flavius joseph

By: Lawrence Mykytiuk

Did Jesus of Nazareth, “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5), really exist? What’s the evidence outside of the Bible? Classical and Jewish writings from the first several centuries C.E. give us a glimpse of the person who would become the central figure in Christianity mere decades after his crucifixion.

By: Hershel Shanks

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius destroyed the opulent vacation destinations of Roman elites in August 79 C.E.—almost exactly nine years after Roman troops destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Did this seem like more than mere coincidence to the ancients?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

In the first century C.E., during the First Jewish Revolt, the Jewish historian Josephus urged his besieged countrymen in Jerusalem to surrender to the Romans. Half a millennium earlier, Jeremiah did the same thing with respect to the Babylonians.

By: Lawrence Mykytiuk

How many people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible have been confirmed archaeologically? Lawrence Mykytiuk reveals the surprising number—from Israelite kings to Mesopotamian monarchs—and some lesser figures as well.

By: BAS Staff

The Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, tell the story of the life of Jesus. Yet only one—the Gospel of John—claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved.”

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Josephus’s commentaries on the laws and characteristics of the Essene community have been invaluable to scholars studying ancient Jewish laws and customs.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Ancient Rome was the superpower of its day. Yet, when the Romans conquered the tiny province of Judea and quashed the First Jewish Revolt in 70 C.E., it was actually a pretty big deal.

By: BAS Admin

As the point where three of the world’s major religions converge, the history of ancient Israel is one of the richest and most complex in the world. This journey into archaeology, Israel and the Biblical world is free on the Bible History Daily website.

By: Jodi Magness and Karen Britt

Huqoq excavation director Jodi Magness and mosaics specialist Karen Britt discuss a new mosaic discovered during the 2014 excavation season.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

In a 1987 issue of BAR, Hershel Shanks presented a summary of Amos Kloner's 1986 article in which the Israeli archaeologist argues that the burial caves at the Dominican Monastery in Jerusalem are the tombs of the last kings of Judah and their families. The title of Shanks’s article was in the form of a question: “Have the Tombs of the Kings of Judah Been Found?” I hope to answer his question.