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Do Akhenaten’s Links With Shavuot Shed New Light on Moses? – Part 2

Do Akhenaten’s Links With Shavuot Shed New Light on Moses? – Part 2

Buried beneath the themes of first fruits and wheat offerings lie deeper connections between Shavuot and Akhenaten. These are suggestive and persuasive and go far beyond delicious foods and...
The origins of the Jewish festival Shavuot’s traditions are obscure. But what if they could be linked to Pharaoh Akhenaten, offering a new view on Moses? Pictures: Representation of Moses’ famous crossing of the sea. 	Source: Vlastimil Šesták / Adobe stock

An Akhenaten Connection to the Harvest Festival of Shavuot - Part 1

The Jewish festival of Shavuot is taking place around the world. It is an ancient celebration of the spring harvest of grains and first fruits. It is the year’s first wheat harvest, and Jews around...
The Dead Sea Scroll fragments, which originally were believed to be blank, but now new research has revealed ancient writing.           Source: University of Manchester

‘Blank’ Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Reveal Hidden Message

A team of experts have made an important discovery about some Dead Sea Scroll fragments in the United Kingdom. They have found letters on four fragments that were believed to be ‘blanks’. This...
Macquarie student Hannah Newman discovered the bronze calf figurine during the last week of the excavation at the Ziklag site. Source: Macquarie University

Students Unearth Rare Treasures at Lost Biblical City of Ziklag

A team of students working on what may be the long-lost biblical city of Ziklag have uncovered a hoard of rare objects at a site in Israel . Their finds are adding to the body of evidence that the...
Left: Archaeologists at the Canaanite temple excavation site in Lachish, Israel. Source: The Fourth Expedition To Lachish / Southern Adventist University. Right: (top) Two tiny figurines depicting 'smiting gods' (could be Baal and Resheph) that were found by the altar of the temple and (bottom) weapons and jewelry found at the site. Source: Tal Rogovski / Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Artifact Packed 3,000-Year-Old Canaanite Temple Unearthed In Israel

A rare 3,000-year-old Canaanite temple full of ancient religious artifacts has been unearthed in southern Israel. Built around the time of the ancient Israelite invasion described in the Bible , the...
Main: The Tel Motza Iron Age temple excavation site in Jerusalem.    Source: Skyview / Israel Antiquities Authority.     Inset: Ancient figurines of people found at Tel Motza.        Source: Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority

Iron Age Temple Uncovered in Jerusalem Challenges Biblical Claim

The famous Temple of Solomon might not have been the first or only temple in the Holy Land. Dating to around 900 BC, an Iron Age temple located near Jerusalem negates the long-held idea the ancient...
Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Israeli archeologist Dr. Aaron Greener asks “what are clay female figurines doing in Judah during the biblical period?” My non-archeologist answer is; they represent kosher (suitable for religious...
Depiction of the Captivity of Judah.   Source: The Providence Lithograph Company / Public domain

The End of Ancient Judaism: The Captivity

The twelve tribes of ancient Judaism were united into a single kingdom under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. The destruction of this kingdom and the forced exile of its population is known as...
A skull from a 10th-9th century BC burial in the excavation of the Philistine cemetery in Ashkelon. New research on Philistine DNA reveals their southern European origins. Source: Tsafrir Abayov/Leon Levy Expedition

DNA Shows Biblical Philistines Came From Europe

New research on Philistine DNA reveals that the Biblical enemies of the Israelites were newcomers to the region in the 12th century BC. Where did they come from? Their genes suggest Southern Europe...
Bible paper. Insert: Mesha stele.

This 2,800-Year-Old Stele Tells A Bible Story From A Different Point Of View

As soon as you fit the words “Bible” and “history” into the same sentence, people start reacting. Most people are in one of two camps: either every word of the Bible is completely, literally true, or...
Uncovered walls and gate, Tel Zafit National Park, Israel (Archaeology )

Massive Gate May Have Been the Entrance to Biblical City of Gath

Archaeologists have discovered the tops of fortified walls and a massive entrance gate in Tel Zafit National Park dating back to the Iron Age and may have been the entrance to the biblical city of...