cuneiform

cuneiform Latest

A second of the clay cylinders from Umm el-Marra. Courtesy Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University.

Dec 24 Blog

The Oldest Alphabetic Writing Ever Found?

Four small clay cylinders, discovered at the site of Umm el-Marra in northwestern Syria, may be etched with the oldest alphabetic writing ever discovered, predating […]

Oct 24 Blog

An Assyrian Letter to the King of Judah

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

For the first time, a fragment of a cuneiform inscription from the First Temple period (c. 1000–586 BCE) has been excavated in Jerusalem. The inscription, […]

Bowl decorated with recumbent lions and calves before the symbol of the god An (BLMJ 4564). Photo: David Harris

Oct 9 Blog

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

By: David Moster

10 The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.

Amarna Letter EA 299, written on behalf of Yapahu, king of Gezer.

Sep 22 Blog

Missives to the Egyptian Court

By: BAS Staff

In the centuries before the rise of biblical Israel, a period known as the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE), the land of Canaan boasted […]

Ancient tekhelet: the Jewish prayer shawl

Sep 11 Blog

What Color Was Tekhelet?

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?

Aug 31 Blog

53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically

By: Lawrence Mykytiuk

How many people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible have been confirmed archaeologically? Lawrence Mykytiuk reveals the surprising number—from Israelite kings to Mesopotamian monarchs—and some lesser figures as well.

A helmeted god stands guard over one of the principal entrances to ancient Hattusa. From the 17th to the early 12th century B.C., Hattusa served as the capital of the Hittite empire. Credit: Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis

Aug 10 Blog

The Last Days of Hattusa

By: Trevor Bryce

In the latter part of the second millennium B.C., the Hittite empire was a Near Eastern superpower. Then, suddenly, the empire collapsed and Hattusa was invaded and destroyed.

Aug 1 Blog

How Bad Was the Babylonian Exile?

By: BAS Staff

Was there really weeping from the Judahite exiles by the rivers of Babylon? New evidence suggests that life was actually pretty good for some Judahite deportees and their successors.

May 23 Blog

An Early Alphabetic Text from Beth Shemesh

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

An early alphabetic text discovered at Beth Shemesh in central Israel has drawn the attention of Assyriologists and archaeologists for nearly a century. Although the […]

Mar 13 Blog

Origins: 3.14159265…

By: Kim Jonas

Why did the ancients invent increasingly subtle and ingenious methods to arrive at an exact value of pi? Human curiosity.

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