Biblical Archaeology Review, March 1976

After Esther, ward of Mordecai, entered the harem of the Persian king Ahasuerus, she, along with the other virgins from whom the King would choose his queen, underwent a year’s preparation before being taken to the King. The Bible tells us that:

In his article “Hazor and The Battle of Deborah—Is Judges 4 Wrong?” BAR 01:04, Yohanan Aharoni writes (concerning the apparent endorsement by the BAR editor of my view that Judges 4 is “a late inaccurate gloss”): “Don’t reject the historicity of the Biblical text so easily”.

On the last day of his 1975 season Professor Nachman Avigad of Hebrew University, digging in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, discovered four arrowheads buried in ashes at the base of a massive stone defense tower. The tower was built by the Israelites more than 2600 years ago—before the Babylonian […]

As reported in the December issue of the BAR (Queries & Comments, BAR 01:04), at the time we went to press with that issue, we had received no reply from Kathleen Kenyon to the articles in our September issue (“Kathleen Kenyon’s Anti-Zionist Politics—Does It Affect Her Work?” BAR 01:03), although we had written Dr. […]

Wendell Phillips, dead at the age of 54, was surely the world’s richest archaeologist. The “riches” part of his rags-to-riches story resulted from hundred of oil leases which gave him the right to extract and sell the black gold. At his death, he was the largest individual holder of oil concessions in the world. […]

Trude Dothan arrived at the Gaza checkpoint precisely at eight in the morning. She had left her Jerusalem flat before dawn, had driven westward down the umber Judean hills toward the coast, then headed south toward Ashkelon—3,000 years ago, a powerful city-state within the Philistine pentapolis—now, a thriving Israeli city. South of Ashkelon, there […]

During the last 25 years, professional archaeologists have become accustomed to relying on a wide variety of experts, both on the dig and afterward. Today no excavation would go into the field without an architect and photographer, or hesitate to call in a numismatist or bone specialist to study the collected material. A geologist, […]

Over 100 years ago Edward Palmer explored the Sinai desert and recorded his findings in a still fascinating book entitled The Desert of the Exodus. At a site called by the Arabs Kuntillat, Palmer found some architectural remains which he identified as a Roman outpost on the ancient road from Gaza to Eilat. According […]

“What brings you here?” is a frequent question of introduction when Tell Beer-Sheva volunteers introduce one another. The answers reveal students of archaeology from various universities coming for field experience, others looking for a new or different experience, Biblical students, or volunteers, like myself, interested in archaeology, this land and its history, or wanting […]

Opportunities for volunteers on archaeological excavations next summer are numerous and varied.