Biblical Archaeology Review, Spring 2023

Archaeologists have now uncovered 16 synagogues from the early Roman period. These assembly halls inform our understanding of Jewish communal and religious life in Galilee and Judea, including locales where Jesus lived and taught. Explore the biblical and archaeological evidence for the significant role that synagogues played in Jesus’s ministry.

Following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the prophet Jeremiah opted to spend his final years in Egypt. Although the Book of Jeremiah names a few of the places the prophet passed along his journey to Egypt, the precise route he took is never described. See how recent archaeological and geological evidence finally confirms the road that Jeremiah traveled.

Hazor was the largest Canaanite city during the Bronze Age—and remembered as “the head of all those kingdoms” in Joshua 11:10. Could only the wealthy afford to live within its massive walls, or did average people also call the city home? Explore its population over time with archaeologist Shlomit Bechar.

The Mesha Stele might contain a reference to the “House of David.” Some scholars believe this reading can now be confirmed, thanks to new photographic evidence, as published in the Winter 2022 issue of BAR. However, others disagree. Take another look at the Mesha Stele, a ninth-century BCE Moabite victory stela, and see if the reading of the “House of David” is indeed set in stone.