ancient art

By: BAS Staff

“Yahweh and his Asherah” is written across the top of this eighth-century B.C. drawing on a ceramic pithos from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud in the eastern Sinai. Some scholars have theorized that these figures resembling the Egyptian god Bes are in fact a drawing of God and his consort.

By: Lila Wolk

On the west bank of the Nile River, in the city of Edfu, sits a temple to the ancient Egyptian sky god Horus. One of […]

By: Robin Ngo

In the Bible, a shade of blue called tekhelet was God’s chosen color for the ancient Israelites. Tekhelet drapes adorned Solomon’s Temple, and tekhelet robes were worn by Israel’s high priests. What was the actual color of ancient tekhelet and tzitzit?

By: Walter Zanger

What are zodiac mosaics doing in ancient synagogues in Israel?

By: Sarah Yeomans

Living in the Greco-Roman world, early Christians were able to draw from a set of rich artistic paradigms when they set out to depict their stories and beliefs in decorative contexts. This often led to the assimilation of well-established pagan artistic styles and images into early Christian art. The sculptors, fresco painters and mosaic artists who created Christian images did so by using the prolific examples of art and decoration that shaped their artistic landscape.

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

A joint Iraqi-French excavation at the ancient site of Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad in northern Iraq) has uncovered an imposing Lamassu statue. The massive statue dates […]

By: Harrison Eiteljorg, II

The rebuilding of the Acropolis in the fifth century B.C.E. was the inspiration of the leader Pericles (c. 495–429 B.C.E.), who appointed the sculptor Phidias to supervise the entire project.

By: Zachary D. Bond-Brown

Out of caution, and respect for the need for social distancing at this time, this event has been canceled Sunday, May 31, 2020. The Brilliance […]

By: Noah Wiener

Has archaeology uncovered portraits of two Israelite kings? One contender is on the famous Black Obelisk from Nimurd/Calah, but scholars differ about the identification. Another more recent candidate for an Israelite king’s portrait is an image from a wall at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, a remote site in the Sinai desert.

By: Samuel DeWitt Pfister

Heavy winter rains led to the discovery of a pair of rare specimens in Israel.