near eastern archaeology

By: Glenn J. Corbett

Who were the Nabataeans, the industrious Arab people who built the city of Petra and its towering rock-cut monuments over 2,000 years ago?

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: Glenn J. Corbett

King Amaziah of Judah (c. 801–783 B.C.E.), after having slain nearly 10,000 Edomites in battle near the southern end of the Dead Sea, is said to have thrown another 10,000 captives from the top of nearby Sela.

By: Douglas Clark, Larry Herr, and Larry Geraty

“Peace.” That was the trademark conversation sign off and genuine wish of well-known Canadian archaeologist Burton MacDonald, who passed away on October 20, 2022, at […]

By: Noah Wiener

Megiddo’s Great Temple is a structure that, according to its excavators, “has proven to be the most monumental single edifice so far uncovered in the EB I Levant and ranks among the largest structures of its time in the Near East.”

By: Samuel Dewitt Pfister

According to the Gospels, Bethsaida is a small fishing village on the banks of the Sea of Galilee often mentioned as the location of some […]

By: Glenn J. Corbett

Three thousand years ago, when alphabetic writing had just begun to spread across the masses of the ancient Near East, written words were far more than idle marks meant simply to be read.

By: Samuel DeWitt Pfister

In 2016, team members of the Megiddo Expedition digging at the location of Biblical Armageddon uncovered a lavish tomb adjacent to a monumental Middle Bronze Age palace.

By: Robert Cargill

Editor Robert R. Cargill describes the special festschrift double issue of BAR dedicated to the career of Hershel Shanks, BAR’s founder and longtime Editor.

By: Megan Sauter

Distinguished Harvard University professor and Ashkelon excavation director Lawrence Stager died on December 29, 2017, at the age of 74.