The Location of the Biblical ‘Red Sea’
The Exodus from Egypt was a foundational event for the Israelites. But where exactly did they cross the ‘Red Sea’? Scholars have debated this question for centuries, as have ma
Royal Illness in the Bible and the Ancient Near East
The Exodus from Egypt was a foundational event for the Israelites. But where exactly did they cross the ‘Red Sea’? Scholars have debated this question for centuries, as have ma
Altered States and Paleolithic Caves
Humans have been using caves for at least 100,000 years. Caves let humans get closer to the entities below, but does oxygen deprivation help create altered states and worldly wonde
The Ancient Salt Industry on the Mediterranean Coast of Israel
The Exodus from Egypt was a foundational event for the Israelites. But where exactly did they cross the ‘Red Sea’? Scholars have debated this question for centuries, as have ma
Making, Trading, and Consuming Phoenician Wine
Phoenicia was an ancient and acclaimed wine making region. New studies are showing how Phoenician wine was made at home and influenced viticulture around the Mediterranean.
Why Did the World End in 1200 BCE?
The year 1200 BCE has iconic status in histories of the ancient world. But did an English polymath and a German historian who liked round numbers foist this on the world?
From Texts to Scribes: Evidence for Writing in Ancient Israel
What do we know about ancient Israel’s scribal culture? Can two words in the biblical text, the verb ‘write’ (katav) and the noun ‘scribe’ (sofer) help us understand the
Neo-Assyrian Legal Practices – Law Without Lawyers
Assyria in the first millennium BCE was filled with lawsuits but no lawyers. What do we know about courts, evidence, criminal versus civil law, and ultimately, justice?
Cognitive Science and the Ancient Near Eastern Religious Imagination
Ancient religions imagined all sorts of animals and demons. Cognitive science suggests how humans understood these hybrids, and when they became too much to comprehend.
Contacts Between the Cuneiform Cultures and India
Cultures of Mesopotamia and Western Iran were in contact with the Indian world for millennia. But while elephants were moved from India to Mesopotamia, it is still difficult to est