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Nov 30 Blog

Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?

Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the medical uses of frankincense.

Oct 27 Blog

Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans

By: Glenn J. Corbett

Who were the Nabataeans, the industrious Arab people who built the city of Petra and its towering rock-cut monuments over 2,000 years ago?

Oct 17 Blog

Where Was Jesus Born?

By: Megan Sauter

If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, why is he called a Nazorean and a Galilean throughout the New Testament? Philip J. King addresses this question in his Biblical Views column.

Sep 17 Blog

A Biblical Spice Rack

By: Devorah Emmet Wigoder

The brevity of life is compared to the delicate bloom of the caper in one of the Bible’s many references to fragrant and edible plants. Enjoy a glimpse of some of these plants.

Jun 15 Blog

When Was Jesus Born—B.C. or A.D.?

By: Megan Sauter

In which year was Jesus born? While this is sometimes debated, the majority of New Testament scholars place Jesus’ birth in 4 B.C. or before.

Woodcut from Die Bibel in Bildern (1860) by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

Feb 13 Blog

Jesus Was a Refugee

By: Joan E. Taylor

Scholar Joan E. Taylor says that it’s worth remembering that Jesus’ earliest years were, according to the Gospel of Matthew, spent as a refugee in a foreign land.

Dec 26 Blog

Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi?”

By: BAS Staff

A lost Syriac manuscript, the Revelation of the Magi, translated into English by Bible scholar Brent Landau, may help answer that key question from the Christmas story: “Who were the magi?”

Dec 21 Blog

Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth and a Lunar Eclipse

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Read letters published in the Q&C section of BAR debating the dates of Herod’s death, Jesus’ birth and to which lunar eclipse Josephus was referring.

Dec 14 Blog

The Three Magi

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Bearing gifts for the infant Jesus, the three wise men from the east traversed afar to reach Bethlehem. What do we really know about the magi, who are so central to the traditional telling of the Christmas story?

Dec 20 Blog

Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha

By: Tony Burke

The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke.

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