Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2012
Features
Machaerus: Where Salome Danced and John the Baptist Was Beheaded
Salome danced at Machaerus. And John the Baptist was beheaded there. The gospel story is supplemented by the Jewish historian Josephus: It all began when Herod Antipas (King Herod the Great’s son who ruled Galilee and Perea between 4 B.C. and 39 A.D.; see the following article)...Read more ›
Antipas—The Herod Jesus Knew
Herod the Great gets all the press. His son Herod Antipas is known mostly, as the preceding article explains, as the Herod for whom Salome danced and who ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded. Many people mistakenly think it was Herod the Great for whom Salome...Read more ›
Did Eilat Mazar Find David’s Palace?
On some things, all agree: Hebrew University archaeologist Eilat Mazar is a careful, competent excavator who welcomes even her severest critics to her site. And, unlike many, she promptly publishes preliminary excavation reports, making available the details of her finds, as well as her interpretations. Criticism of...Read more ›
Josephus vs. Jeremiah
The Difference Between Historian and Prophet
At age 13, I was called a traitor. I was born in British Mandatory Palestine in what is now Israel. In our Zionist schools as well as in our youth movement we held annual mock trials of Josephus, the great Jewish historian of the first century C.E. In one of...Read more ›