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October 2016

Vol. 4, No. 10

Letters from Baghdad: Excavating the Story of the Extraordinary Gertrude Bell

By Elizabeth Rodriguez Chandler

It is curious how in less than a century, the story of Gertrude Bell has been diminished in history, when the imprint of ‘Miss Bell,’ as she is still called by Iraqis today, on the modern history of Iraq is undeniable. And yet, her relevance to modern Iraq might be as high as it has ever been.

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Multi-Dimensional Yahwism: The Case of the Persian Period Judaean Community in Elephantine

By Gard Granerød

When reading Jewish literature from the Second Temple period (the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods) in light of Nehemiah 8, one gets the impression that the Torah (the Books of Moses)—in one form or another—was the common spiritual denominator accepted by all branches of developing Judaism.

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Ancient Pilgrimage in the Modern World

By Rangar Cline

A 2012 WIN-Gallup study found a notable decline in religiosity around the globe, and that 33% of the world’s population describe themselves as non-religious or atheist. A 2012 Pew survey identified similar trends in the U.S. But one aspect of religious behavior remains more popular than ever.

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Forging Ancient Texts

By Heather Dana Davis Parker

For an accurate and complete understanding of history and culture, it is crucial that written sources be authentic. But what if they are not? The surest way to verify the authenticity of ancient documents is to determine if they were recovered from secure archaeological contexts.

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The Ancient Near East Today 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 presents discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring.

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