On this eighth night of Hanukkah, "Studies of Biblical Interest" honours the enduring light freedom, learning, and hope that shines across traditions. May the menorah’s glow invite all who celebrate into reflection, gratitude, and a renewed commitment to peace and justice. #Hanukkah #EighthNight

New research shows Judean soldiers at the Arad fortress in the 6th century BCE worked on a six day week, creating a 360 day year. Fine for army logistics, awkward for birthdays. #AncientHistory #BiblicalArchaeology #IronAge #Calendars thisweekintheancientneareast.podbean.com/e/does-anybo...

Was there “no room in the inn” at Jesus’ birth? A closer look at Luke 2:7 shows the Greek term often translated as “inn” is misleading and has shaped the Nativity story we imagine today. #BiblicalStudies #NewTestament #Nativity #BibleTranslation

Ancient DNA shows Levantine hartebeest belonged to the North African Bubal lineage. Study finds human pressure, not climate, drove their extinction and suggests reintroduction in the Levant is still viable today. #AncientDNA #Zooarchaeology #Levant #Conservation

500 years ago the first Bible map appeared in a 1525 Zurich Old Testament. Flipped and symbolic, it reshaped how scripture, geography, and borders were imagined in Europe. Its legacy still shapes how we see the world. #BibleHistory #Cartography #Renaissance

Egypt has recovered 17 rare ancient artifacts from Australia after a High Court ruling ordered their return. The handover marks a major win in Egypt’s fight against antiquities trafficking. #AncientEgypt #CulturalHeritage #Archaeology #Repatriation

Immersive exhibition Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt opens Spring 2026 at UT Austin. First North American display of the earliest New Testament fragment, plus rare papyri from Greco Roman Egypt, highlighting preservation and research. #AncientEgypt #Papyri

New research confirms that the medieval Crusader castle of Celle was located at Khirbat as-Silaʿ in Jordan’s Ṭafīla region. The study combines documentary sources and archaeological evidence to clarify the site’s historical role. #Archaeology #Crusaders

A new open dataset catalogs 483 Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement sites in western Anatolia, offering georeferenced, standardized, and linked data to support comparative and interdisciplinary research into regional settlement systems. #Archaeology #BronzeAge

Instead of breaking the information ecosystem or trying to manipulate politics, any billionaire could, for pocket change, *restore and protect the ancient city of Ur.*

Discoveries at Karahan Tepe, including carved human faces and figurines dating to around 11,000 years ago, challenge ideas of a “primitive” Neolithic by revealing early settled communities with complex beliefs, rituals, and social organization. #Archaeology

New finds from Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe reveal statues, pillars, and ritual objects dating to 9500 BCE, deepening evidence that hunter-gatherers built monumental ritual centers long before farming or states. #Archaeology #Gobeklitepe #Neolithic #Prehistory

A proto-cuneiform tablet from ancient Niĝin (Tell Zurghul, Iraq) reveals how Sumerians managed fish distribution and water-based resources around 3000 BCE, offering rare evidence for early writing and economic administration beyond Uruk. #Archaeology #Sumerians

Iraq plans a $14.5M renovation of the ancient city of Ur to restore its archaeological landscape, protect cultural heritage, and boost sustainable tourism in Dhi Qar province. #Archaeology #AncientMesopotamia #Iraq #CulturalHeritage #Ur #HeritagePreservation

A new radiocarbon study dates Pharaoh Ahmose I to the mid 16th century BCE, placing his reign decades after the Thera eruption and reshaping debates on Egyptian chronology and the timing of the Exodus. #Archaeology #AncientEgypt #Egyptology #RadiocarbonDating #Exodus #BronzeAge

Archaeologists have rediscovered the 2,500 year old Egyptian city of Imet in the eastern Nile Delta, revealing rare multistory mudbrick tower houses and dense urban life once hidden beneath farmland. #Archaeology #AncientEgypt #NileDelta #LostCities #Egyptology #UrbanHistory

French Egyptologists uncovered 225 exceptional shabti figurines in a royal tomb at Tanis, solving the mystery of an unnamed sarcophagus and identifying Pharaoh Shoshenq III. A rare find arranged in place, unseen in Egypt since 1946. #Egyptology #AncientEgypt #Archaeology #Tanis

As war devastates Sudan, archaeologist Shadia Abdrabo is racing to build a digital record of looted and destroyed museums, archives, and sites. Thousands of years of Nubian, Kushite, and Meroitic heritage are at risk of disappearing forever. #Sudan #Archaeology #CulturalHeritage

A careful academic of generous spirit, Trible committed her existence to feminist interpretation that was complex and self-critical. #BiblicalStudies #Obit #Milestones @biblicalarchaeology.org www.biblicalarchaeology.org/milestones/p...

Unbelievable. First €88m jewels vanish, now a known problem floods the Louvre and soaks hundreds of Egyptology books. How does the world’s most visited museum keep getting blindsided? Fix your infrastructure before buying more art! 🤦‍♂️📚💦 #Louvre #DoBetter www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Australia’s first outback mosque was built in Marree in the 1860s by Afghan cameleers who shaped inland travel and trade. Their legacy lives on in surviving mosques and community memory across the outback. #Australia #History #Islam #Marree #AfghanCameleers #Heritage

Palestinians race to save centuries-old manuscripts and rare books from Gaza’s destroyed Great Omari Mosque, preserving fragments of 700 years of cultural and heritage amid ongoing war. #Gaza #CulturalHeritage #Manuscripts #History #Palestine #Preservation

New discoveries in the Levant reveal an 8th century B.C.E. dyke in Jerusalem, a Byzantine gold treasure at Hippos, and an Aramaic Bar Kockba inscription near Ein Gedi, deepening our understanding of biblical history. #Archaeology #Israel #Levant #Bible

Israel's government plans to seize about 450 acres of the historic Sebastia site in the West Bank as settlers set up a new outpost near Bethlehem. Rights groups warn of escalating land grabs and rising tensions. #Israel #Palestine #WestBank #Sebastia

A new study argues that the linguistic evidence in Isaiah 40 to 66 fits best with a pre-exilic date. Most proposed markers collapse under scrutiny, but the remaining features align more with a pre-exilic profile than an exilic or post-exilic one. #BiblicalStudies

A unique Iron IIC cremation burial at Horvat Tevet contained luxury goods and rare pottery that point to wide Mediterranean and Mesopotamian trade and a high status community. #Archaeology #IronAge #Levant #HorvatTevet #JezreelValley #NeoAssyrian #Excavation #History

New finds at Megiddo reveal Canaanite folk worship, including a Late Bronze Age favissa with rare cult objects such as a ram shaped libation vessel, plus one of the oldest winepresses ever found dating to 5,000 years ago. Armageddon keeps delivering. #Megiddo #Archaeology

New analyses of the controversial Jordan lead codices show mixed results: some pieces look modern, others appear older. No single method is decisive, but key examples can’t be proven contemporary, suggesting they merit serious study. #Archaeology #JordanCodices #MaterialsAnalysis

New analysis of a multilingual alabastron dedicated to Xerxes I reveals clear evidence of opiates, showing they played a wider role in ancient Egyptian society. This marks the first scientific identification of contents from an inscribed alabastron. #Archaeology #AncientEgypt

New scans of the Menkaure Pyramid’s eastern face reveal two anomalies behind polished granite blocks, possible hidden voids. Using ERT, GPR & UST with image fusion, researchers find evidence supporting a second entrance hypothesis. #Menkaure #Giza #Pyramids #Archaeology #Egyptology

Tanis development proceeding...: archaeologists identify the long-mysterious granite sarcophagus as that of Pharaoh Sheshonq III, found alongside 225 ushabtis in their original context. A landmark discovery rewriting 22nd Dynasty history. #Egyptology #Tanis #SheshonqIII

AI meets archaeology to decode the Hittites! A new project uses AI to reconstruct clay tablets, standardize records, and analyze artifacts from Anatolia’s Bronze Age empire, unlocking the language and culture of one of history’s earliest civilizations. #Hittites

A rare 1st-century BCE Sabaean princess head from Yemen is up for auction in Vienna, raising alarms over looted heritage and calls for repatriation. Scholars warn it’s more than art—it’s a stolen piece of identity. #Yemen #Sabaean #CulturalHeritage

Step into Megiddo: a city of palaces, fortresses, and ancient intrigue. This ISAC Museum exhibition explores 100 years of digs, artifacts, and headlines—blending archaeology with the mythic allure of Armageddon.

Halloween isn’t an American import. Medieval monks and nuns shaped All Hallows’ Eve with “soul cakes,” prayers for the dead, and ghost stories to promote piety. The holiday’s spooky roots are Christian, blending ritual, charity, and supernatural tales.

Restoration has restarted on Bristol’s 18th-century Whitfield Tabernacle, damaged by fire in 2000. The chapel will become a community and arts hub, with updated electrics, toilets, and performance spaces. Completion is expected by 2026. #Heritage #Restoration

Harsh, dry weather is increasing salinity in the soil and damaging the historical monuments in the ruins of cities such as #Ur, the birthplace of the Biblical patriarch Abraham, and Babylon, once-magnificent capital of empires. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Archaeologists in Aarhus, Denmark uncovered 77 skeletons from a 900-year-old Christian cemetery. Burials show early Christians still held some Norse beliefs, revealing a fascinating mix of faiths during the Viking Age. #Archaeology #VikingAge #Denmark

During the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Crusaders revived viticulture, blending European and Levantine wine-making: stone winepresses, jars & barrels, and strict oversight. Wine became both culture and control. #Crusades #Viticulture #Jerusalem #MedievalHistory

The Minotaur may have been a hallucination: Minoan rituals at Knossos, dark labyrinths & psychoactive plants could have turned a bull into a man-bull vision. Myth or mind? #Minotaur #MinoanCrete #AncientMysteries #Archaeology

A 2,700-year-old pottery sherd found near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount bears Assyrian cuneiform, recording a delayed tribute payment from the Kingdom of Judah. #BiblicalArchaeology #Assyria #KingdomOfJudah #Cuneiform #TempleMount #AncientHistory

A monumental rock-cut burial cave at Yavneh-Yam has revealed hundreds of grave goods, offering the first solid evidence of a significant Late Bronze Age polity, despite before scarce signs of occupation. #Archaeology #LateBronzeAge #YavnehYam #AncientIsrael

Publishing now! Revelation 1-11 (ITC) by Peter J. Leithart is a theological verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Revelation. Learn more: https://bit.ly/48gR0jZ Read a preview: https://bit.ly/3VRo8Hy

A collaboration between the Hong Kong Palace Museum and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, this exhibition marks a major cultural milestone, bringing Egypt’s history, artistry, and archaeological discoveries to Hong Kong audiences. #SCAEgypt #HKCulture #GlobalMuseums

How did people of biblical Judah bury their dead? New research highlights Iron Age family tombs carved into bedrock, multi-chambered spaces, and rituals that blended mourning, feasting, and ongoing care for the deceased. #BiblicalArchaeology #IronAge #Judah #AncientIsrael

📢 New in "Studies of Biblical Interest" Chrissy M. Hansen argues that the James passage in Josephus Ant. 20.200 shows signs of Christian redaction and may have been interpolated by Eusebius. Open Access and available here: www.biblicaljournal.org#volumes #Josephus #James #BiblicalStudies

We are pleased to announce the long-awaited news: Avar is transitioning into a hybrid style, online-first model beginning with issue 5.1! See our announcement at avarjournal.com/avar/announc....

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered one of the largest New Kingdom fortresses ever found, at Tell el-Kharouba near Gaza. The 3,000-year-old stronghold once guarded the Way of Horus, a key trade and military route linking Egypt to the Levant.

Beyond the Talmud: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer reveals how Jewish authors in late antiquity engaged with Christian and Muslim cultures to reshape Israel’s sacred history. #LateAntiqueStudies #PirqeDeRabbiEliezer #ReligiousHistory #TextualTradition

Canaan: a land, a people, or an idea? Egyptian, Ugaritic, and biblical sources show the term was never fixed. Who decided what Canaan meant — and why? #CulturalHistory #AncientNearEast #BiblicalStudies #Canaan