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matthew Latest

Marcello Provenzale's 1608 micro-mosaic represents Cardinal Scipione Borghese as Orpheus, sitting beneath a tree surrounded by both real and imagined creatures.

May 7 Blog

Borrowing from the Neighbors

By: Sarah Yeomans

Living in the Greco-Roman world, early Christians were able to draw from a set of rich artistic paradigms when they set out to depict their stories and beliefs in decorative contexts. This often led to the assimilation of well-established pagan artistic styles and images into early Christian art. The sculptors, fresco painters and mosaic artists who created Christian images did so by using the prolific examples of art and decoration that shaped their artistic landscape.

Photo of Church of the Redeemer

Apr 4 Blog

Where Is Golgotha, Where Jesus Was Crucified?

By: BAS Staff

Where is Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, located in Jerusalem? Marcel Serr and Dieter Vieweger discuss past and current investigations into the site where Jesus was crucified.

Apr 2 Blog

Understanding the Good Samaritan Parable

By: BAS Staff

Who were the Samaritans? Dr. Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt University explains how getting an accurate answer to this question can shed light on how shocking the Good Samaritan parable would have been for Jesus’ audience.

Late-15th-century painting of The Last Supper by the Spanish artist known as the Master of Perea.

Mar 31 Blog

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

By: Jonathan Klawans

Many assume that Jesus' Last Supper was a Seder, the ritual Passover meal. Examine evidence from the synoptic Gospels with scholar Jonathan Klawans.

The pre-penitent Magdalene by Chris Gollon

Mar 26 Blog

Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?

By: BAS Staff

Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute who repented or simply an influential female follower of Jesus? Mary from Magdala has popularly been saddled with an unfavorable reputation, but how did this notion come about?

Mar 26 Blog

Herod Antipas in the Bible and Beyond

By: BAS Staff

Who was Herod Antipas? This son and successor of Herod the Great ruled Galilee when Jesus lived, and he participated in the trial of Jesus. In BAR, Morten Hørning Jensen examines what archaeology can tell us about this not-so-great Herod.

Jesus’s crucifixion displayed on the fifth-century C.E. wooden doors of the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome. Photo: Jim Forest

Mar 24 Blog

Jesus and the Cross

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?

Mar 12 Blog

The Three Magi

By: BAS Staff

Bearing gifts for the infant Jesus, the three wise men from the east traversed afar to reach Bethlehem. What do we really know about the magi, who are so central to the traditional telling of the Christmas story?

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.

Woodcut from Die Bibel in Bildern (1860) by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

Mar 10 Blog

Jesus Was a Refugee

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.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future
Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel
Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life
Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus
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