From Trash to Treasure: Nahal Omer and the Virtual Silk Road
When people think of the archaeology of Israel, the Silk Road is not usually the first association that comes to mind. A new virtual exhibition—From Trash to Treasure—aims to c
In Search of Wes Anderson’s “Phoenicia”
Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme invokes the ancient Mediterranean world without depicting it, raising an interesting question: what exactly does “Phoenicia” mean in the
Byblos and the Making of an Ancient Maritime Hub
Unlike the great territorial states of the Bronze Age, Byblos did not build an empire. Its influence rested on something less visible but equally effective: its position within net
Lifting the Sky: The Cosmic Program on the ˁAin Samiya Goblet
The ˁAin Samiya goblet is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand — barely eight centimeters tall — yet its imagery reaches for the architecture of the cosmos.
New Discoveries in the Pan Grotto in Paneas
Once believed to be the location of Herod’s Augusteum, the cave at Paneas has yielded up some surprising discoveries following recent excavations.
The Amorites: Rethinking Approaches to Corporate Identity in Antiquity
Most of our approaches to identity in antiquity fixate upon a binary, constructed in modern scholarship. But individuals embrace multiple collective identities, whether social, ide
Cyprus and Ugarit: A Tale of Two Late Bronze Age Mercantile Polities
Cyprus and Ugarit were two very different societies but in the Late Bronze Age, they shared a vital maritime and mercantile link that had a transformative impact on Cyprus.
“Lift the mountain on your hands,” or How to Cross a Netherworld Border
West Asian texts depict the netherworld as a land which is bounded, keeping outsiders from entering and inhabitants from leaving. Yet, borders are seldom entirely unable to be cros
Person, Place, and Object: Ritual Healing in Roman and Late Antique Palestine
October 2024 | Vol. 12.10 By Megan Nutzman Malaria, battle wounds, pregnancy, scorpion stings, sciatica: these are just a few of the medical concerns that regularly appear in ancie
Jerusalem and Charlemagne
August 2024 | Vol. 12.8 By Jodi Magness On Christmas day, 800 CE, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. At the ceremony, which took place in Rome, the