Israelite house courtesy of Rhonda Root/Madaba Plains Project; W. F. Badè Courtesy of the Badè Institute/Pacific School of Religion
Aided by a ladder, archaeologist William F. Badè emerges from a pit at Tell-en-Nasbeh. In 1927 he unearthed a four-room building there; thinking that it was a temple, he held a church service in its ruins. We now know that this style of building (seen in the reconstruction drawing) was the characteristic house of Iron Age (1200–586 B.C.E.) Israelites. The authors claim it reflects that people’s unique ideology and worldview.