khirbet qeiyafa

By: Megan Sauter

In the Bible, the inner shrine of Solomon’s Temple is described as having five mezuzot. What are they? The question has puzzled Biblical scholars for centuries. Does a recently discovered shrine model from Khirbet Qeiyafa hold the answer?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

What do Iron Age altars tell us about Biblical sacrifices and worship in ancient Israelite religion?

By: Hershel Shanks

In BAR, Hershel Shanks examines a recent article published by archaeologist Amihai Mazar. Mazar contends that while the Biblical narratives were written hundreds of years after the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, they “retain memories of reality.”

By: Yosef Garfinkel

I was pleased to see four reputable scholars dedicate such a long discussion[1] to refuting my putative interpretation of the cultic paraphernalia from Moẓa as […]

By: Shua Kisilevitz, Ido Koch, Oded Lipschits, and David S. Vanderhooft

In the most recent issue of BAR, Yosef Garfinkel claimed that an anthropomorphic (human-shaped) clay head from Khirbet Qeiyafa, two similar clay heads and two […]

By: Megan Sauter

What does God look like? In the Bible, the Israelites are charged to not create any idol—whether of a deity or living thing. This prohibition, […]

By: David Rafael Moulis

According to the Hebrew Bible, Hezekiah “removed the high places, broke down the pillars and cut down the sacred pole” (2 Kings 18:4). What was Hezekiah’s religious reform like on the ground, and what were his motives?

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

In a BAR article, epigraphy scholar Christopher Rollston asks a seemingly straightforward question: What is the oldest Hebrew inscription?

By: Noah Wiener

The Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) July 18, 2013 press release is crowned with an extraordinary headline: King David’s Palace was Uncovered in the Judean Shephelah.

By: Robin Ngo

An ancient stone toilet recently unearthed at Lachish may provide archaeological evidence of King Hezekiah’s religious reforms throughout Judah in the eighth century B.C.E. The toilet had been placed in what is interpreted to be a gate-shrine within the largest ancient city gate found in Israel.