This Week in the Ancient Near East

Two Synagogues at Magdala, or, was Mary in the Multipurpose Room?

Magdala had two synagogues, or did it? How many did they need and how often did they go to synagogue anyway? Is this just a post-Enlightenment conceit about pre-Enlightenment religiosity? But which is more important, the room with the services or the one with the bingo?

Garbage Dump of the Gods

What happens when a temple, say, Hatshepsut’s New Kingdom temple at Deir el Bahari, throws out offerings? Are there good and bad types of garbage? Let’s face it, archaeologists will take what they can get. But isn’t “precious rubble” the name of one of Barney and Betty’s kids?

The Strange Case of the Neo-Assyrian Armor in the Chinese Tomb, or The Ballad of the One Off Wonder

Neo-Assyrian leather armor? In a Western Chinese tomb? It’s a classic, what’s up with that situation. Is it really Neo-Assyrian? How do we know? If so, how did it get there? What can we make of a sample of one? Why are we talking about Ricardo Montalban? It’s an episode so filled with questions that we’re literally bubbling over.

Even More New Amazing Iron Age Finds from a Cult Site West of Jerusalem, or, To Gaze Upon the Knees of God

A slightly lopsided Iron Age cult site just outside Jerusalem? Little human figurines, big silos, and now the stone legs of a cult statue? What’s going on beneath the highway overpass at Motza? But why is anyone surprised about another temple in Judah? Wouldn’t surprise be an indictment of our entire educational system?

The Curse of the Mummy’s Double Chins, or, It’s Better to Look Good than to Feel Good

A new study uses DNA from Egyptian mummies to literally reconstruct their faces. Oddly enough, they look like Egyptians. Is this accurate? Is it ethical? One way or another, they’re pretty good-looking. And isn’t that the main thing? Anyway, what’s with all the mummified cats?

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference With Extra Special Guests Edition! Part 3-The Last Waltz

Yes, we’re still here at ASOR, but now we’re interrogating an entirely new crowd about the question of conferences, namely Dr. Margaret Cohen, Professor Alexandra Ratzlaff and Professor Andrea Berlin. The questions are mostly the same, but the answers from these three leading female scholars are quite different.

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference With Extra Special Guests Edition! Part 2-After Hours

What happens when a bunch of archaeologists start drinking bourbon and let their graying hair down? It’s an after hours edition with the one and only Professor James Hardin, who rather charmingly, can’t stay on script. He takes us to some surprising places, including some related to archaeological storytelling.

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference With Extra Special Guests Edition! Part 1-The Ballroom Tapes

A conference you say? That’s right, we’re here in Chicago at the ASOR meeting with a host of guests, luminary scholars with names like Professor Eric Cline, Dr. Matthew Adams (the one with a J.), Dr. Yorke Rowan, and Professor Morag Kersel. The topic - conferences and conference experiences. There are some important lessons here.