What is biblical archaeology? How does it help scholars with biblical interpretation? After all this time, are there still artifacts and literary documents being uncovered? These are just some of the questions that this handy little book will answer. When busy people want to know more about the Bible and the Christian faith, the Zondervan Quick-Reference Library offers an instant information alternative in a manageable length. Covering the basics of the faith and Bible knowledge in an easy-to-use format, this series helps new Christians and seasoned believers alike find answers to their questions about Christianity and the Bible. The information in Biblical Archaeology is presented in units of one or two pages, so that each section can be read in a few minutes, covering the topic of archaeology as it pertains to: Early Genesis and the creation account. The patriarchs. The exodus. The united monarchy. The divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The exilic and post-exilic period. The Gospels. The early church. The Zondervan Quick-Reference Library makes important knowledge affordable, accessible, and easy to understand for busy people who don't have a lot of time to read or study.

This volume publishes the most complete documentary codex from 6th-century Egypt. Known to the scholarly world since 1905 and frequently cited since then, it now appears for the first time in full edition. The codex details money taxes paid by landowners at the village of Temseu Skordon and the hamlet Topos Demeou in the Hermopolite Nome. The language is Greek but with extensive Coptic influence. The text is especially important for its bearing on nomenclature, language, taxation and gold-to-copper monetary conversions.

A photograph, map, or diagram illustrates the text for every site described in this pilgrimage to Palestine, beginning with places connected with John the Baptist and proceeding to Bethlehem and Nazareth, Samaria and Galilee, Jerash, Caesarea, Jericho, the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, and Emmaus. Each entry concludes with a brief bibliography of pertinent literature. Professor Finegan's knowledge of Christian theology and history plus his command of the archeology and topography of the Holy Land make his book an authoritative guide, a book for study and reference, and a volume for devotional reading. Originally published in 1969. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A colossal statue, originally built to honor an ancient pharaoh, still stands today in Egyptian Thebes, with more than a hundred Greek and Latin inscriptions covering its lower surfaces. Partially damaged by an earthquake, and later re-identified as the Homeric hero Memnon, it was believed to "speak" regularly at daybreak. By the middle of the first century CE, tourists flocked to the colossus of Memnon to hear the miraculous sound, and left behind their marks of devotion (proskynemata): brief acknowledgments of having heard Memnon's cry; longer lists by Roman administrators; and more elaborate elegiac verses by both amateur and professional poets. The inscribed names left behind reveal the presence of emperors and soldiers, provincial governors and businessmen, elite women and military wives, and families with children. While recent studies of imperial literature acknowledge the colossus, few address the inscriptions themselves. This book is the first critical assessment of all the inscriptions considered in their social, cultural, and historical context. The Memnon colossus functioned as a powerful site of engagement with the Greek past, and appealed to a broad segment of society. The inscriptions shed light on contemporary attitudes toward sacred tourism, the role of Egypt in the Greco-Roman imagination, and the cultural legacy of Homeric epic. Memnon is a ghost from the Homeric past anchored in the Egyptian present, and visitors yearned for a "close encounter" that would connect them with that distant past. The inscriptions thus idealize Greece by echoing archaic literature in their verses at the same time as they reflect their own historical horizon. These and other subjects are expertly explored in the book, including a fascinating chapter on the colossus's post-classical life when the statue finds new worshippers among Romantic artists and poets in nineteenth-century Europe.

The Sasanian empire was one of the great powers of Late Antiquity, and for four centuries ruled the vast region stretching from Syria and the Caucasus to Central Asia. Classical, Armenian, Jewish and Arab written sources throw light on its history, and studies of its rock reliefs, stuccoes, silver, silks, coins and glyptic have created a picture of a rich courtly culture with a strong Iranian character. However, the everyday material culture is much less understood, as is the economy which sustained and supported the Sasanian empire and underpinned its consistent military superiority over its western rivals. This collection of essays looks at these aspects and offers an approach based almost entirely on archaeological and scientific research, much presented here for the first time. This book is divided into three parts which in turn examine evidence for Sasanian sites, settlements and landscapes, their complex agricultural resources, and their crafts and industries. Each section is preceded by an essay setting out the wider research questions and current state of knowledge. The book begins and ends with a general introduction and conclusion setting out why this new approach is necessary, and how it helps change our perceptions of the complexity and power of the Sasanian empire.

Current Research in Egyptology 2021 presents papers from the Twenty-First Annual Meeting of the international postgraduate conference Current Research in Egyptology, held online by the Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean (Rhodes, Greece) on 9-16 May 2021. Almost 100 participants from institutions all over the world presented their insightful research on a wide range of topics regarding all periods of ancient Egypt. Fifteen Egyptological and Papyrological papers are published here, which investigate a great variety of issues, including social and religious aspects of life in ancient Egypt, ritual and magic, language and literature, ideology of death, demonology, the iconographical tradition, and intercultural relations, ranging chronologically from the Prehistoric to the Coptic period. The wide chronological and thematic scope of the book reflects the multifaceted, interdisciplinary and innovative character of modern Egyptology.

The fabled land of Nubia, whose very name means 'gold,' was famous in ancient times for its supplies of precious metal, exotic material, and intricate craftsmanship. Many of the adornments made in Nubia are masterpieces of the jeweler's art-marvels of design and construction rivaling, and often surpassing, adornments made in Egypt and the rest of the ancient Mediterranean world. Although these unique treasures are among the most stunning to have survived from antiquity, they remain little known. Richly illustrated with beautiful photographs of these exquisite items, many of them never before published, Nubian Gold also places the jewelry within the cultural contexts in which it was manufactured and employed. It tells the story not only of the treasures themselves but of the exciting tales of their discovery and the rich background of the exotic and remote civilizations that produced them. The book also explores the innovative techniques used to procure the precious materials used in the jewelry and to craft them into intricate ornaments replete with magical purpose and coded meaning.Featured in the book are not only the intricately crafted pieces themselves but depictions of them in sculpture, relief, and painting as well as references to them in ancient texts, locating them within the full spectrum of Nubian history, from the earliest beginnings of society to the advent of Christianity.

The Orontes Valley in western Syria is a land 'in between', positioned between the small trading centres of the coast and the huge urban agglomerations of the Euphrates Valley and the Syro-Mesopotamian plains beyond. As such, it provides a critical missing link in our understanding of the archaeology of this region in the early urban age.A Land in Between documents the material culture and socio-political relationships of the Orontes Valley and its neighbours from the fourth through to the second millennium BCE. The authors demonstrate that the valley was an important conduit for the exchange of knowledge and goods that fuelled the first urban age in western Syria. This lays the foundation for a comparative perspective, providing a clearer understanding of key differences between the Orontes region and its neighbours, and insights into how patterns of material and political association changed over time.

In The Destruction of Sodom, the Biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is examined under the spotlight of modern science against a cultural backdrop of history and archaeology. In this scientific reconstruction, the account of events described in the book of Genesis is verified and it is established that the destruction occurred at about 2350 BC as a result of an earthquake-induced landslide transporting Sodom to the depths of the Dead Sea. Strands of geography, geology, and engineering science are drawn together to provide comprehensive treatment of all relevant scientific aspects pertinent to a rational understanding of the mechanics of the disaster. The detailed scientific argument follows a discussion of the Genesis account and considerations of Canaanite culture and commerce, with specific attention to the trade in bitumen. On this point, Graham Harris provides evidence that the mainstay of Canaanite commerce was the exploitation of the bitumen resources of the Dead Sea, that the Sodomites were among the world's first chemical engineers, and from the resources of the region a large number of processed materials also would have been exported to Egypt. The Destruction of Sodom is an example of the application of science to a fuller understanding of one of the most intriguing events of the Old Testament, and will be of direct interest to scholars as well as to the wider public.

The Sasanian Empire (third-seventh centuries) was one of the largest empires of antiquity, stretching from Mesopotamia to modern Pakistan and from Central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. This mega-empire withstood powerful opponents in the steppe and expanded further in Late Antiquity, whilst the Roman world shrunk in size. Recent research has revealed the reasons for this success, notably population growth in some territories, economic prosperity and urban development, made possible through investment in agriculture and military infrastructure on a scale unparalleled in the late antique world. This volume explores the empire's relations with its neighbours and key phenomena which contributed to its wealth and power, from the empire's armed forces to agriculture, trade and treatment of minorities. The latest discoveries, notably major urban foundations, fortifications and irrigations systems, feature prominently. An empire whose military might and urban culture rivalled Rome and foreshadowed the caliphate will be of interest to scholars of the Roman and Islamic world.

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.

The biblical image of Eve has powerfully influenced ideas about women for the past two millennia. Yet, as Carol Meyers argues in Discovering Eve, the image of the first of women as subservient and dependent does not represent some irreducible historical truth. Rather, it represents the androcentric constructions of a group of urban elite males (including, most notably, the Apostle Paul and Rabbi Yohannan) who had a decisive effect on the founding of Judaeo-Christian traditions. Meyers produces convincing evidence, archaeological, scriptural, and sociological, that ancient Israelite woman fulfilled a role very different from that of the biblical Eve. The real Eve, she demonstrates, was a figure of some social substance, a strong and important figure in the social and familial milieux.

In this book, Professor Joseph Davidovits explains the intriguing theory that made him famous. He shows how the Pyramids were built by using re-agglomerated stone (a natural limestone treated like a concrete), and not with huge carved blocks, hauled on fragile ramps. Archaeology bears him out, as well as hieroglyphic texts, scientific analysis, religious and historical facts. Here we finally have the first complete presentation on how and why the Egyptian pyramids were built. We discover its brilliant creator, the great scribe and architect, Imhotep. Joseph Davidovits sweeps aside the conventional image which cripples Egyptology and delivers a captivating and surprising view of Egyptian civilisation. He charts the rise of this technology, its apogee with the Pyramids at Giza, and the decline. Everything is logical and brilliant, everything fits into place. Chapter by chapter, the revelations are sensational, especially when Joseph Davidovits explains why the pharaohs stopped building great pyramids because of an over-exploitation of raw materials and a likely environmental disaster. We understand why Cheops and Ramses II represent two Egyptian civilisations completely different in their beliefs. On the one hand, the God Khnum mandates Cheops to build his pyramid in agglomerated stone, while on the other hand, the God Amun orders Ramses to carve stone for the temples of Luxor and Karnak. 20 years after the best seller book: The Pyramids: an enigma solved, after 20 years of new research, and new discoveries, you will understand why the theory is more alive than ever, why more and more scientists and archaeologists agree, simply because it is the truth.

The tale of human habitation of the Nile Valley is a long one and includes famine, disaster, global environmental events, and human resolve told against a background of ever-changing landscape. In this volume, Judith Bunbury examines the region over a 10,000 year period, from the Neolithic to the Roman conquest. Charting the progression of the river as it meanders through the region and over the ages, she demonstrates how ancient Egyptians attempted to harness the Nile's power as a force for good. Over the generations, they learned how to farm and build on its banks, and also found innovative solutions to cope in a constantly evolving habitat. Using the latest theories and evidence, this richly illustrated volume also provides a blueprint for the future management of the Nile.

In 1961 archaeologists discovered a family archive of legal papyri in a cave near the Dead Sea where their owner, the Jewish woman Babatha, had hidden them in 135 CE at the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Babatha's Orchard analyzes the oldest four of these papyri to argue that underlying them is a hitherto undetected and surprising train of events concerning how Babatha's father, Shim'on, purchased a date-palm orchard in Maoza on the southern shore of the Dead Sea in 99 CE that he later gave to Babatha. The central features of the story, untold for two millennia, relate to how a high Nabatean official had purchased the orchard only a month before, but suddenly rescinded the purchase, and how Shim'on then acquired it, in enlarged form, from the vendor. Teasing out the details involves deploying the new methodology of archival ethnography, combined with a fresh scrutiny of the papyri (written in Nabatean Aramaic), to investigate the Nabatean and Jewish individuals mentioned and their relationships within the social, ethnic, economic, and political realities of Nabatea at that time. Aspects of this context which are thrown into sharp relief by Babatha's Orchard include: the prominence of wealthy Nabatean women and their husbands' financial reliance on them; the high returns and steep losses possible in date cultivation; the sophistication of Nabatean law and lawyers; the lingering effect of the Nabateans' nomadic past in lessening the social distance between elite and non-elite; and the good ethnic relations between Nabateans and Jews.

Down to Earth Archaeology collects sixteen archaeological papers by Professor William Y. Adams chosen by the author, who added introductory commentary to each. These articles were written at various times during his lengthy and productive academic career for different purposes and for different audiences. Most of those selected had been previously published only in a limited way, either as conference proceedings or contributions to various Festschriften, and as such he wanted to enable them to reach a wider readership than they had originally. He described this collection as his 'dernieres pensees'. The essays encompass a wide range of topics, from reflections upon the successes, failures and lessons learned from the UNESCO International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia in the 1960s, in which Bill was very much a leading figure and which he was uniquely positioned to critique, to discussions and criticisms of the theoretical framework of 'New' or 'Processual Archaeology' and its application of 'scientific' methods. Other papers included here are seminal works discussing the ideological concepts of typology and classification and their practical application to archaeological excavations, notably his own major excavations conducted at the large Nubian cityscapes of Meinarti, Kulubnarti and Qasr Ibrim, and the ceramic kilns at Faras.

Afghanistan is at the cultural crossroads of Asia, where the great civilisations of Mesopotamia and Iran, South Asia and Central Asia overlapped and sometimes conflicted. Its landscape embraces environments from the high mountains of the Hindu Kush to the Oxus basin and the great deserts of Sistan; trade routes from China to the Mediterranean, and from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea cross the country. It has seen the development of early agriculture, the spread of Bronze Age civilisation of Central Asia, the conquests of the Persians and of Alexander of Macedon, the spread of Buddhism and then Islam, and the empires of the Kushans, Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Timurids centred there, with ramifications across southern Asia. All of which has resulted in some of the most important, diverse and spectacular historical remains in Asia. First published in 1978, this was the first book in English to provide a complete survey of the immensely rich archaeological remains of Afghanistan. The contributors, all acknowledged scholars in their field, have worked in the country, on projects ranging from prehistoric surveys to the study of Islamic architecture. It has now been thoroughly revised and brought up to date to incorporate the latest discoveries and research.

In 1937 the Colt Archaeological Expedition, excavating the ancient site of modern Auja Hafir in the Negeb, uncovered two storerooms containing the hoard of Greek papyrus documents of the 6th and 7th centuries. These non-literary papyri contain military, church, and family records, as well as an Arab archive on the caravan industry. Originally published in 1958. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Pax Assyriaca provides a study of the evolutionary process of ancient civilisations, stressing the complementarity between theoretical principles and the relevant historical and archaeological evidence. Taking its approach from World Systems Theory, the study focuses on the origin, development and collapse of the first, 'Near Eastern', stage of the 'Central Civilisation'. The volume seeks to better understand the evolution of this stage of the Central Civilization, exploring its origin in the fusion of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations resulting from the expansion of the so-called Neo-Assyrian Empire from 1000 BC to 600 BC - better known as the Pax Assyriaca. Alongside investigations into the structure and development of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilisations, the book presents a theoretical analysis of Neo-Assyrian imperialism and traces the characteristics of the incorporation of Egypt into the Pax Assyriaca, concluding that this integration was only fully completed by the successor empires of Assyria around 430 BC. Finally an explanation for the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire is presented and its legacy in the context of the 'Central Civilisation' is assessed.

The book explores the use of inscriptions as an instrument of the cult of saints in Asia Minor between the 4th and mid-7th c. AD. In addition to the analytical chapters, the work encompasses a catalogue of around 250 inscriptions on stone, mosaics, small objects (in particular reliquaries), and graffiti, attesting to the rise and development of the cult of saints in the discussed region and period. For the first time such a catalogue includes revised full texts of inscriptions, English translations, bibliographical references, and a detailed commentary. The book was awarded the 2018 EKVAM Annual Award of the Ancient Anatolian Studies by the Izmir Center of the Archaeology of Western Anatolia. The analytical part is divided into five chapters preceded by an introduction which discusses methodological issues, presents a short history of research on the epigraphy of the cult of saints in Asia Minor, and the possibility of the application of the principles of 'the epigraphic habit theory' into the studies on the cult of saints. Chapter 1 shows different categories of inscriptions used in the religious practice: epitaphs for martyrs, inscriptions commemorating translations of relics, labels of reliquaries, inscribed invocations of saints, building and dedicatory inscriptions, vows, inscriptions using names of saints as a marker of identity, inscriptions attesting burials ad sanctos, inscriptions from boundary stones, inscriptions recording normative and liturgical texts, and others. Chapter 2 deals with the chronological distribution of the evidence collected. The saints chosen as addresses of their prayers and vows by the commissioners of inscriptions, and the saintly epithets, are closely discussed respectively in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. A prosopographical overview of the commissioners of inscriptions is presented in Chapter 5. This chapter also includes considerations on the motivation of donors recording their deeds by the means of inscriptions, with particular emphasis put onto the transition from the 'rational' to the 'emotional' motivation and the phenomenon of 'the longing for the saint'. The geographical distribution of all the sources collected, and of sources illustrating cults of selected saints is shown on maps.

Ninety-two documents of varied interest, all throwing light on the social and economic conditions of Roman Egypt. Each text is provided with ample commentary and critical notes. Originally published in 1936. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Ninety-two documents of varied interest, all throwing light on the social and economic conditions of Roman Egypt. Each text is provided with ample commentary and critical notes. Originally published in 1936. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Trade before Civilization explores the role that long-distance exchange played in the establishment and/or maintenance of social complexity, and its role in the transformation of societies from egalitarian to non-egalitarian. Bringing together research by an international and methodologically diverse team of scholars, it analyses the relationship between long-distance trade and the rise of inequality. The volume illustrates how elites used exotic prestige goods to enhance and maintain their elevated social positions in society. Global in scope, it offers case studies of early societies and sites in Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Mesoamerica. Deploying a range of inter-disciplinary and cutting-edge theoretical approaches from a cross-cultural framework, the volume offers new insights and enhances our understanding of socio-political evolution. It will appeal to archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, conflict theorists, and ethnohistorians, as well as economists seeking to understand the nexus between imported luxury items and cultural evolution.

This book provides an introduction to one of the greatest civilizations of all time - ancient Egypt. Beginning with a geographical overview that explains the development of Egyptian belief systems as well as its subsequent political development, it examines methodology, the history of the discipline of Egyptology, religion, social organization, urban and rural life, and death. It also includes a section on how people of all ranks lived. Lavishly illustrated, with many unusual photographs of rarely seen sites that are seldom illustrated, this volume is suitable for use in introductory-level courses on ancient Egypt. It offers a variety of student-friendly features, including a glossary, a bibliography, and a list of sources for those who wish to further their interest in ancient Egypt.

Roman Egypt is a critical area of interdisciplinary research, which has steadily expanded since the 1970s and continues to grow. Egypt played a pivotal role in the Roman empire, not only in terms of political, economic, and military strategies, but also as part of an intricate cultural discourse involving themes that resonate today - east and west, old world and new, acculturation and shifting identities, patterns of language use and religious belief, and the management of agriculture and trade. Roman Egypt was a literal and figurative crossroads shaped by the movement of people, goods, and ideas, and framed by permeable boundaries of self and space. This handbook is unique in drawing together many different strands of research on Roman Egypt, in order to suggest both the state of knowledge in the field and the possibilities for collaborative, synthetic, and interpretive research. Arranged in seven thematic sections, each of which includes essays from a variety of disciplinary vantage points and multiple sources of information, it offers new perspectives from both established and younger scholars, featuring individual essay topics, themes, and intellectual juxtapositions.