Heartbreak and the History of Distress in Ancient Mesopotamia
July 2023 | Vol. 11.7 By Moudhy Al-Rashid The concept of “heartbreak” appears multiple times in cuneiform texts as a metaphor to describe both mental and physical conditions. H
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
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
Death Wishes in the Hebrew Bible
December 2022 | Vol. 10.12 By Hanne Løland Levinson Many of us in the depths of despair have wished for death. What about figures in the Hebrew Bible? “Enough! Now, YHWH, take m
The Babylonian Akītu Festival and the Ritual Humiliation of the King
September 2022 | Vol. 10.9 By Sam Mirelman Many Mesopotamian festivals are known, but only one involved a priest striking the king. The akītu was one of the most importa
The Relationship Between “Jews” and “Israelites” After the Babylonian Exile
july 2022 | Vol. 10.7 By Jason Staples In his review of Karl Georg Kuhn’s Achtzehngebet und Vaterunser und der Reim, the Dutch Biblical scholar M.A. Beek fondly recalls
Everyday Life in Exile: Judean Deportees in Babylonian Texts
June 2022 | Vol. 10.6 By Tero Alstola When King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah in the early sixth century BCE, part of Judean population was deported t
The Social Context of Writing in Ancient Ugarit
April 2022 | Vol. 10.4 By Philip Boyes We often ask, what is writing? A better question is, who is writing? It is very easy to approach ancient writing as something rather abstract
Jonah and the Human Condition
march 2022 | Vol. 10.3 By Stuart Lasine Ever since Pope Innocent III introduced the phrase “human condition” (conditio humana) in the 12th century, many writers have attempted
Violence of Gender and Gender of Violence in Ancient Egypt
February 2022 | Vol. 10.2 By Uroš Matić Violence and gender were closely related in ancient Egypt, just as they have been in other past and contemporary societies. Gender systems