janet howe

By: Janet Howe Gaines

For more than two thousand years, Jezebel has been saddled with a reputation as the bad girl of the Bible, the wickedest of women. But just how depraved was she?

By: Megan Sauter

Who were the original humans that God created in the Garden of Eden: Adam and Eve? Or Adam and Lilith? A close look at the opening chapters of Genesis—and ancient Jewish mythology—may suggest that Lilith came before Eve!

By: Robin Gallaher Branch

Biblical studies scholar Robin Gallaher Branch explores Luke’s depiction of a woman set on doing good for the poor and serving her friends, the widows, for whom she makes robes and clothing.

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.

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?

By: BAS Staff

Mary Magdalene, Jezebel, Rahab, Lilith. Today, each are popularly considered scandalous women in the Bible. Are these so-condemned salacious women misrepresented?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Although the Bible is largely a product of the male-dominated societies of ancient Israel and the first-century C.E. Roman world, some of its most fascinating, evocative and inspiring characters are women.

By: Jennie Ebeling and Norma Franklin

Mentioned more than 30 times in the Hebrew Bible, Jezreel, famous for the story of Naboth and his vineyard, was possibly Ahab and Jezebel’s second home and the setting for the dramatic events described in 1 Kings 21 and 2 Kings 9. Discover the archaeology of Jezreel through the 2016 Jezreel Expedition field season.

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

There is much more to Jezreel than just the fortified hilltop site. “Greater Jezreel” includes a nearby spring that was the lifeblood of the city, as well as a sloping agricultural terrace that extends north of the tell and overlooks the spring.

By: David Ussishkin responds to Boyd Seevers

BAR published a letter from Professor Boyd Seevers concerning what Israelite chariots looked like in the Assyrian period in response to an article by David Ussishkin. Professor Ussishkin’s response to Professor Seevers arrived too late for publication with Professor Seevers’s letter, so we present them both here. Posted December 16, 2010.