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hieroglyphs

hieroglyphs Latest

Bowl decorated with recumbent lions and calves before the symbol of the god An (BLMJ 4564). Photo: David Harris

Mar 10 Blog

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

By: David Moster

10 The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.

A second of the clay cylinders from Umm el-Marra. Courtesy Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University.

Dec 24 Blog

The Oldest Alphabetic Writing Ever Found?

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Four small clay cylinders, discovered at the site of Umm el-Marra in northwestern Syria, may be etched with the oldest alphabetic writing ever discovered, predating […]

Alabaster vessel of King Pepi I (2276–2228 BCE). The Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

Apr 30 Blog

What Is Ancient Egyptian?

By: Marek Dospěl

The Egyptian language is the sole representative of an autonomous branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Semito-Hamitic) language family. As such, Egyptian is related to both […]

codex_glazier

Jan 23 Blog

What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt?

By: Megan Sauter

When did the ancient Egyptians stop writing in hieroglyphs, and what came next? From the fourth to ninth centuries C.E., Egypt was predominantly Christian. During this time, the language used by the masses was Coptic.

The early alphabetic inscription, dated to the mid-15th century B.C.E., was preserved on a tiny sherd of painted Late Bronze Age pottery imported from Cyprus. Image credit: Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Mar 12 Blog

Early Alphabetic Writing Found at Lachish

By: BAS Staff

A newly published inscription from Tel Lachish in southern Israel is the earliest alphabetic writing discovered in the southern Levant. The fragmentary inscription features a mere handful of letters inscribed on a tiny pottery sherd, measuring just 4 by 3.5 cm. The sherd is dated by radiocarbon to the 15th century B.C.E., or the first part of the Late Bronze Age.

Feb 18 Blog

Who Were the Minoans?

By: Noah Wiener

Crete’s Minoan civilization has long been considered Europe’s first great Bronze Age society. But who were the Minoans? A recent DNA study suggests that the Minoan civilization comprised of local Europeans rather than outsiders.

Linear Elamite text

Apr 19 Blog

Linear Elamite Deciphered!

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Despite the progress made deciphering ancient scripts over the past two centuries, a few remain tantalizingly out of reach, including the ancient Iranian script, Linear […]

the-poor-man-of-nippur-1

Feb 27 Blog

Acting Out Revenge—Babylonian Style

By: Megan Sauter

Dr. Martin Worthington of Cambridge University and students from his Assyriology class dramatized an ancient Babylonian story and captured it on film.

Feb 26 Blog

Trilingual Inscription Surfaces Near Darius the Great’s Tomb

By: Megan Sauter

An ancient trilingual inscription has surfaced on a hillside near the tomb of Persian king Darius the Great 4 miles northwest of Persepolis, Iran.

papyrus-amherst-63

Jun 1 Blog

Papyrus Amherst 63 Up Close

By: Karel van der Toorn

Karel van der Toorn contends that three Israelite psalms appear in Papyrus Amherst 63—although only one is attested in the Bible.

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