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BAR’s Summer 2023 issue is the perfect read for your summer adventures, whether you’re relaxing on the beach, experiencing the great outdoors, or maybe even getting your hands dirty in an excavation trench in the Holy Land. We’ve packed this issue with stories, profiles, news, quizzes, and contests that are sure to entertain, inform, and enlighten.
Our cover story, “The Rise of the Maccabees” by archaeologist Andrea Berlin, explores the historical and archaeological evidence for the power politics that lay behind the dramatic rise of the Hasmonean state in the late second century BCE. Then, in “David and Solomon’s Invisible Kingdom,” authors Zachary Thomas and Erez Ben-Yosef present a bold new theory that the legendary biblical kings did, in fact, rule over a powerful kingdom, but that it was made up largely of archaeologically invisible tent-dwelling nomads in addition to city dwellers and townspeople who would have left behind buildings and monuments.
In “Jerusalem’s Temple Treasures: Where Did They Go?” biblical scholar Elena Dugan uncovers a little-known Hebrew text that preserves the intriguing tradition that some of the First Temple treasures were hidden in Mesopotamia following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. And in “The Amorites and the Bible,” archaeologist Aaron Burke examines the Amorites, one of several groups encountered by the Israelites after their arrival in Canaan, and the massive Bronze Age monuments that the biblical writers attributed to this legendary people of gigantic origin.
This issue’s Strata brings you the latest news and developments in the world of biblical archaeology, including a profile of two new methodologies that make use of the earth’s geomagnetic field to reveal buried buildings and even the precise date of biblical battles. Archaeologist Robert Mullins then analyzes a short Hebrew inscription from Abel Beth Maacah that reveals ancient Israel’s northern border in the ninth century BCE. And scholar Jonathan Klawans visits a still-functioning Crusader-era church located just outside of Jerusalem to explore its brilliant frescoes that depict scenes from the life of Jesus.
In Epistles, Zohar Amar uses ancient texts and experimental archaeology to identify zori, the mysterious biblical resin grown in the land of Gilead that was used to treat everything from cough to indigestion. David Clausen summarizes what modern biblical scholarship teaches about the historical Paul by addressing five common myths about the apostle, his teachings, and his relationship to the Judaism of his day. We also take a close look at the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian tale that influenced generations of storytellers and writers from across the ancient world.
So wherever your summer plans take you, be sure to pack the latest issue of BAR. Between adventuring and relaxing, take some time for yourself and explore the sites and discoveries that continue to reveal exciting new details about the biblical past.
BARs Summer 2023 issue is the perfect read for your summer adventures, whether you’re relaxing on the beach, experiencing the great outdoors, or maybe even getting your hands dirty in an excavation trench in the Holy Land. We’ve packed this issue with stories, profiles, news, quizzes, and contests that are sure to entertain, inform, and enlighten. Our cover story, “The Rise of the Maccabees” by archaeologist Andrea Berlin, explores the historical and archaeological evidence for the power politics that lay behind the dramatic rise of the Hasmonean state in the late second century BCE. Then, in “David and Solomon’s Invisible […]
