Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 1989
Features
Dead Sea Scrolls Scandal—Israel’s Department of Antiquities Joins Conspiracy to Keep Scrolls Secret
They will never do it. They will never do it because they cannot do it. They have failed—utterly and completely. The time for equivocation, explanation and apology has passed. It is now time to face the situation squarely and unflinchingly: The team of scholars assigned more than...Read more ›
What Happened to the Cult Figurines? Israelite Religion Purified After the Exile
Accidental discoveries of two pits containing cult figurines have led me to discern an extraordinary development in Israelite religious observance. This development occurred when the Jews returned from the Babylonian Exile in the sixth to fifth centuries B.C. The first discovery took place in the opening season...Read more ›
Is This Solomon’s Seaport?
In the Bible we are twice told that Solomon, with the help of the Phoenician king Hiram, built a fleet of ships that sailed from Ezion-Geber (ETZ-yon GEH-ver)a near Eloth (Ay-LOHT) on the Red Sea. We are now in a position, I believe, not...Read more ›
A Workable Proposal to Regulate Antiquities Trade
Since 1967, more than 11,000 archaeological sites have been robbed within Israel’s pre-1967 borders, according to members of the Anti-Plundering Task Force of the Israel Department of Antiquities.a The government’s Department of Antiquities proposes a radical solution: Proscribe all sale or trade in antiquities; put the licensed...Read more ›