Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2008
Features
Millions of years ago, seismic forces where two tectonic plates come together formed the Great Rift Valley. Millions of years later, the Dead Sea was created in that valley—the lowest point on earth. Thus begins the story of the life of the Dead Sea. That life is now imperiled. Can the Dead Sea be […]
On the night of October 13, 2007, a mild earthquake, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale, roiled the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. A similar quake occurred two months earlier.
Bovine-size blocks of bitumen sometimes float to the surface of the Dead Sea during periods of increased seismic activity. Although this has happened rarely in recent years (see photo of one such example), it was a common occurrence in the first century C.E., when Flavius Josephus wrote this descriptive passage about the Dead Sea […]
Visitors to Jordan should not miss driving the winding road from Amman down to the stunning new Dead Sea museum. The view from the Zara cliff, overlooking the sea toward Israel’s Judean desert, is itself reason enough for the trip. But there is much more to see.
A new museum in Jordan will highlight the long cultural heritage of the Dead Sea region. Located near the southeastern shore of the sea, an area traditionally associated with Lot and his family, the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth is expected to open in autumn 2008 and will feature indoor and outdoor […]
It was near dawn on the day before Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, in 2003, when I decided to measure one of the recent sinkholes on the shore of the Dead Sea. Before taking the rescue jeep, however, I had to clear it with Noam, who was in charge that day of the Ein […]
The Dead Sea is falling about 3 feet per year. Wide swaths of beach and plant growth occupy what used to be filled with Dead Sea brine. Hotels and spas have seemingly retreated from the shores that once provided nearby access to guests wanting to float in the sea or smear themselves with its therapeutic mud.
At first, it may seem like the fertile imagination of a novelist—that the Temple treasures were hidden in a church. And I can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were. But the suggestion has plausibility, buttressed by some fascinating history and impressive archaeological remains. I start with Procopius, the court historian of the […]
Although the huge barrel-vaulted halls supporting the Nea had been discovered by Charles Warren in the late 19th century, the long-buried remains of the church itself were first revealed to modern eyes by excavations of Israeli archaeologists in the 1970s. While excavating in the Jewish Quarter, the late Nahman Avigad found the northern apse […]
IF it were written on leather (and smaller) I would say it was another Dead Sea Scroll fragment—but it isn’t. It is written on gray-colored stone! And it is 3 feet high and 1 foot wide! Otherwise, it strongly resembles in many respects what we have come to expect from fragmentary Dead Sea Scrolls. […]
Around 25 years ago, Jim Kugel and I confided to each other that we each wanted to write a book for the general public. We both believed it important to make scholarship accessible to all. As it turned out, we each wrote several such books. His newest is How to Read the Bible. It […]
John Lewis Burckhardt (1784–1817), born in Switzerland and raised in Germany, was an extraordinary traveler and Orientalist. In the summer of 1806, he traveled to England, where, for two years, he wandered the streets of London in search of employment. He was ultimately hired by the African Association, which was seeking explorers to investigate […]