Maccabean Period

Heliodorus Stele, 178 BCE
By September 26, 2016 Read More →

Heliodorus Stele, 178 BCE

Unique 2,200-year-old stele (inscribed stone block) that provides new insight into the dramatic story of Heliodorus and the Temple in Jerusalem, as related in the Second Book of Maccabees. The newly deciphered stele presents new information about Heliodorus, who, according to the Second Book of Maccabees, received orders to seize the treasure in the Temple in […]

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Coin of Antigonus
By November 16, 2015 Read More →

Coin of Antigonus

A Greek name meaning “comparable to his father” or “worthy of his father”. In this context, we are referring to Antigonus (died 37 BC), the last ruler of the Hasmonean kingdom of Judea. This is known as the, “Coin of Antigonus”.

The Enigma of Qumran, Hershel Shanks, <i>Biblical Archaeology Review</i> (24:01), Jan/Feb 1998.
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

The Enigma of Qumran, Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review (24:01), Jan/Feb 1998.

Four archaeologists assess the site If you want to understand how archaeologists think, how they reason, how they work, how they interpret finds—and why they sometimes disagree—you will enjoy this discussion among four prominent archaeologists who know as much about Qumran and its excavation as can be known today. Long associated with the Dead Sea […]

Maccabean-Hasmonean Period, 166-63 BCE
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

Maccabean-Hasmonean Period, 166-63 BCE

Highlights- Coin of Alexander Jannaeus, 103-76 BCE The Temple Scroll, c. 100 BCE The War Scroll, c. 100 BCE Menorah Coin, 40-37 BCE The Ten Commandments Scroll, 30-1 BCE Overview The Maccabees (Hasmoneans) 167-63, Teddy Kollek and Moshe Pearlman, Jerusalem- Sacred City of Mankind, Steimatzky Ltd., Jerusalem, 1991. Biblical History- From Alexander the Great to […]

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What Was Qumran? A Ritual Purification Center, Edward M. Cook, <i>Biblical Archaeology Review</i> (22:06), Nov/Dec 1996.
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

What Was Qumran? A Ritual Purification Center, Edward M. Cook, Biblical Archaeology Review (22:06), Nov/Dec 1996.

Qumran has remained a mystery long enough. Forty-five years after excavations first began, all the evidence from the site has still not been satisfactorily reconciled by any single theory. Jodi Magness, in the accompanying article, makes a persuasive case for what Qumran was not. I believe I can make an equally persuasive case for what […]

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Where the Temple Tax Was Buried, Manfred R. Lehmann, BAR 19:06, Nov-Dec 1993.
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

Where the Temple Tax Was Buried, Manfred R. Lehmann, BAR 19:06, Nov-Dec 1993.

The key to understanding the Copper Scroll One Dead Sea Scroll stands out as unique—in many ways. First, of course, is the material it is written on. It is the only one of the more than 800 scrolls in the collection that is written, or rather scratched, on copper—thin copper sheets. Obviously, it must have […]

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Tapping the Mother Lode: Qumran Cave 4, Hershel Shanks, <i>Biblical Archaeology Review</i> (19:05), Sep/Oct 1993.
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Tapping the Mother Lode: Qumran Cave 4, Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Review (19:05), Sep/Oct 1993.

Qumran Cave 4: Palaeo-Hebrew and Greek Biblical Manuscripts (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, Volume 9) Patrick W. Skehan, Eugene Ulrich and Judith E. Sanderson, with a contribution by P.J. Parsons (Oxford- Clarendon Press, 1992) 250 pp., 47 plates, $105.00 Qumran Cave 4 contained the mother lode of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nearly 600 of the […]

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The Great Mikveh Debate, Ronny Reich, BAR 19:02, Mar-Apr 1993.
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

The Great Mikveh Debate, Ronny Reich, BAR 19:02, Mar-Apr 1993.

In a letter to the editor in Queries & Comments, BAR 18-06, Jerusalem guide Walter Zanger questions whether the installations found in the Jewish Quarter excavations directed by the late Nahman Avigad were really mikva’ot (ritual purification baths, singular mikveh), as they were denominated in an article on those excavations.a According to Zanger, only one […]

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Beatitudes Found Among Dead Sea Scrolls, Benedict T. Viviano, BAR 18:06, Nov-Dec 1992.
By January 29, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

Beatitudes Found Among Dead Sea Scrolls, Benedict T. Viviano, BAR 18:06, Nov-Dec 1992.

A recently published fragment among the Dead Sea Scrolls contains beatitudes with some striking similarities to the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-3–12) and in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6-20–23)—and also some important differences. The fragment was published in 1991 by Emile Puech,a my colleague at the École Biblique in […]

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Damascus Document, 1st century BCE
By January 28, 2009 0 Comments Read More →

Damascus Document, 1st century BCE

Damascus Document The Damascus Document circulated widely in the Qumran community, as evidenced by the number of fragments of the text found in caves 4, 5 and 6. The contents of these Qumran fragments are also found in two medieval manuscripts discovered by Solomon Schechter in 1896 in the genizah in the Ezra Synagogue in […]

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