amnon ben tor

amnon ben tor Latest

Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

Feb 14 Blog

Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?

By: Richard Elliott Friedman

The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone?

Dec 2 Blog

First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist?

By: Hershel Shanks

In BAR, Hershel Shanks examines a recent article published by archaeologist Amihai Mazar. Mazar contends that while the Biblical narratives were written hundreds of years after the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, they “retain memories of reality.”

Jun 1 Blog

What Happened to the Canaanites?

By: Robin Ngo

For the first time, researchers have conducted DNA sequencing on ancient Canaanite skeletons and have determined where the Canaanites’ descendants can be found today.

May 18 Blog

Biblical Sidon—Jezebel’s Hometown

By: BAS Staff

The city of Sidon on the coast of modern Lebanon is mentioned 38 times in the Hebrew Bible. Recent excavations have exposed part of the ancient Canaanite—and later Phoenician—city, including a massive temple and depictions of deities worshiped at Sidon.

Joshua hangs back as Moses leads him by the hand in this 15th-century stained-glass panel from the Church of St. Lawrence in Nuremberg, Germany. Image: Sonia Halliday.

Feb 13 Blog

Joshua in the Bible

By: Elie Wiesel

Joshua inherits authority from Moses but not his charisma. God performed miracles for Joshua, even causing the sun to stand still, but Joshua’s speech lacks the prophet's magic. Joshua’s story is melancholy: violent victory tinged by deep sadness. As award-winning author and activist Elie Wiesel examines.

Oct 22 Blog

The Masada Siege

By: Robin Ngo

What do we know about the Roman siege of Masada? We must consider both the account given by Josephus and the surviving archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct what happened.

Sep 7 Blog

Milestones: Amnon Ben-Tor (1935–2023)

By: Igor Kreimerman

Amnon Ben-Tor, one of the giants of biblical archaeology and long-time excavator of the important biblical site of Hazor in northern Israel, passed away on […]

May 13 Blog

New Horizons at Hazor

By: Megan Sauter

Archaeologists with the Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations have been digging at Hazor, Israel’s largest archaeological site, since 1990. Yet, in 2020, the expedition’s directors, Amnon […]

Jul 28 Blog

Elite Canaanite Burial Discovered in the Jezreel Valley

By: Robin Ngo

IAA archaeologists have discovered a 3,300-year-old anthropoid coffin with Egyptianizing features belonging to a wealthy Canaanite near Tel Shadud in the Jezreel Valley.

Aug 20 Blog

Masada Dig Reveals a Pleasure-Garden at King Herod’s Palace

By: Robin Ngo

Masada—the remote mountain-plateau in the Judean Desert, where Herod built a palace-fortress and where Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Romans—is being excavated once again.

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