jewish historian josephus

By: Jennifer Ristine

For a people living in the diaspora, unable to visit the Jerusalem Temple frequently, what kept the memory and centrality of the Temple fresh in their minds? An intriguing stone uncovered at the Galilean site of Magdala might offer a clue.

By: BAS Staff

What do we know about the history of crucifixion? Hershel Shanks looks at evidence of Roman crucifixion methods as analyzed from the remains found in Jerusalem of a young man crucified in the first century A.D.

By: Robin Ngo

Visitors to Jerusalem’s Old City can explore remains of King Herod’s palace, which may be where Roman governor Pontius Pilate tried and condemned Jesus of Nazareth to death.

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: 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.

By: Steven Shisley

Most scholars believe that early Christians did not use the cross as an image of their religion. So how did the cross become modern Christianity’s most popular symbol?

By: Samuel DeWitt Pfister

The ancient village of Bethsaida frequently mentioned in the Gospels is believed to be located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, but where precisely the abandoned city lies remains a fiercely-debated question among scholars.

By: Robin Ngo

What do we know about the Roman siege of Masada? We must consider both the account given by Josephus and the surviving archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct what happened.

By: Megan Sauter

Using technology, a team has digitally restored a panel from the Arch of Titus—which famously depicts captured treasures from Jerusalem’s Temple being paraded through Rome—to its original color.

By: Josephine Quinn

The Phoenician script was borrowed by the Israelites, Greeks and Romans. Learn what sorts of texts the Phoenicians wrote as revealed by a recent archaeological excavation.