Biblical Archaeology Review

“The Tablets from Ugarit and Their Importance for Biblical Studies,” BAR 09:05, by Peter C. Craigie.

See “Exploring Philistine Origins on the Island of Cyprus,” BAR 10:02, by Vassos Karageorghis.

See “Synagogue Excavation Reveals Stunning Mosaic of Zodiac and Torah Ark,” BAR 10:03, for pictures of the sun god in a synagogue and a discussion of the problem.—Ed.

The Talmud (from the Hebrew, to “study”) is a written compendium of oral law completed by about the fifth century and is composed of the Mishnah and the Gemara, a commentary on the Mishnah. The Talmud exists in two versions: the Jerusalem and the Babylonian.

In John 19:34, a lance is plunged into Jesus’ heart. This was not intended as the death blow but as a post mortem blow inflicted in order to testify to the victim’s death. Only after this testimonial was obtained was the body removed from the cross and handed over to the victim’s relatives for burial. The blow to the heart proved beyond doubt that the victim was indeed dead.

Early Christian artists, although frequently representing events from the life of Jesus, refrained from drawing scenes of the crucifixion during the first 500 years of Christian history. The earliest Christian representation of the crucifixion dates to the late fifth or early sixth centuries A.D., i.e., about 200 years after crucifixion was legally abolished by the emperor Constantine the Great.

A medical team from the Department of Anatomy at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, headed by Dr. Nico Haas, made an intensive, if brief, study of the bones.

A spindle bottle resembles a cylinder that bulges at its midsection.