This monthly e-newsletter disseminates ideas, insights and discoveries to Friends of ASOR. You can become a Friend and receive the e-newsletter for free, you only need to register. The ANE Today appears on the third Tuesday of each month and features contributions from diverse academics, a forum featuring debates of current developments from the field, and links to news and resources. The ANE Today covers the entire Near East, and each issue will present discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring. Sign up today for free and be a part of this community of discovery!
Check out these exciting articles from previous issues:
- Robert and Erin Darby, Words in the Sand: D
iscovering A New Monumental Latin Inscription at ‘Ayn Gharandal (Ancient Arieldela), Jordan. The stone was huge, well over 500 pounds. It was quite a thing to witness... Then one of the workers started brushing the sand off with his hand, which we were not supposed to do! The director of the project said ‘stop, stop, stop!’ to him, but it was too late. But, secretly I’m glad he wiped off the sand, because for the briefest moment I saw letters in red paint! - Robert Mullins and Nava Panitz-Cohen, Why Dig at the Gateway to the Arameans? Abel Beth Maacah is an imposing 35-acre mound controlling one of the most strategic passes in northern Israel and has the honor of being the northernmost site in Israel (running neck-and-neck with nearby Tel Dan, but winning by a nostril). It was also ancient Israel’s northern gateway to the Aramean world.
- Amnon Ben-Tor, Hazor in the 10th Century BCE. Few topics are more controversial than the biblical kingdoms of David and Solomon. Were they and their rulers real, and if so, what archaeological remains did they leave? Or were they literary creations, exaggerations or even fabrications of later biblical writers?
- David Ussishkin, The So-Called “Solomonic” City-gate at Megiddo – The “Solomonic” gates at Hazor, Gezer and Megiddo have long been controversial for their apparent confirmation of Biblical accounts. Here, Prof. David Ussishkin, the excavator of Lachish and Megiddo, argues that the six-chambered gate structure at Megiddo cannot be dated to the 10th century and the reign of Solomon.
- Hélène Sader, Archaeology in Lebanon Today: Its Politics and Its Problems. Read an insider's account of the possibilities and challenges faced by archaeologists in Lebanon.
- Jeffrey Blakely, The Archaeology of World War I in Palestine and the Beginning of the Modern Middle East - Most Americans understand World War I in the Middle East through the epic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. Blakely explores how WWI shaped the region.
- Amnon Ben-Tor, The Ceremonial Precinct in the Upper City of Hazor. The renewed excavations at Hazor have revealed an enormous Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Age ceremonial precinct on the Upper City. But is it a palace or a temple, and is its destruction evidence of Joshua's conquest of Canaan?
- Morag Kersel and Christina Luke, Ten Years after Iraq: Archaeology, Archaeologists, and U.S. Foreign Relations - Kersel and Luke describe working for the U.S. Department of State's Cultural Heritage Center during the month following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
- Richard S. Hess, Current Issues in Israelite Religion. The archaeology of Israelite religions continues to evoke new evidence and approaches. Recent reassessments raise the question of monotheism in pre-exilic Israel. Put another way, did anyone believe in a single deity before the fall of Jerusalem in 587/6 BCE.
- James K. Hoffmeier, Archaeological Field Work in Egypt After the Revolution. Learn from first-hand accounts about what has happened with archaeology in Egypt after the revolution.
- Uzi Baram, 200 Years of Tourism in the Holy Lands—From Mark Twain to the Digital Age. Heritage contends with nature as the fastest growing parts of the world’s largest industry, tourism.
- Archaeology News Roundup Archive. Each week the ASOR editorial team summarizes archaeolgoical news from around the world. The archive of all of these weekly reports is found each month in the ANE Today.
Past Issues