Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 1988

An extraordinary artifact has recently been discovered in the Judean foothills south of Jerusalem, dating from the time of the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (132–135 A.D.). It is a lead weight bearing the name, in Hebrew letters, of the leader of the revolt and head of state of the then newly declared nation […]

At Herodium, the isolated mountain palace-fortress complex originally created by Herod the Great in the midst of the Judean desert,1 an underground tunnel system dating to the Bar-Kokhba revolt, the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (132–135 A.D.), has recently been discovered. Unlike the low, narrow underground burrows Amos Kloner describes in “Name of Ancient […]

“Radical Exodus Redating Fatally Flawed,” BAR 13:06, Baruch Halpern’s swashbuckling response to our article, “Redating the Exodus,” BAR 13:05, was disappointing in its refusal to consider the issues more open-mindedly. In some instances Halpern’s polemic actually misrepresents our arguments instead of engaging them. We are grateful for space to answer bravado with fact. We […]

In your September/October 1987 issue, John Bimson and David Livingston in their article “Redating the Exodus,” BAR 13:05, referred to evidence coming from our investigation at Tell el-Dab‘a in the Eastern Nile Delta. I would like to correct some of their statements in this respect. Using the low Egyptian chronology of the New Kingdom […]

Archaeologists often accuse Biblical scholars of ignoring archaeological materials that could significantly illuminate the Biblical texts that scholars are studying. As one archaeologist recently put it: “Most [Biblical] commentators do not even make use of archaeology where it can contribute best, namely in illustrating the material culture of a given period, either in general […]

In the January/February 1988 BAR an article entitled “Two Early Israelite Cult Sites Now Questioned,” BAR 14:01, presents the views of Professor Michael Coogan to the effect that the so-called “Bull Site” that I excavated in the Samaria mountains is not a cultic installation and is of questionable Israelite ethnicity.a Of course, every silent […]

In an article entitled “Has Mt. Sinai Been Found?” BAR 11:04, Italian archaeologist and author of the popular, though now out-dated Palestine Before the Hebrews (New York: Knopf, 1963), Emmanuel Anati argues that he has found Mt. Sinai, the Mountain of God, on a ridge in the western edge of the Negev Highlands, four […]