Biblical Archaeology Review, Fall 2024

In the wake of two disastrous revolts against Rome, many Jews left Judah for neighboring lands, including the verdant oases of ancient North Arabia, where inscriptions bear silent witness to the lives of the early Jews who made Arabia their home. Explore what these inscriptions reveal about the Jewish presence at major oasis centers like Tayma, Al-Ula, and Hegra.

A quarter-century of excavations at Tell es-Safi, site of the Philistine city of Gath, has allowed archaeologists to refine longstanding assumptions about ancient Israel’s most feared rivals and how these people of foreign origin integrated into the social and ethnic fabric of the southern Levant. Venture into this thriving metropolis to glimpse the rich and diverse culture of one of the region’s most powerful Iron Age kingdoms.

The Amarna Letters, a collection of cuneiform documents discovered in Egypt, provide a wealth of insights into diplomatic relations between Egypt and the kingdoms and empires of the Late Bronze Age. The letters written from the kings of the Canaanite polities illuminate the social and political realities these rulers faced, as well as the contours of their Canaanite language.

From time to time, the world of biblical archaeology is upended by the discovery of a remarkable inscription. But is it possible that our insatiable appetite for such groundbreaking finds clouds our ability to evaluate them cautiously and fairly? A closer look at a few recent examples sheds light on how our eagerness to find the sensational can lead even experts to jump to inaccurate conclusions.