Text in English and French. Qumran Cave 11Q was discovered by Bedouin in 1956. In the cave, remains of around 30 Dead Sea Scrolls were found, a few of them in very good state of preservation (the Temple Scroll, the Psalm Scroll, the Paleo Leviticus Scroll, and the Targum Job Scroll). The cave was excavated by Roland de Vaux (Ecole Biblique et Archeologique FranAaise, Jerusalem) and Gerald L. Harding (Department of Antiquities of Jordan) in 1956; later by Joseph Patrich (University of Haifa) in 1988, and by Marcello Fidanzio and Dan Bahat (ISCAB FTL and Universitedella Svizzera Italiana) in 2017. Due to Roland de Vaux's premature death, the archaeology of Cave 11Q has never been published. This volume presents the final report on the 1956, 1988 and 2017 excavations at Cave 11Q. Next to discussing the physical characteristics and stratigraphy of the cave and offering a full analysis of non-textual finds, the volume for the first time presents many tiny manuscript fragments found in storerooms during recent work. These fragments, most of which were collected during 1956 excavation, have not been known until now. The volume, therefore, offers the final report of Cave 11Q excavations as well as the editio princeps of the new fragments, followed by a reevaluation of the entire set of texts found in this famous cave.

Coins have long been a vital part of the discipline of classical studies of the ancient world. However, many scholars have commented that coins have not been adequately integrated into the study of the New Testament. This book provides an interdisciplinary gateway to the study of numismatics for those who are engaged in biblical studies. Wenkel argues that coins from the 1st century were cultural texts with communicative power. He establishes a simple yet comprehensive hermeneutic that defines coins as cultural texts and explains how they might be interpreted today. Once coins are understood to be cultural texts, Wenkel proceeds to explain how these texts can be approached from three angles. First, the world in front of the coin is defined as the audience who initially read and responded to coins as cultural texts. The entire Roman Empire used coins for payment. Second, the world of the coin refers to the coin itself - the combination of inscriptions and images. This combination of inscription and image was used ubiquitously as a tool of propaganda. Third, the world behind the coin refers to the world of power and production behind the coins. This third angle explores the concept of authorship of coins as cultural texts.

Originally published 1965, this volume is being reissued to make the entire series available to students and scholars of biblical and post-biblical Judaism and early Christianity.

When the British Museum opened its doors more than two centuries ago, scores of visitors waited eagerly outside for a first glimpse of ancient relics from Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Even today, in this age of satellite television and high-speed Internet access, museums maintain their unique allure, continuing to play a vital role in connecting us with little-known terrains and the deep mysteries of our historical past. That's because, as Stephanie Moser argues in "Wondrous Curiosities", museum displays don't just transmit knowledge - they actually create it. Based on her exploration of the British Museum's world-famous collection of Egyptian antiquities, this pioneering study reveals the powerful role of museums in shaping our understanding of science, culture, and history. Drawing on guidebooks and archival documents, Moser demonstrates that this British exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts was central to the way we came to define the remarkable society that produced them.

Dura-Europos is one of Syria's most important archaeological sites. Situated on the edge of the Euphrates river, it was the subject of extensive excavations in the 1920s and 30s by teams from Yale University and the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Controlled variously by Seleucid, Parthian, and Roman powers, the site was one of impressive religious and linguistic diversity: it was home to at least nineteen sanctuaries, amongst them a Synagogue and a Christian building, and many languages, including Greek, Latin, Persian, Palmyrene, and Hebrew which were excavated on inscriptions, parchments, and graffiti. Based on the author's work excavating at the site with the Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura and extensive archival research, this book provides an overview of the site and its history, and traces the story of its investigation from archaeological discovery to contemporary destruction.

Chariots, the racing cars of the ancient world, first appeared in Egypt about 1600 BC, and quickly became not only the preferred mode of transport for royalty and the elite, but also revolutionised military tactics and warfare. Remains of chariots have been found in Egyptian tombs -Tutankhamun's tomb contained six chariots, which tripled the number of ancient Egyptian chariots known before the discovery of his tomb. However, none of the chariots was complete, as all lacked their leather casings, which were only known from images on tomb and temple walls. In 2008, the Ancient Egyptian Leatherwork Project (AELP) working in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, found a cache of several trays of red and green leather containing some 60 large leather fragments. Some of these had been noted before, but the find had been largely ignored and buried in the depths of the museum. This remarkable object entered the museum in 1932, a purchase from the Tano family, reputable dealers at that time, hence the nick-name 'Tano Chariot'. The Tano leather all came from a single chariot, including portions of the bow-case, the body's casing and the horse housing. The leather is elaborately decorated in appliqued green and red or beige leather. Parallels for some of these fragments are found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the AEgyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin, many of which, until their appearance in this volume, are unpublished. This includes the chariot leather from the tombs of Amenhotep II, III, Tuthmose IV and Tutankhamun. This book presents the Tano material with fully illustrated, detailed descriptions. Chariot related texts and technological analyses - together with detailed comparisons with other chariots and associated leather remains - help provide possible dates for it. The find is put into context with chapters on relevant hieroglyphic texts, and a study of representations of chariots that help identify the various parts, and highlight the role of the chariot in Egyptian religion, propaganda, and culture. The Tano Chariot leather, despite being unprovenanced, is a unique find, which reveals a great deal about ancient Egyptian leatherwork technologies, warfare, weapons, and chariotry.

While mortuary ruins have long fascinated archaeologists and art historians interested in the cultures of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean, the human skeletal remains contained in the tombs of this region have garnered less attention. In Bioarchaeology and Behavior, Megan Perry presents a collection of essays that aim a spotlight on the investigation of the ancient inhabitants of the circum-Mediterranean area. Composed of eight diverse papers, this volume synthesizes recent research on human skeletal remains and their archaeological and historical contexts in this region. Utilizing an environmental, social, and political framework, the contributors present scholarly case studies on such topics as the region's mortuary archaeology, genetic investigations of migration patterns, and the ancient populations' health, disease, and diet. Other key anthropological issues addressed in this volume include the effects of the domestication of plants and animals, the rise of state-level formations, and the role of religion in society. Ultimately, this collection will provide anthropologists, archaeologists, and bioarchaeologists with an important foundation for future research in the Near East and eastern Mediterranean.

In ancient Egypt, one of the primary roles of the king was to maintain order and destroy chaos. Since the beginning of Egyptian history, images of foreigners were used as symbols of chaos and thus shown as captives being bound and trampled under the king's feet. The early 18th dynasty (1550-1372 BCE) was the height of international trade, diplomacy and Egyptian imperial expansion. During this time new images of foreigners bearing tribute became popular in the tombs of the necropolis at Thebes, the burial place of the Egyptian elite. This volume analyses the new presentation of foreigners in these tombs. Far from being chaotic, they are shown in an orderly fashion, carrying tribute that underscores the wealth and prestige of the tomb owner. This orderliness reflects the ability of the Egyptian state to impose order on foreign lands, but also crucially symbolises the tomb owner's ability to overcome the chaos of death and achieve a successful afterlife. Illustrated with colour plates and black-and-white images, this new volume is an important and original study of the significance of these images for the tomb owner and the functioning of the funerary cult.

Coins have long been a vital part of the discipline of classical studies of the ancient world. However, many scholars have commented that coins have not been adequately integrated into the study of the New Testament. This book provides an interdisciplinary gateway to the study of numismatics for those who are engaged in biblical studies. Wenkel argues that coins from the 1st century were cultural texts with communicative power. He establishes a simple yet comprehensive hermeneutic that defines coins as cultural texts and explains how they might be interpreted today. Once coins are understood to be cultural texts, Wenkel proceeds to explain how these texts can be approached from three angles. First, the world in front of the coin is defined as the audience who initially read and responded to coins as cultural texts. The entire Roman Empire used coins for payment. Second, the world of the coin refers to the coin itself - the combination of inscriptions and images. This combination of inscription and image was used ubiquitously as a tool of propaganda. Third, the world behind the coin refers to the world of power and production behind the coins. This third angle explores the concept of authorship of coins as cultural texts.

Recent studies on the Anatolian archaeology in this volume shows the great importance of the cultural and archaeological heritage of the Turkey. This volume includes data from surveys and excavations, in addition to the analysis of unpublished materials preserved in local museums. The geographical region covered in by the papers included in this volume covers the whole of Asia Minor, from the west coast to the central and northern part, up to the east. The temporal coverage ranges from the Neolithic to the nineteenth century. Scholars from various parts of the world, but especially young and promising Turkish researchers, have contributed papers to this volume which discuss the important archaeological heritage of Anatolia and contribute a great deal to archaeological knowledge and practice in this part of the world.

First published in Rome in 1535,Leone Ebreo's Dialogues of Love is one of the most important texts of the European Renaissance. Well known in the Italian academies of the sixteenth century, its popularity quickly spread throughout Europe, with numerous reprintings and translations into French, Latin Spanish, and Hebrew. It attracted a diverse audience that included noblemen, courtesans, artists, poets, intellectuals, and philosophers. More than just a bestseller, the work exerted a deep influence over the centuries on figures as diverse as Giordano Bruno, John Donne, Miguelde Cervantes, and Baruch Spinoza. Leone's Dialogues consists of three conversations - 'On Love and Desire,' 'On the Universality of Love,' and 'Onthe Origin of Love' - that take place over a period of three subsequent days.They are organized in a dialogic format, much like a theatrical representation, of a conversation between a man, Philo, who plays the role of the lover andteacher, and a woman, Sophia, the beloved and pupil. The discussion covers a wide range of topics that have as their common denominator the idea of Love. Through the dialogue, the author explores many different points of view and complex philosophical ideas. Grounded in a distinctly Jewish tradition, and drawing on Neoplatonic philosophical structures and Arabic sources, the work offers a useful compendium of classical and contemporary thought, yet was not incompatible with Christian doctrine. Despite the unfinished state and somewhat controversial, enigmatic nature of Ebreo's famous text, it remains one of the most significant and influential works in the history of Western thought. This new, expertly translated and annotated English edition takes into account the latest scholarship and provides aninvaluable resource for today's readers.

In his illuminating, well-researched book examining the site of Et-Tell, also known as Bethsaida, Carl E. Savage explores archaeological evidence to offer readers a portrait of the religious beliefs and practices of the community living near the north shore of the Sea of Galilee during the first century CE. In the study of the cultural and social matrix of the first century in the Galilee, scholars have commonly prioritized written sources over archaeological evidence because written sources seem to contribute more directly to an understanding of the religious beliefs and practices of a community. However, there exist many competing views of the landscape during that time due to the varying interpretations of the textual sources. Using archaeological data from Bethsaida itself, Savage investigates the material practices of Bethsaida's ancient inhabitants, describing these practices as significant indicators of their sense of place both ideologically and geographically. He evaluates the historical plausibility of various social reconstructions for the region, and finds that the image that emerges of first-century Bethsaida is one similar to those of other Jewish communities in the Galilee.

The author is an important but controversial figure in the history of Palestinian archaeology. This volume celebrates the centennial of the publication of his excavations at Tel Gezer (1912), conducted under the auspices of the PEF. This excavation was the most ambitious one of its time in the land, yielding important architectural remains and thousands of artefacts, including the well-known Gezer Calendar. The contributions of several eminent scholars reflect on the man and his work, and also report on how his work influenced the understanding of the sites he excavated in Palestine, all of which are currently being re-investigated. It is also richly illustrated with images from the PEF archives. Evaluations of Macalister's work vary tremendously and are reflected here. Many learnt from him, others deplored his methods and record keeping. As one contributor puts it, 'an industrious archaeologist but an awful excavator', and a man who was both admired and intensely disliked: regarded as both a villain and a visionary. But it is generally agreed that he is a figure who cannot be ignored, and anyone interested in Palestinian archaeology will find a great deal to learn from this book.

Set along the Sahara's edge, Sijilmasa was an African El Dorado, a legendary city of gold. But unlike El Dorado, Sijilmasa was a real city, the pivot in the gold trade between ancient Ghana and the Mediterranean world. Following its emergence as an independent city-state controlling a monopoly on gold during its first 250 years, Sijilmasa was incorporated into empire-Almoravid, Almohad, and onward-leading to the "last civilized place" becoming the cradle of today's Moroccan dynasty, the Alaouites. Sijilmasa's millennium of greatness ebbed with periods of war, renewal, and abandonment. Today, its ruins lie adjacent to and under the modern town of Rissani, bypassed by time. The Moroccan-American Project at Sijilmasa draws on archaeology, historical texts, field reconnaissance, oral tradition, and legend to weave the story of how this fabled city mastered its fate. The authors' deep local knowledge and interpretation of the written and ecological record allow them to describe how people and place molded four distinct periods in the city's history. Messier and Miller compare models of Islamic cities to what they found on the ground to understand how Sijilmasa functioned as a city. Continuities and discontinuities between Sijilmasa and the contemporary landscape sharpen questions regarding the nature of human life on the rim of the desert. What, they ask, allows places like Sijilmasa to rise to greatness? What causes them to fall away and disappear into the desert sands?

The discovery of the resting place of the great Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun [Tut.ankh.Amen] in November 1922 by Howard Carter and the fifth Earl of Carnarvon was the greatest archaeological find the world had ever seen. Despite its plundering by thieves in antiquity, the burial of the king lay intact with its nest of coffins and funerary shrines, surrounded by a mass of burial equipment arranged in three peripheral chambers. After the long search for the tomb and its initial discovery and excavation (volume 1), after the discovery of the king's resting place and body (volume 2), the third and final volume of Howard Carter's account sees him reach the treasury, full of the incredible riches that the Pharaoh had sort to take with him to the world beyond and which had seemed lost to time before Carter's historic discovery. Now available in the Bloomsbury Revelations series, the book includes over 150 photographs of the treasury and its contents.

This volume brings together a number of scholars who use archaeology as a tool to question the assumptions too easily made by historians and biblical scholars about the past. It combines essays from both archaeologists and biblical scholars. While the subject matter across the two disciplines differs widely in both geographical and chronological area covered, they share a critical stance in examining the relationship between 'dirt' archaeology and the biblical world, as presented to us through written sources.

The discovery of the resting place of the great Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun [Tut.ankh.Amen] in November 1922 by Howard Carter and the fifth Earl of Carnarvon was the greatest archaeological find the world had ever seen. Despite its plundering by thieves in antiquity, the burial of the king lay intact with its nest of coffins and funerary shrines, surrounded by a mass of burial equipment arranged in three peripheral chambers. Following on from the first volume's account of the search for and initial discovery of the team, in the second volume Howard Carter recounts the discovery of the king's burial chamber: the breakthrough to the four protective shrines, the revelation of the quartz-sandstone sarcophagus, the king's three coffins (his own of pure gold) and the bejewelled mummy of the Pharaoh himself. Now available in the Bloomsbury Revelations series, the book includes over 150 photographs of the treasures that lay within the great burial chamber of Tutankhamun.

An examination of archaeology in Jordan and Palestine, Competitive Archaeology in Jordan explores how antiquities have been used to build narratives and national identities. Tracing Jordanian history, and the importance of Jerusalem within that history, Corbett analyzes how both foreign and indigenous powers have engaged in a competition over ownership of antiquities and the power to craft history and geography based on archaeological artifacts. She begins with the Ottoman and British Empires—under whose rule the institutions and borders of modern Jordan began to take shape—asking how they used antiquities in varying ways to advance their imperial projects. Corbett continues through the Mandate era and the era of independence of an expanded Hashemite Kingdom, examining how the Hashemites and other factions, both within and beyond Jordan, have tried to define national identity by drawing upon antiquities. Competitive Archaeology in Jordan traces a complex history through the lens of archaeology’s power as a modern science to create and give value to spaces, artifacts, peoples, narratives, and academic disciplines. It thus considers the role of archaeology in realizing Jordan’s modernity—drawing its map; delineating sacred and secular spaces; validating taxonomies of citizens; justifying legal frameworks and institutions of state; determining logos of the nation for display on stamps, currency, and in museums; and writing history. Framing Jordan’s history in this way, Corbett illustrates the manipulation of archaeology by governments, institutions, and individuals to craft narratives, draw borders, and create national identities.

This work comprises several studies dealing with the society, economy, ideology and power among the mainly tribal, semi-pastoral communities living and moving around the southern arid margins of the southern Levant, particularly the Negev desert, southern Transjordan (ancient Edom) and north-eastern Sinai during the first millennium BCE. All studies revolve around a central concept: the phenomenon of tribalism. In few words, tribalism constituted the framework around which were structured the local groups' social institutions, economy, politics and ideology. Key topics such as the manufacture and circulation of local ceramics, the exploitation and trade of copper and incense, the local socio-political fluctuations and emergence of local chiefdoms, and the ideology of kinship and segmentation are studied under this light.

This volume brings together the work of scholars using various methodologies to investigate the prevalence, importance, and meanings of feasting and foodways in the texts and cultural-material environments of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. Thus, it serves as both an introduction to and explication of this emerging field. The offerings range from the third-millennium Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia to the rise of a new cuisine in the Islamic period and transverse geographical locations such as southern Iraq, Syria, the Aegean, and especially the southern Levant. The strength of this collection lies in the many disciplines and methodologies that come together. Texts, pottery, faunal studies, iconography, and anthropological theory are all accorded a place at the table in locating the importance of feasting as a symbolic, social, and political practice. Various essays showcase both new archaeological methodologies-zooarchaeological bone analysis and spatial analysis-and classical methods such as iconographic studies, ceramic chronology, cultural anthropology, and composition-critical textual analysis.

'Breaking Monotheism' makes the case that the failed vision of a theocratic utopia in the biblical texts has contributed (in a structural sense) to the exclusionary focus of monotheistic religion. Using the Persian province Yehud as its primary case study, it embodies a special focus on the interaction between religion and the social-political body in several important areas.

This study is focused on the relations between Egypt and the Aegean during the early XVIIIth Dynasty, a period of close contact between these two regions. The discovery of Minoan wall paintings decorating a palace complex at Tell el Dab a (Avaris) was the starting point for this research which reviews the evidence concerning the relations between Egyptians and Minoans especially during the beginning of the New Kingdom, but sometimes also looking at the evidence from previous periods. This contact brought together a mutual influence on artistic and cultural matters, which has its best evidence on the Minoan wall paintings decorating a Thutmoside palace complex in Egypt."

In 2002 a burial box of skeletal remains purchased anonymously from the black market was identified as the ossuary of James, the brother of Jesus. Transformed by the media into a religious and historical relic overnight, the artifact made its way to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, where 100,000 people congregated to experience what had been prematurely and hyperbolically billed as the closest tactile connection to Jesus yet unearthed. Within a few months, however, the ossuary was revealed to be a forgery. Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus offers a critical evaluation of the popular and scholarly reception of the James Ossuary as it emerged from the dimness of the antiquities black market to become a Protestant relic in the media's custody. The volume brings together experts in Jewish archaeology, early Christianity, American religious history, and pilgrimage to explore the theory and practice couched in the debate about the object's authenticity. Contributors explore the ways in which the varying popular and scholarly responses to the ossuary phenomenon inform the presumption of religious meaning; how religious categories are created, vetted, and used for various purposes; and whether the history of pious frauds in America can help to illuminate this international episode. Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus also contributes to discussions about the construction of religious studies as an academic discipline and the role of scholars as public interpreters of discoveries with religious significance. Contributors: Thomas S. Bremer, Rhodes College Ryan Byrne, Menifee, California Byron R. McCane, Wofford College Bernadette McNary-Zak, Rhodes College Milton Moreland, Rhodes College Jonathan L. Reed, University of La Verne

The period of the demise of the kingdom of Judah at the end of the 6th century B.C.E., the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the exile of the elite to Babylon, and the reshaping of the territory of the new province of Judah, culminating at the end of the century with the first return of exiles-all have been subjects of intense scrutiny during the last decade. Lipschits takes into account the biblical textual evidence, the results of archaeological research, and the reports of Babylonian and Egyptian sources and provides a comprehensive survey and analysis of the evidence for the history of this 100-year-long era. He provides a lucid historical survey that will, no doubt, become the baseline for all future studies of this era.

The nature of historical and archaeological research is such that biblical and archaeological evidence should both be taken into account so that we can attain a more reliable reconstruction of ancient Israel. Nowadays we are faced with numerous reconstructions which are very often diametrically opposed to each other owing to the different assumptions of scholars. An examination of certain issues of epistemology in the current climate of postmodernism, shows that the latter is self-defeating when it claims that we cannot attain any true knowledge about the past. Illustrations are taken from the history of pre-exilic Israel; however, the indissoluble unity of text and artefact is made clearer and more concrete through a detailed case study about the location of the house of Rahab as depicted in Joshua 2: 15, irrespective of whether this text is historical or not. Text and artefact should work hand in hand even when narratives turn out to be fictional, since thus there emerges a clearer picture of the external world which the author would have had in mind.