The Slingshot Heard Round the World
The story of a shepherd defeating a great warrior is a trope for all time. But David wasn’t the first to bring this simple weapon to war.
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Even Their Barbarism Was Civilized
We think of ancient life as cruel and backward compared with our own times, but often it wasn’t.
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The Waters
In the semiarid Levant, rainfall and water storage were of paramount importance. But for a people who believed that the Earth could be destroyed by flood, it was also part of God’s promise to keep water away.
Nobody’s Cradle
Cities rising from artificial islands, multistory palaces, dynasties lasting centuries - calling Mesopotamia the “cradle of civilization” is like calling a Ferrari a baby carriage.
The Genesis of Judaism
What we can learn about ancient (and modern) Jewish life from hunter-gatherers and their social networks.
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Jewish Chicken, Egyptian Egg
Our understanding of the tangled relationship between ancient Egypt and the culture that produced the Hebrew Bible has deepened thanks to archaeology. It’s pure gold for historical novelists like me.
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The Spice of Ancient Life
The biblical world was wider than one might imagine.
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A Tale of Two Scales
A metaphor for the ultimate judgment in two ancient cultures - despite their differing interpretations - still has meaning today.
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Say Thou Art My Sister
Thousands of clay tablets dating from the time of Abraham reveal crucial cultural context for some weird episodes in the Hebrew Bible.
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A Prayer in the Privy
Today’s religious Jews recite a benediction every time they successfully complete a trip to the bathroom. Might this practice have its roots in ancient Israelite ritual?
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