Giving a lecture locally tonight, as a favor to a friend. Time for my favorite Egyptian tie. Then home to watch the end of the Oregon – Indiana football game. Don’t nobody tell me who wins before I have a chance to watch it!

Lecturing tonight on the Amarna Letters at ISAC in Chicago. Decided to wear the “cats and ankhs” tie (from the British Museum) for the occasion.

Contemplating the New Year…

Happy New Year to everyone! Start your year off right, with a free lecture...I'll be giving a talk on the Amarna Letters at ISAC in Chicago next week (at 7 pm on 7 January): events.uchicago.edu/event/256680...

A fun, informal interview has just dropped, in which I talk with @AaronBMacLean on the @schoolofwarpod podcast, revisiting 1177 BC ten years later plus After 1177 BC. Three possible ways to listen to it: 1/2

Check out an excellent adapted excerpt on The Bible and Interpretation of Eric H. Cline’s new book Love, War, and Diplomacy:

Final exam for Intro to Archaeology class has just ended. To quote from The Aristocats: Lafayette: Hey, Napoleon. That sounds like the end. Napoleon: Wait a minute. I'm the leader, I say when it's the end. [the title "The End" bumps into Napoleon's head] Napoleon: It's the end.

Finally exam day for both classes. Where did the semester go?

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate. (IFKYK)

Can't do this (individual oral final exams) with a class of 140 students, but perhaps in my 19-person seminar next semester? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Excerpt from the new book now available open access. Enjoy! bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/ah-...

Last tie for the teaching semester. I still have no idea where this motif is from; I’m betting that it’s a small part of a Roman mosaic, repeated multiple times. If anybody recognizes it, let me know.

Forgot to forward this information from earlier today: I am delighted to inform you that we have concluded negotiations…for the right to translate your book 1177 B.C. into Hungarian.

Crosstown shootout! Xavier versus Cincinnati! The game that used to tear this family apart!

Heading home on the Metro after three hours of filming for The Big Think podcast. Not sure when it will air, so stay tuned…

@digkabri.bsky.social has a virtual event with Smithsonian Associates next week, Dec 10 at 6:45pm EST! Learn about his book, Love, War, and Diplomacy, which chronicles the discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age world they revealed. Get tickets for this incredible event: buff.ly/oMpBFU4

It’s the last day of class lectures for the semester, so out comes the Starry Night tie!

It’s the last week of class lectures for the semester and I’m finally beginning to run out of ties. With apologies for the repetition, I decided to go with my Greek capitals tie, since we are beginning the Hellenistic period n my History of Ancient Greece class.

Need a caption for this photo. Wrong answers only. I’ll go first: Calories don’t count on Thanksgiving, right? Also, there’s no such thing as too much pie. Ever.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to everyone! Enjoying brunch at our local Founding Farmers restaurant. Great food, lots of leftovers, and no dishes to do!

How I feel upon waking up and realizing that I have no commitments today and can spend the entire day writing for the first time in weeks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0... Hooray!

Congratulations to @digkabri.bsky.social! @biblicalarchaeology.org has named his book After 1177 B.C. the winner of their Publication Award in the Best Popular Book on Archaeology category. Explore this "engaging...[and] highly accessible" title as well as the full list of winners: hubs.ly/Q03VrYQb0

And now? Jury duty today (aka turning on a dime from antiquity to the present). Good thing I was just teaching about the origins of democracy in my Ancient Greece class last week…

Now I know for sure that #asor25 is over and I’m home again.

I just bid on this fabulous piece of art by Lilah Rogel (@lrartcarchive) #asor25

I am ready for the ASOR Gala dinner tonight. (The invitation said “Black tie optional” but it didn’t say anything about Phoenician ties…) #asor25

Translation update: just received word that “Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters…” will be translated into Czech; hopefully this will be the first of many such translations! 😎👍

Second full day of the ASOR meetings. Time for the cat tie!

GWU is well represented at the 2025 ASOR meetings by faculty, current students, and alumni (missing a few others, but most are pictured here).

Very pleased to learn that "After 1177 BC: The Survival of Civilizations" has been chosen to receive a Biblical Archaeology Society 2025 Publication Award for "Best Popular Book on Archaeology" (for books published during 2023 and 2024).

morningoverview.com/archaeologis... Absolutely crazy article making the rounds this morning. Must have been created via AI, because there are so many things wrong with it, including that I was never interviewed for it and never uttered the quote that is attributed to me towards the end.

Insightful interview with @digkabri.bsky.social about those Late Bronze Age cuneiform DMs, the Amarna Letters. youtu.be/LyebNnJNOvU?...

Today’s tie also has a subtle motif. This one is from the University Museum’s gift shop, at the University of Pennsylvania.

From the acclaimed author of 1177 B.C., a spellbinding account of the archaeological find that opened a window onto the vibrant diplomatic world of the ancient Near East. Love, War, and Diplomacy by @digkabri.bsky.social is out now (6 Jan UK pub). Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Happy book birthday — LWD appears today! www.amazon.com/Love-War-Dip...

I will also be offering a one time virtual lecture on the Amarna Letters, courtesy of the Smithsonian Associates, on the evening of December 10. (I don’t think the lecture will be affected by the shut down, though I also sincerely hope it is over by then.) smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/pr...

I’ll be offering three lectures (via Zoom) on the Amarna Letters, upcoming in January, courtesy of the 92nd Street Y. It’s not free, unfortunately, but hopefully worth the price of admission. For more details, click on the link below: roundtable.org/live-courses...

Fun podcast interview on Tides of History with Patrick Wyman has just dropped. It’s all about the Amarna Letters and my new book on that topic which will come out on Tuesday, November 11. If you have an hour to spare, or even just a few minutes, take a listen! /1

Got home late after a long day of teaching. Turned on the TV to watch some Thursday night football. Was very confused when I couldn’t find it on any station. Two hours later, I realized that it was Wednesday.

Very subtle “eye of horus” tie design today, from the Met. (Note to self: I need to find a Dead Sea Scrolls-themed tie.)

Join us at the Albright! Applications for Albright Fellowships in 2026–2027 are open until Dec 5. See the details here: mailchi.mp/aiar/aiar-fe... or visit aiar.org/fellowships for more details.

Finishing up the Parthenon discussion today, so have gone with the appropriate tie. (I never cease to be amused by the mistaken date placed on the tie itself…). Also, now that the weather has changed, I have gone into full professorial mode and switched to my jacket with elbow patches…

Woohoo!!! Dodgers!!!!

It’s #Caturday.

Love, War, and Diplomacy by @digkabri.bsky.social is a spellbinding account of the archaeological find that opened a window onto the vibrant diplomatic world of the ancient Near East. Available November 11 (6 Jan UK pub). Preorder yours: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Enroute to Baylor for my lecture tomorrow (Thursday, 30 Oct); it’s the last in-person lecture that I’ll be giving this Fall, so please attend if you’re in the area!

Beautiful afternoon hike by the Potomac River today. Very low water levels! (Untouched/unfiltered photo)

Two of my earliest “1177 BC” public lectures, which were posted on YouTube by the organizers, have now been seen a combined total of 11.1 million times, with more than 15,000 comments. Very pleased that the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean is reaching such a wide audience.

I was just alerted that one of my tie pictures from last week made it onto BuzzFeed. Check out #8 on this list. (Time to retire? I mean, what’s left? #unstatedlifegoals) www.buzzfeed.com/scarymouse/w...