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philistine Latest

Sep 12 Blog

Biblical Town of Ziklag May Have Been Discovered

Researchers announced their belief that they may have uncovered the biblical town of Ziklag. Located between Kiryat Gat and Lachish in southern Israel, Khirbet a-Ra‘i […]

Jul 23 Blog

Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?

By: Ellen White

Who is Asherah? What is asherah? The reference may be to a particular goddess, a class of goddess or a cult symbol used to represent the goddess. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish what meaning is intended.

Jul 16 Blog

The Enduring Symbolism of Doves

By: Dorothy Willette

Few symbols have a tradition as long and as rich as the dove. Read about what it represents and how its use has been shared, adapted and reinterpreted across cultures and millennia to suit changing belief systems.

Jul 6 Blog

Making Sense of Kosher Laws

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

The origins of Jewish dietary or kosher laws (kashrut) have long been the subject of scholarly research and debate.

Jun 16 Blog

High Places, Altars and the Bamah

By: Ellen White

The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar.

May 11 Blog

Did I Find King David’s Palace?

By: Eilat Mazar

Digging just south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Eilat Mazar uncovered a monumental building from the tenth century B.C.—the right time and the right place for David’s royal residence.

Mar 14 Blog

Beth Shean in the Bible and Archaeology

By: Biblical Archaeology Society Staff

Beth Shean plays an important role in the Bible following the death of King Saul and as a major Israelite administrative center. Excavations over the past century have revealed what archaeology (and the Bible) can—and can’t—tell us about the site’s history.

Jan 9 Blog

From Philistine Capital to Judahite City

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

The ancient city of Gath (modern Tell es-Safi in southern Israel) is perhaps best known as a capital of the Philistine pentapolis during much of […]

Nov 9 Blog

Bringing a Slingshot to a Swordfight

By: Marek Dospěl 

“David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his […]

May 12 Blog

You Are What You Eat: The Israelite Diet and Archaeology

By: Marek Dospěl

Pigs weren’t part of the Israelite diet. Therefore if you are excavating and find lots of pig bones at your site, it can’t be Israelite—or can it? A new survey brings this conventional wisdom into question with surprising results.

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