Biblical Archaeology News & Opinion
There is so much news in the world of Biblical archaeology and the Holy Land, it is hard to keep up! That is why we offer the latest news from the lands of the Bible that will interest you the most.
Who Was Jesus’ Biological Father?
Was Joseph Jesus’ biological father? If not, who was Jesus’ biological father? The annunciation stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke recount that Jesus was conceived without the participation of a human male. Ancient views on the biology of conception—based on Aristotelian theory—differed from our modern understanding of genetics and biology. For Jesus to ...
Biblical Paradigms Amongst Scholars
New Discoveries Challenge Paradigms Over the past dig season, a number of paradigm-shifting discoveries were made that challenge traditional thinking. The result has been an acknowledgement that the way history books are written will now change. In some cases, clear bias has been exposed, particularly of the political or anti-religious varieties. ...
Egypt Coordinates with UK to Fight Illegal Trade of Antiquities
A high-profile Egyptian delegation met with a host of key British officials in London on Thursday. The Egyptian delegation comprises political, legal and antiquities’ officials. They interviewed counterpart of Ministries of Tourism, Culture and Art in the United Kingdom (UK) to discuss methods of fighting the illegal trade of the Egyptian antiquities. The ...
Unique Bust of Ramses II Unearthed in Giza
An Egyptian archaeological mission, affiliated to the Antiquities Ministry, discovered on Wednesday a red granite royal bust of King Ramses II during excavations on privately owned land in Mit Rahina village in Giza. Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said an archaeological rescue mission found an upper part ...
Egypt opens Old Kingdom tombs Idu, Qar for visitation
Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry on Monday opened the Idu and Qar tombs in the Eastern Cemetery at Giza following the completion of restoration work, allowing visitors to tour the tombs. These openings come as part of the ministry’s policy to open up archaeological tombs in the region for visitation, opening some once ...
Biblical Hebrew Phases: A Case Study
The contrast between Classical and Late Biblical Hebrew is best illustrated by juxtaposing two extracts of biblical prose narrative, one from each corpus. Classical Biblical Hebrew: 10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in ...
Egypt to impose tougher penalties for smuggling antiquities, climbing monuments
Egypt's parliament is set to change the law to implement harsher jail sentences and stiffer fines for smuggling ancient artifacts out of the country and to criminalize abusing or climbing the country’s monuments. During a meeting on Tuesday, Parliament's legislative and constitutional affairs committee approved the addition of a new article ...
In Jesus’ Time: The Ancient Art of the Deal
For thousands of years, different peoples have interacted with each other by fighting wars and also by trading. In addition to the conquests that built an empire like the world had never known before, the Romans traded extensively. As the recent excavation of a richly-decorated mansion (portico) in Rome’s center ...
“GEM” Receives 309 Artifacts
The Grand Egyptian Museum in Al-Rimaya Square received, on Monday, 309 artifacts belonging to different eras, including 64 heavy artifacts coming from the Egyptian Museum in located in El Tahrir square, amid security measures from the Tourism and Antiquities Police. Major General Atef Moftah, the General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum Project ...
How December 25 Became Christmas
On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods—these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 come to be associated with ...