Contents • November / December 2008
|
ON THE COVER: Is this the face of an ancient Israelite? In “Inside, Outside” and “Shasu or Habiru”, author Anson Rainey suggests that this Egyptian tile from Medinet Habu of an elaborately dressed shasu captive may provide a glimpse into the origins of early Israel.
|
Features
BAR E-FEATURES
 Find BAR E-Features along with your favorite articles.
By Dorothy Resig
Where can you go to see a Bedouin camp, an ancient Roman aqueduct, a Herodian tomb and an Israelite four-room house? They’re not as far as you may think.
Exploring the World of Jesus
 Free articles are marked with this star.
By Anson Rainey
An eminent Israeli scholar offers compelling evidence that the earliest Israelites arose in the vast steppe lands east of the Jordan, just as the Bible recounts.
By Anson Rainey
The marauding habiru of Late Bronze Age Canaan have often been described in both social and linguistic terms as the precursors to the earliest Hebrews. Continuing the themes of his first article, however, Anson Rainey argues that another social group from the east—the pastoralnomadic shasu—provides a more fitting background for Israel’s origins.
By Hershel Shanks
The Maccabean revolt of 165 B.C.E. aimed to rid Judea and the Jerusalem Temple of the pagan cults that had been forcefully imposed by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV. A newly discovered stela documents Seleucid efforts to control the Temple treasury, which may have ignited the first embers of a Jewish revolt, the successful conclusion of which is still celebrated in the festival of Hanukkah.
By Steve Mason
Most scholars believe that the Essenes wrote the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, and they point to the writings of Josephus, a first-century historian, to base their claim. But Steve Mason, a leading authority on the works of Josephus, says that the “Essene Hypothesis” is wrong and that the true authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls remain a mystery.
Josephus on the Essenes
By Gloria London
Based on her study of traditional Cypriot potters, Gloria London believes that the rabbinic injunction against mixing milk and meat (a core law of kashrut) may have started to prevent meat from spoiling.
Making Sense of Kosher Laws
Departments
Free articles are marked with this star.
A Radical Proposal
Scholars Aren’t Seeded Like Tennis Stars
How to Get Water from a Rock
BAR as Tourist Guide
Of Philistines and Phalluses
By Mary Joan Winn Leith
Archaeology Adding to the Powder Keg
By David Ilan
“Lo! The Holy City!”
Israel’s Ethnogenesis by Avraham Faust
The First Christmas and The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan and The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright
Jesus, the Gospels, and Cinematic Imagination by Jeffrey L. Staley and Richard Walsh
Rhodes, Greece
Uncovering the Walls of Zion
Archaeologists expose the southern walls of ancient Jerusalem.
Uncovering the Walls of Zion
New Editor Named for Anchor Bible Series
Sinai 372 A.D. — An Excellent Year
A production facility for holy wine is discovered in the Sinai.
The Noose Tightens
IAA director still won’t speak to BAR editor.
Dem Dry Ancient Bones: Key to a Cure?
Scientists think ancient human remains from Jericho may help prevent the spread of disease.
Contribute to a BAR Milestone!
Be a part of our special 200th issue.
Scrolls’ Scribe and Sectarian Spaces
More clues about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Leonard J. Greenspoon
How Many?
In Their Own Words
Avraham Faust
What Is It?
Milestones
Avraham Biran (1909–2008)
Moshe Kochavi (1928–2008)
Bezalel Narkiss (1926–2008)
In History
Special Collections
Beyond Babylon
Sounds of Ancient Music
The Dead Sea Scrolls
|
