history of the ancient near east

history of the ancient near east Latest

May 4 Blog

Roman Baths and Royal Assassinations: Two D.C.-Area Lectures

The Washington, D.C.-area Biblical Archaeology Society of Northern Virginia (BASONOVA) and Biblical Archaeology Forum (BAF) will be hosting the lectures “Roman Baths Here, There, and […]

Dec 14 Blog

Where Are They Now?

By: Megan Sauter

For the “Dig” 2015 issue, we checked in with individuals featured on the cover of past “Dig” issues as well as former BAS scholarship recipients.

Sep 29 Blog

Ancient Israel Through a Social Scientific Lens

By: Yigal Levin

Archaeology has come a long way since 19th-century explorers first mapped Biblical sites. Two recent volumes highlight the value of a new interdisciplinary approach as archaeologist Avraham Faust explores Israelite and Judahite society and the extent of the Babylonian destruction.

Jun 19 Blog

The Kani Shaie Archaeological Project

By: Steve Renette, André Tomé and Ricardo Cabral

In a web-exclusive report, the directors of the Kani Shaie Archaeological Project describe the preliminary results of the first systematic investigation in Iraqi Kurdistan of an Early Bronze Age site.

Mar 20 Blog

What to Do with Unprovenanced Artifacts—Publish or Perish?

By: Hershel Shanks

Hershel Shanks’s First Person in the March/April 2013 issue of BAR

Oct 18 Blog

The End of an Era

By: Hershel Shanks

We knew it would happen, but it’s still a shock. Frank Cross is dead. I will leave it to scholars to write of his scholarly accomplishments. I will write only of what I know: He stood at the very pinnacle of the profession, universally respected and admired. When he spoke, others stood in awe. The Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at Harvard University, the third oldest endowed academic chair in the United States, Cross was a specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in obscure ancient languages, in the science of dating ancient inscriptions based on shape of the letters, in the Biblical text and in archaeology, to name but a few.

Jul 17 Blog

How Should We Study Ancient Israelite Religion?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Few Biblical scholars carry as much weight as does Frank Moore Cross, author of the following article, “The History of Israelite Religion: A Secular or Theological Subject?,” in which he says that anyone wanting to study the history of ancient Israelite religion should view the enterprise through the lens of history rather than theology.

Jul 15 Blog

Bible Artifacts Found Outside the Trench: The Amarna Tablets

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

A trend has developed recently in the archaeological establishment: Ignore all unprovenanced Biblical artifacts, that is, Bible artifacts found outside of a professional excavation that […]

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