Cover Story: Grabbing Readers by the Eyeballs

As BAR’s Design Director for almost its entire history, I have been involved with the design of nearly every cover of every issue of the magazine—not to mention its sister publications, Bible Review and Archaeology Odyssey. Altogether, that makes more than 500 covers!

From the beginning, we wanted to create covers that dramatically presented the amazing artistic, architectural, and cultural accomplishments of the peoples described in the Bible, with impressive images and provocative commentary. It is hard to pick favorites, but here I have selected a dozen, arranged chronologically—in my opinion the best examples of the types of covers that have made BAR so successful for so many years.

BAR July/August 1980

A. This fisheye view of the interior of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, with its beautiful ceiling, gave readers a new perspective on an ancient building.

BAR March/April 1984

B. We have never shied away from controversy and challenging beloved artifacts, including the Shroud of Turin. This cover also obeys the old newsstand adage, “Put a face on the cover.”

BAR March/April 1990

C. Not every cover was about a beautiful artifact. An early proponent of making the Dead Sea Scrolls freely available, BAR founder Hershel Shanks used his bully pulpit to provoke the recalcitrant scholars who were responsible for their publication—a daring move for a man who relied on the very same scholarly community for BAR content!

BAR July/August 1993

D. Highlighting scholars and their life’s work was always a part of BAR’s goal of getting readers closer to the people doing the digging, as with this cover that showcased esteemed archaeologists and Philistine experts Trude and Moshe Dothan.

BAR January/February 1995

E. Scale is important. It’s not just the big picture that impresses. Close-ups of small artifacts, such as this 2.4-inch-tall figurine of the Egyptian dwarf god Pataekos, reveal details that connect readers with ancient artists and their works.

BAR November/December 1997

F. Many dozens of BAR covers presented museum-quality photography of statues, carvings, mosaics, frescoes, and paintings from the Bronze Age through the medieval period. This cover featured an impressive bronze statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian from the early second century CE.

BAR November/December 1998

G. Dramatic aerial views of archaeological remains, such as this stunning view of Masada, connect readers to events of the past and deepen their connection to the world of the Bible.

BAR March/April 2006

H. Skilled cropping helped highlight this fragmentary but still stunning head from a statue of Hatshepsut, one of the few women ever to rule over ancient Egypt. This was the first cover of BAR’s 2006 redesign, reimagined to keep pace with the ever-changing publishing landscape.

BAR May/June 2007

I. When images seemed too small to present a big topic, dramatic typography and image collages provided creative impact. This issue was the final coda to the decades-long pressure that BAR exerted to get scholars to release the Dead Sea Scrolls to the public.

BAR January/February 2008

J. For decades, dig covers were a yearly fixture of each year’s January/February issue (and now some Spring issues). Although they often feature conventional portraits of dig volunteers, this cover broke the mold with a stunning silhouette of an excavator.

BAR November/December 2010

K. Comparing a modern portrait of the historical Jesus with a centuries-old mosaic, this cover contrasted romantic ideals of the past with factual archaeological evidence while still putting a “face on the cover.”

BAR Fall 2024

L. Choosing covers has been one of the most gratifying parts of producing BAR for all these years. Our recent Fall 2024 cover of a relief of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten continued our long tradition of highlighting ancient art that connects us to the past.