Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1991

The monopoly held by the small coterie of scholars who control the still-secret Dead Sea Scrolls is slowly being broken.

After 12 years of surveying and excavating in the land allotted in the Bible to the tribe of Manasseh, it is now possible to suggest new ideas on the emergence of Israel in Canaan, beginning at the end of the Late Bronze Age (13th century B.C.E.a) and continuing into Iron Age I (1200–1000 […]

If Biblical traditions represent some kind of historical memory, albeit edited, it should be interesting to examine the geographical involvement of the various tribes in each other’s territorial allotment. This may indicate the early presence of these families, or tribes, in another’s territory before the final division of the land took place. Moreover, this […]

I would like to focus on a single well-known archaeological artifact as an entry into ancient Semitic iconography. More specifically, I would like to examine the Lachish ewer—and related artifacts—in order better to understand the ancient Canaanite goddess Asherah,1 who is mentioned at least 40 times in the Hebrew Bible. From the Biblical references, […]

The question of Israel’s responsibility to prevent the destruction of ancient remains on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is now before Israel’s Supreme Court. The case demands a difficult and complex balancing of Muslim rights to administer and control the Temple Mount, on the one hand, and the Israel government’s obligation to enforce laws […]

This year is the hundredth anniversary of the birth of William Foxwell Albright, this century’s greatest biblical archaeologist. To mark the occasion, a scholarly conference was held at the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, where Albright taught. The papers presented attempted to look forward, to chart the course of ancient Near Eastern studies in […]