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Displaying 1 - 20 of 53 results
The New Jerusalem Inscription—So What?
In 2012, while excavating at the southern wall of the Temple Mount, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar discovered the oldest alphabetic inscription ever found in Jerusalem. It had been inscribed on a storage jar, but, alas, the jar had not...
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2014
Scholars’ Corner: Yadin Presents New Interpretation of the Famous Lachish Letters
On January 29, 1935, during the third season of excavations at Tell ed-Duweir, a site thought to be Biblical Lachish, archaeologists discovered a collection of 18 ostraca, or inscribed potsherds. The ostraca had been covered by a thick layer...
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1984
For the Prosecution
Professor Maier’s extensive rebuttal of my earlier essay is a most welcome engagement from an authority who has written widely on the figure of Pilate.1 I am happy to offer a reply. First, however, a word on name-calling. Professor Maier’s...
Bible Review, June 2004
The Question of Israelite Literacy
How widespread was the ability to read and Write in ancient Israel? Until recently, the answer usually was, “Quite limited.” The ability to write, it was said, was restricted to a class of professional scribes, who possessed a skill...
Bible Review, Fall 1987
The Dark Side of Pilate
Poor Pilate. If ever a man was caught unwittingly in the net of historical circumstance, it was Pilate. A simple Roman governor just doing his job, he could see that Jesus wasn’t the villain the Jewish crowd thought him to be. In the end, he...
Bible Review, December 2003
In the Path of Sennacherib
“I laid waste the large district of Judah and made the overbearing and proud Hezekiah, its king, bow in submission,” boasts Sennacherib, monarch of Assyria, in a preserved cuneiform inscription.1 “I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities: .....
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2005
Bronze Bull Found in Israelite “High Place” from the Time of the Judges
When he found it, Ofer Broshi was on army duty. Army life can be exhausting or boring—or sometimes both. At that moment, Broshi, a rugged young kibbutznik, was more bored than tired. He was resting on the summit of a hill in northern Samaria...
Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1983
Literacy in the Time of Jesus
Could His Words Have Been Recorded in His Lifetime?
How likely is it that someone would have written down and collected Jesus’ sayings into a book in Jesus’ lifetime? Several lines of evidence converge to suggest it is quite probable. The first factor to consider is how prevalent literacy was...
Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2003
Excavating in Samson Country—Philistines and Israelites at Tel Batash
The period from the time of the Judges to the end of the Israelite monarchy is known in archaeological terms as the Iron Age. It is subdivided into Iron I, the time of the Judges from about 1200 to 1000 B.C., and Iron II, the United and...
Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1989
Were Words Separated in Ancient Hebrew Writing?
Twice in recent issues of Bible Review, in otherwise excellent articles, Harvey Minkoff has asserted that “Ancient [Hebrew] manuscripts generally did not leave space between words.”a Writing without word divisions is called scriptio...
Bible Review, June 1992
Exodus
A book of memories
“tradition (which is a product of oblivion and memory)” —Jorge Luis Borges The Exodus from Egypt is a focal point of ancient Israelite religion. Virtually every kind of religious...
Bible Review, August 2002
Was King Saul Impaled on the Wall of Beth Shean?
The Bible tells us that King Saul was killed by the Philistines and that his body (as well as those of his three sons) was hung on the wall of Beth Shean: “The Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying...
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2012
The Secret Code Hoax
If the Bible is the ineffable word of God, then it makes sense that all truth is to be found in it. An early rabbinic sage by the delightful name of Ben Bag-Bag said, “Turn it and turn it again, for all things are in it.”1 The history of...
Bible Review, August 1997
Combine the Best from Each Tradition
I believe that we are ready for a new critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. We now have sufficient ancient texts and critical tools to improve the Hebrew text that has come down to us as the textus receptus, the Masoretic Text, or MT...
Bible Review, August 2000
Kings Og’s Iron Bed
Fact or fancy?
In Moses’ famous speech that comprises most of Deuteronomy, he describes the Israelite conquest of two kingdoms east of the Jordan—Heshbon, led by a king named Sihon, and Bashan, led by...
Bible Review, April 1990
Daniel and Belshazzar in History
The party was in full swing, the wine flowed freely, and everyone felt on top of the world. There was no power on earth to rival Babylon, and no gods in heaven to equal hers. This is the setting of the famous fifth chapter of the Book of...
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1985
Re-creating the Tablets of the Law
How should we imagine the Tablets of the Law that Moses twice brought down from the mountain? Whether the story is legend or...
Bible Review, February 1994
Q
The lost gospel
The Lost Gospel. The very concept provokes a flood of questions. If it is lost, how do we know it ever existed? How do we know what was in it? Who lost it? And how was it lost? Perhaps most intriguing of all: Will it ever be found? A new book...
Bible Review, October 1993
Jesus Lives!
Looking Back on 20 Years of Jesus Scholarship
Thirty years ago, the historical Jesus was dead. By 1975, it was clear that scholars had very little to say about him. If students were assigned anything to read on the subject, it was usually Gunther Bornkamm’s Jesus of Nazareth from...
Bible Review, Summer 2005
Does the Bible Exaggerate King Solomon’s Golden Wealth?
Those who read the Biblical text and make a subjective judgment as to its reliability often conclude—and understandably so—that the descriptions of Solomon’s gold are gross...
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1989