Biblical Archaeology Review

A. Bronze nail

B. Mason chisel

C. Brass pin

D. Copper awl

E. Sewing needle

Answer: (D) Copper awl

David Ussishkin has won the prestigious Percia Schimmel Award conferred by the Israel Museum for “distinguished contribution to archaeology in Eretz Israel and the Lands of the Bible.”

Gus Van Beek, archaeologist and Smithsonian curator, died in August. He was 90 years old.

How many cities made up the league of Hellenized cities known as the Decapolis?

Answer: As many as 19

The Decapolis (Greek for “ten cities”) was a loosely aligned group of heavily Hellenized, Greek-speaking cities of Greco-Roman Palestine, located primarily in the northern Jordan River Valley and the fertile highlands of northern Transjordan. The only member city west of the Jordan was Beth-Shean (Scythopolis).

Our thanks to reader Edgar C. Stuntz of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, who brought this cartoon to our attention. Does anyone know who drew it?—Ed.

Quick question: Who was Jehoshaphat? Quick answer: A ninth-century B.C.E. king of Judah, popularly known also as Jehosaphat.

Follow-up question: Why has he often been described as jumping?

We knew it would happen, but it’s still a shock. Frank Cross is dead.

A BAR advertisement has been labeled “defamatory” by 16 faculty members of Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology.¹