The Cushites: Race and Representation in the Hebrew Bible
The Cushites are mentioned 54 times in the Hebrew Bible. The texts are conscious of skin color but what mattered was the relationship with God.
The Sound and the Fury: The Passion for Chariot Racing in Imperial Rome
The Circus Maximus in Rome could have held as many as 250,000 spectators. The attraction of an edge-of-your-seat, high-speed spectacle is familiar, but the experience was much more
Myth and Marvel: Medieval Muslim Writings on Ancient Egypt
Medieval Muslim scholars could not read ancient Egyptian writing. They therefore understood the past through the lenses of literary genres, myths, and the Quran.
An Exceptional Discovery at Pompeii: A Victim’s Vitrified Brain Remains
Human remains are common on archaeological sites. But Mount Vesuvius’ sudden eruption preserved bodies in unique ways, including turning rarely seen parts to glass.
A Desert Revolution – Transformations in Northwestern Arabia and the Arid Southern Levant in the Late 2nd Millennium BCE
Archaeology speaks frequently about revolutions, but arid zones are left out of the discussion. But new evidence shows that deserts experienced their own momentous, if slower movin
Max von Oppenheim and His Tell Halaf
Born into a prominent banking family, Max von Oppenheim seemed destined to study law. But his real contribution was to uncover an Iron Age city in north Syria.
Charity (Tzedaqah) as a Late Antique Rabbinic Religious Idea
Charity is a key means of demonstrating righteousness before God. But for different generations of rabbis the core elements of charity – and their underlying meanings – were qu
Epidemics in Mesopotamia
Epidemics have been with us since long before the dawn of history. Three collections of documents record some of the ways ancient Near Eastern societies suffered and coped.
Are Monuments History? (Neo-) Hittite Meditations on Two Memes
Many societies express power by building monuments to commemorate people or events. Tearing down monuments are also expressions of power, but of a different sort.
The First Archeological and Ethnoarcheological Survey Project in the Sefidkuh Makran Mountains of Baluchistan
The Sefidkuh region of southern Baluchistan is a huge and nearly impassable mountain range. A new project has explored both archaeological sites and modern villages.