Magic in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible

You can download a free copy of Magic in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible by Ilan Peled here. Use the "Save PDF option." Note the offer is only good until August 7.

HT: Christopher Hays

The Composition of Ancient Books

Monika Amsler has an interesting article here on the production of ancient books.

Exacavating Colossae

Bible History Daily interviews excavation director for Colossae, Barış Yener here.

Owls in the Ancient Near East and the Bible

Phillip Michael Sherman has a fascinating view of owls in the ANE and the Bible here.

Weights and Measures in Ancient Israel

Claude Mariottini provides a link for his article on weights and measures in ancient Israel here.

Slavery in Egypt

Mark Janzen has a good article on slavery in Egypt here.

2025 Bible Archaeology Listapalooza

Todd Bolen has provided another outstanding top ten list for biblical archaeology in 2025. But really to call it a "top ten" is almost misleading because it includes so much more. Check it out here.

What is Hanukkah?

Leen Ritmyer answers this question in a detailed and well-illustrated post here.

Widows in Ancient Israel

Claude Mariottini has a good discussion here.

The Pauline Roads Project

I recently learned about this new website. It is still mostly under construction but has the potential to be a very helpful resource.

The Death of Children in Ancient Israel

Not the happiest of topics but Kristine Garroway has a good discussion of the topic here.

A Hearty Congratulations and a Great New Resource on the Book of Job

I am not usually an early adopter but every now and again I am glad when I am. The pictorial resources from Todd Bolen and BiblePlaces is one such case. Congratulations and thank you for twenty-five years of creating the best visual resources for Biblical geography and archaeology.

The legacy of excellence continues with their latest release, The Photo Companion to the Book of Job. This volume contains over 1600 images and 42 PowerPoint files. This set is currently on sale for only $29! If you want to try before you buy, you can download the presentation on Job 6 here. Or if you already appreciate the value of this resource, you can purchase it as a DVD+download or as download-only.

Iron in Ancient Israel

Naama Yahalom-Mack has an interesting article here on the history of iron in Israel.

Kissing in the Hebrew Bible

The Times of Israel discusses a recent Journal of Biblical Literature article on kissing in Hebrew Bible here.

Josephus and Jesus

You can access T. C. Schmidt's recent book, Josephus and Jesus, for free here.

Naboth's Vineyard and the Archaeology of Jezreel

Norma Franklin discusses the story here of Naboth's vineyard in light of the archaeology of tell Jezreel. 

Here is a picture that I took at Tel Jezreel in 2023.

Acts and the Roman Empire

Steve Walton has made slides from a paper on "Acts and the Roman Empire: An analysis in conversation with 1 Kings 18 and Daniel" available here.

The Amarna Letters

TheTorah.com has an eight part series on the Amarna Letters here. I am not sure how new it is but it was new to me. 

The Plagues in Exodus and Ancient Egyptian Contexts

Gary Rendsburg discusses some of the possible Egyptian background for some of the plagues in Exodus here.

Archaeological Discoveries Related to Esther

Bryan Windle has a nice post here on the top ten discoveries related to the Book of Esther.

HT: Todd Bolen