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Aug 20 Blog

Jewish Purification: Stone Vessel Workshop Discovered in Galilee

By: Robin Ngo

An excavation at a cave in Galilee has uncovered what may be a 2,000-year-old stone vessel production center. In the first century C.E., Jews commonly used stone vessels in observance of Jewish purity laws.

Aug 17 Blog

Roman Crucifixion Methods Reveal the History of Crucifixion

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.

Aug 6 Blog

A Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods

By: BAS Staff

In the history of crucifixion, the death of Jesus of Nazareth stands out as the best-known example by far. Crucifixion in antiquity was actually a fairly common punishment, but there were no known physical remains from a crucifixion. Then, in 1968, archaeologist Vassilios Tzaferis excavated a Jerusalem tomb that contained the bones of a crucified man named Yehohanan. As Tzaferis reported in BAR, the discovery demonstrated the brutal reality of Roman crucifixion methods in a way that written accounts never had before.

Jul 20 Blog

The Church of Laodicea in the Bible and Archaeology

By: Megan Sauter

Laodicea was a wealthy city in western Turkey that flourished for centuries. Why does the author of the Book of Revelation call the church of Laodicea “lukewarm”—neither hot nor cold? Recent excavations at the site might provide the answer.

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 4 Blog

Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols

By: Walter Zanger

What are zodiac mosaics doing in ancient synagogues in Israel?

Jun 6 Blog

Tomb of Apostle Philip Found

By: BAS Staff

Amid the remains of a fourth- or fifth-century church at Hierapolis, one of the most significant Christian sites in Turkey, archaeologist Francesco D’Andria found a first-century Roman tomb that he believes once held the remains of the apostle Philip.

May 30 Blog

Solomon, Socrates and Aristotle

By: Theodore Feder

A wall painting found in the House of the Physician in Pompeii contains the earliest known depiction of a Biblical scene. Two onlookers in the crowd appear to be the Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle, according to author Theodore Feder. What do the onlookers reveal about the place of Biblical culture in the Greco-Roman world?

Apr 25 Blog

Ancient Jerusalem: The Village, the Town, the City

By: Hershel Shanks

Archaeologist Hillel Geva says that population estimates for ancient Jerusalem are too high. His new estimates begin with people living on no more than a dozen acres.

Mar 22 Blog

Bar Kokhba Tunnels in the Galilee

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have revealed a complex of underground tunnels built by the Jewish residents of Huqoq, in central Galilee, around […]

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