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The podcast that takes archaeology exactly as seriously as it deserves.
Episodes
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
A recent study proposes that the Biblical King Solomon orchestrated maritime trade across the Iron Age Mediterranean. Is there really evidence for this? And why didn’t the kingdoms of Israel and Judah create monumental art and architecture like their neighbors? Or, for that matter, write much stuff down? Our panelists are intrigued but not confident.
To learn more
Was King Solomon the ancient world’s first shipping magnate?
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
A tiny inscribed potsherd dating to the first half of the 15th century BCE from Lachish in southern Israel has six little letters. Is this the earliest alphabetic inscription in the southern Levant? Does it change the story of the alphabet? And who breaks nice pottery to write a note? Our panelists are puzzled, but not necessarily surprised.
To learn more
‘Missing link’ in alphabet’s history said unearthed in Israel on Canaanite sherd
https://www.timesofisrael.com/missing-link-in-alphabets-history-said-unearthed-in-israel-on-canaanite-sherd/
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
The discovery of an industrial scale beer brewery at the early Egyptian site of Abydos demonstrates the role of alcohol in ancient societies. Was drinking your dinner on the ruler’s tab a way to keep workers fed, or maybe just to keep them from asking questions like ‘why are we building this stupid pyramid for this so-called king?’
To learn more
Abydos beer factory: Ancient large-scale brewery discovered in Egypt
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
New excavations in caves along the west side of the Dead Sea have revealed fragments of Biblical texts along with astonishing prehistoric remains. They raise the question of how people were getting and out of these caves, hundreds of meters above the Dead Sea, and more importantly, why one of them brought along a basket the size of a minivan. Our panelists offer learned if contrasting opinions.
To learn more
Bible scroll fragments among dazzling artifacts found in Dead Sea Cave of Horror
https://www.timesofisrael.com/bible-scroll-fragments-among-dazzling-artifacts-found-in-dead-sea-cave-of-horror/
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
King Seqenere of the 17th Dynasty has some gruesome head wounds. Fighting the hated Hyksos might have been the cause of death for Egypt’s version of Sonny Corleone, but what about the snoring hippos? WHAT ABOUT THE HIPPOS?!
To learn more
Egyptian royal mummy shows pharaoh wasn’t assassinated—he was executed
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/ct-shows-ancient-egyptian-pharaoh-was-captured-in-battle-and-executed/
Thursday Feb 25, 2021
Thursday Feb 25, 2021
Around 1000 BCE, purple dyed textiles were the in thing at the Negev copper mining site of Timna. But how did textiles dyed with purple made from Mediterranean snails get there and who wore them? Were they fit for a king or just glad rags for nomads? And how does Vandelay Industries figure in? Our contestants are frankly baffled.
To learn more
Biblical ‘royal purple’ found at Timna offers look at King David wardrobe
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
The discovery of a 6,600 year old cache of olives off the shore of Israel raises questions: Olives? Underwater? What? Who was the first person to eat an olive, and how does the Assyrian Empire (eventually) figure in? And why do our panelists keep talking about fat tailed sheep and the history of writing?
To learn more
Israeli teams discover ancient olive-eating practices below the sea
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/oldest-evidence-for-olive-eating-found-below-the-sea-657615?fbclid=IwAR3AkN-uOTQhSKDFCTydNPJWksGiNTKhPzZikexu7uSl5T3vVAx24LofrJ8
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Sunday Jan 31, 2021
Archaeologists rarely speak about toilets, mostly because there isn’t that much evidence. We’ve got plenty of pits, lots of pots, but only a few carefully carved stone seats. Which is fit for a king?
To learn more
Toilet Found in 3,000-Year-Old Shrine Verifies Bible Stories Against Idol Worship
Two real professors of archaeology and one guy from a fake institution discuss cutting edge archaeological discoveries at a high professional level using technical knowledge and stuff. A scholarly podcast for the discerning listener, it’s handmade, artisanal, and bespoke!
Critics say, “A cheeky and irreverent take,” and “the good kind of shenanigans.” Other critics say, “damaging to archaeology,” and “deeply discreditable.”
High-level discourse informed by neo-Brechtian, Deleuzian, or post-post processual theory, or just more BS from a couple of bored, middle aged hacks? You be the judge!
The Panelists
JP Dessel is the Steinfeld Associate Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and History at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He is the author of Lahav I. Pottery and Politics The Halif Terrace Site 101 and Egypt in the Fourth Millennium B.C.E. (2009).
Rachel Hallote is Professor of History at Purchase College, SUNY. She is a co-author of Photographs of the American Palestine Exploration Society (2012) and author of Bible, Map and Spade (2006).
Alex Joffe is Director of the Bob and Ray Institute of Archaeology at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. This is fake institution. But he is the author of several real books, most recently Operation Crusader and the Desert War in British History and Memory: ‘What Is Failure? What Is Loyalty?’ (2020).
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