculptors, fresco painters and mosaic artists who created Christian images did so by using the prolific examples of art and decoration that shaped their artistic landscape.

The Tel Dan stele. Photo: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Israel Antiquities Authority (photograph by Meidad Suchowolski)

May 7 Blog

The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible

By: BAS Staff

Few modern Biblical archaeology discoveries have attracted as much attention as the Tel Dan inscription—writing on a ninth-century B.C. stone slab (or stela) that furnished the first historical evidence of King David from the Bible.

11th-century mosaic from the Church of the Dormition in Daphne, Greece, depicts the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion

May 5 Blog

The Creation of Woman in the Bible

By: Megan Sauter

How was the first woman created in Genesis 2? Was she made from the man’s rib or, as recently suggested in BAR, from his os baculum?

Apr 30 Blog

Daily Life in Ancient Israel

By: BAS Staff

What was life like for the tribes of Israel in the time of the Biblical Judges, the period archaeologists call Iron Age I (1200–1000 B.C.E.)?

masada-werner-braun

Apr 28 Blog

The Masada Siege

By: Robin Ngo

What do we know about the Roman siege of Masada? We must consider both the account given by Josephus and the surviving archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct what happened.

lilith

Apr 23 Blog

Lilith

By: Janet Howe Gaines

In most manifestations of her myth, Lilith represents chaos, seduction and ungodliness. Yet, in her every guise, Lilith has cast a spell on humankind. Who is Lilith in the Bible?

A black-figure Attic vessel by the Theseus Painter, dating to around 500 BCE. Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1906

Apr 21 Blog

Ancient Combat Sports

By: Michael B. Poliakoff

Three ancient Olympic combat events—wrestling, boxing and pancratium—reveal much about the aspirations and values of ancient Greece, about what was deemed honorable, fair and beautiful, both in the eyes of those of who competed and those who traveled to Olympia to watch.

siloam-pool

Apr 14 Blog

Where Is the Original Siloam Pool from the Bible?

By: BAS Staff

While the Roman-period Siloam Pool—where Jesus cured the blind man—was recently discovered, the earlier Siloam Pool remains unknown.

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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