A Letter from the Editor
July 2023 | Vol. 11.7 By Jessica Nitschke It is my great honor to have been selected as the new Editor of The Ancient Near East Today. I officially took over the reins in January
Digitizing Manuscripts from Southwest Asia: Access, Ethics, and Sustainability
July 2023 | Vol. 11.7 By Raha Rafii The expansion of digital humanities in the last decade has led to a widespread increase in manuscript digitization projects by libraries, univer
Who Knew? Uncovering Unexpected Histories in the Southern Levant
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Martine van den Berg This past February, the first-ever Friends of ASOR Tour to Israel and the Palestinian Territories headed off for a 13-day archaeolog
The Book of Esther as a Source for Achaemenian History
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani The Book of Esther (Fig. 1) is set in the Persian capital of Susa during the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus in Hebrew) and tells th
Archaeological Laborers of 20th-Century Palestine
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Melissa Cradic Who were the workers who carried out excavation of archaeological sites in the “big dig” era of the early 20th century in Palestine? Und
Who Invented Idolatry?
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Daniel Barbu In late antiquity, Christian authors triumphantly celebrated the end of polytheism and idolatry: Christ had vanquished the demons and the Chur
Baths of the Roman and Byzantine Southern Levant: Roman Ideas and Local Interpretations
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Arleta Kowalewska and Craig A. Harvey Bathhouses are one of the most iconic remains associated with the Roman world, easily recognized by their distinctive
Dig Deeper: Revisiting the Excavations of a Glass Workshop at Jalame el-Asafna
May 2023 | Vol. 11.5 By Katherine A. Larson “How was glass made in antiquity?” This is the question that drove a team from The Corning Museum of Glass and the Universit
“Proto-Rams”: Piecing Together the Early History of Naval Ram Development
May 2023 | Vol. 11.5 By Stephen DeCasien The naval ram was the predominant weapon of navies throughout much of antiquity, playing a decisive role in many consequential confrontatio
The Maritime Transport of Sculptures in the Ancient Mediterranean
May 2023 | Vol. 11.5 By Katherina Velentza From the 16th century onwards, hundreds of Greek and Roman sculptures have been discovered in the Mediterranean Sea, both from shipwrecks