Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 1979
Features
Book Excerpt: The Shapira Affair
The late 1880’s in Jerusalem was an age of discovery. On the one hand, textual critics, anthropologists, geologists, and philosophers combined to pour scorn and derision on Scriptural traditions; on the other, archaeology was never so popular or well-supported financially as when it set out “to prove...Read more ›
Ancient Burial Customs Preserved in Jericho Hills
Illegal bedouin digging leads to discovery of enormous cemetery in Judean wilderness.
It seldom rains in the Judean wilderness; this climatic condition accounts for the preservation of some rare Jewish coffins recently discovered in the hills overlooking Jericho. These coffins are made of wood, are painted, and date to the late Hasmonean period (first century B.C.) continuing into Herod’s...Read more ›
Digging in the City of David
Jerusalem’s new archaeological project yields first season’s results
Our first season of excavations in the City of David—the site of Biblical Jerusalem—ended with rich rewards and high expectations. The City of David, in geographical terms, is only a very small part of modern Jerusalem—a little spur which, to the surprise of many...Read more ›
A Cryptogram in the Phoenician Inscription from Brazil
Scholar in American archaeology looks at mysterious Yahweh cryptogram found by Professor Gordon in the Paraiba inscription.
To understand how circumstances in the 1870’s led the forger of the Paraiba inscription to undertake such a task is not difficult after reading Frank Moore Cross’ article “Phoenicians in Brazil?” BAR 05:01. Yet many of the same circumstances, so masterfully described in that article, could also...Read more ›