It is hard to believe a whole year has passed since I became editor of BAR, and what a fun year it has been! Every day, I wake up excited to be part of this magazine, always searching for new and interesting content or thinking through new ways to make BAR more engaging and accessible. It is an incredibly creative and rewarding experience that fosters not only a tremendous pride in the magazine but also a firm commitment to ensuring BAR remains enjoyable for its readers.
I hope that creative passion comes through in the fun and exciting Summer 2022 issue. Of course, this year marks the 75th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and we begin our coverage of this momentous event with Charlotte Hempel’s article “Ezra and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in which she explores the virtual absence of one of early Judaism’s most important figures, Ezra, from the scrolls found at Qumran. In “Moses and the Monks of Nebo,” by archaeologist Debra Foran, we jump ahead several centuries to discover the fascinating Byzantine churches and monasteries that commemorate the mountain in Moab from which Moses viewed the Promised Land right before his death.
We also get two views on the dramatic events that led to the demise of the Bronze Age world of the biblical Canaanites. In “1177 B.C.—The Collapse of Bronze Age Civilization,” archaeologist Eric Cline examines the various human and natural forces that brought about the end of one of the most interconnected and globalized periods in human history. And in “Pharaoh’s Fury,” Gezer excavators Steven Ortiz and Samuel Wolff present dramatic new evidence of the city’s violent destruction in the late 13th century B.C.E., presumably at the hands of Pharaoh Merneptah, who famously claimed to have laid waste to “Israel” during the same campaign.
As always, Strata is filled with the fun and informative. Two leading archaeologists highlight critical developments in Israel’s archaeology: First, Gideon Avni, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s archaeology division, answers our questions about the growing importance of salvage excavation amid the rapid growth of Israel’s cities. Second, Shay Bar, excavator at Tel Esur in northern Israel, highlights his project to engage Israel’s diverse youth in the country’s archaeology. Our latest Classical Corner, by Mercedes Aguirre and Richard Buxton, looks at the enduring myth of the cyclops and the various and often paradoxical ways that ancient authors understood this fantastic character of Greek mythology. We also offer news, trivia, tributes, and even a recipe for Samaritan hummus.
In Epistles, Dimitrios Papanikolaou examines the resurgence of the Psalms in Greek Byzantine inscriptions and these texts’ revelations about early Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Patricia Ahearne-Kroll then introduces us to Aseneth, the little-known Egyptian wife of the Israelite patriarch Joseph who fascinated later writers and became a symbol of Jewish independence from Greek and Roman domination.
So enjoy your excavation of the fun facts, incredible insights, and dramatic discoveries that fill the pages of our summer issue. In the meantime, we’ll be working with passion and creativity to bring you the next issue of BAR.
—GLENN J. CORBETT
It is hard to believe a whole year has passed since I became editor of BAR, and what a fun year it has been! Every day, I wake up excited to be part of this magazine, always searching for new and interesting content or thinking through new ways to make BAR more engaging and accessible. It is an incredibly creative and rewarding experience that fosters not only a tremendous pride in the magazine but also a firm commitment to ensuring BAR remains enjoyable for its readers. I hope that creative passion comes through in the fun and exciting Summer […]
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