Strata: Archaeology Enters the Blogosphere

It was bound to happen. In a world of e-mail, Google and instant messaging, it was only a matter of time before archaeology and ancient studies hopped on the cyber-bandwagon. From Web sites to online lexicons and topical email listservs, the Internet has become a treasure trove of news, information and discussion about the Bible and archaeology. But the latest trend is “blogging.”

A “blog” (short for “Web log”) is a journal-style Web site run (usually) by one person to record his or her thoughts, interesting news items, articles or commentaries. Sometimes blogs focus on a particular topic, sometimes not. And there are already hundreds, if not thousands of them devoted to Biblical studies, the ancient Near East and archaeology. For example, Dr. James Davila (a professor at St. Andrew’s, Scotland) has been running the PaleoJudaica blog (paleojudaica.blogspot.com) since early 2003, making him a seasoned veteran of the blogging community. According to his site, Davila started the blog as “an experiment that aims to chronicle and comment on current developments in the academic field of ancient Judaism and its historical and literary context.” In almost four years, Davila has already posted thousands of entries.