Biblical History
The Book of Exodus is one of the world’s oldest written texts, created long before history was an intellectual discipline. But some scholars insist it holds kernels of historical truth.
Biblical archaeology
Why I Do This
Being Jewish is getting kind of sucky these days. So why am I giving years of my life to rewriting the story of Exodus for the secular-minded?
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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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.
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 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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Midian and the Midianites
Northwestern Saudi Arabia may have played a crucial role in shaping the stories of the Hebrew Bible. A reader of last month’s post was curious about the Land of Midian, which I mentioned twice: once in a story from the Book of Exodus about where Moses fled after killing an Egyptian slave-driver, and a second
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Mining the Evidence
Intense economic activity in the biblical era centered on a copper mine not far from the Red Sea. Archaeologists have found a tabernacle similar to the one described in the Hebrew Bible at the site.
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Stonehenge in Sinai
Hundreds of uncarved standing stones, almost all facing east, almost all in deliberate arrangements, have been strewn throughout the wilderness of Israel since the fifth millennium BCE. They may be silent witnesses to essential tenets of Judaism today.
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