Machaerus I

The title of the volume may be a little perplexing: Archaeology on Either Side. But on either side of what? The picture we chose for the front cover might give an indication of the answer. This image shows two sides of the River Jordan – the Israeli side and the Jordanian side – both part of the Holy Land! Or we might understand the “either side” of our topic in another way, that is, archaeology both as the study of artifacts and archaeology as the study of literary sources. In the contributions the reader will find all these topics and much more: essays on excavations or archaeological findings in the Holy Land as defined above, and essays on literary sources linked to the history of the ancient Near East, especially in the time of the Christian/Common Era (CE). The book is made up of three main sections: “Excavations and Topographical Surveys”; “Architecture, Decorations, and Art”; “Epigraphy and Sigillography”. Some articles touch on more than one specific section, so they may be found between sections.

Where was Golgotha? Was Peter's house in Capernaum? Was Mary from the town of Magdala? Where was Bethsaida? We've all heard the arguments, but what do the archaeological finds tell us? This book pulls together archaeological information, scattered in journals and final reports, relating to the Gospel of Luke with appealing photography, instructive illustrations, and fascinating recent finds. It uses archaeology to reconstruct the social, religious, historical, geographical, and pathological context for the story of Jesus and the Jesus-movement. The book not only features the "shiny objects" from the excavations (the beautiful pottery, buildings, and entertainment facilities) but also items that are not usually handled in glossy magazines, namely, the human, skeletal remains. Yet, these bones are an important window into the biblical world indicating lifespan, morbidity, socioeconomic standing, violence, and stature. The work will employ four areas of archaeological finds and investigations, including inscriptions, large finds (of buildings), small finds (jewelry, pottery, coins), and human remains, to help interpret and illustrate the Gospel of Luke. Along the way, it assesses several archaeological controversies, giving care to be fair to all sides but leaving the reader with the information to make up his or her own mind.

For a long time mainstream gospel scholarship has assumed that the so-called Q material (the "double tradition") in Matthew and Luke represents a document or tradition that was almost exclusively orientated towards the sayings of Jesus of Nazareth, with little interest in a narrative about him. This book argues, on the contrary, that the narrative material in the double tradition existed from the very beginning within a coherent Jesus narrative that ran from his baptism to his passion. Far from being inserted by Matthew and Luke into the framework of Mark, the double tradition is structured on the very same narrative framework as the Gospel of Mark (a framework that predates Mark). Conventional dichotomies in gospel origins, the historical Jesus, and the history of early Christianity are thus drawn into question.

The fact of John the Baptist's imprisonment is attested by all the Gospels and their accounts are consistent with and complement that of Josephus. The intention of the author is to situate the archaeological site in its New Testament context, in order ot elucidate the blurred scene of the biblical site, and reconstruct it as clearly as possible.

A definitive account of the great revolt of Jews against Rome and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple “A lucid yet terrifying account of the 'Jewish War'—the uprising of the Jews in 66 CE, and the Roman empire’s savage response, in a story that stretches from Rome to Jerusalem.”—John Ma, Columbia University This deeply researched and insightful book examines the causes, course, and historical significance of the Jews’ failed revolt against Rome from 66 to 74 CE, including the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Based on a comprehensive study of all the evidence and new statistical data, Guy Rogers argues that the Jewish rebels fought for their religious and political freedom and lost due to military mistakes. Rogers contends that while the Romans won the war, they lost the peace. When the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple, they thought that they had defeated the God of Israel and eliminated Jews as a strategic threat to their rule. Instead, they ensured the Jews’ ultimate victory. After their defeat Jews turned to the written words of their God, and following those words led the Jews to recover their freedom in the promised land. The war's tragic outcome still shapes the worldview of billions of people today.

In Nazarene Dream, key events in the life of Joshua (Jesus) unfold and reveal the motivation behind his mission, how he meets his disciples, and how he gets in trouble with the authorities. Above all, they show how Joshuas followers come to mistake a thoroughly human Galilean rabbi for a divine, miracle-working messiah. Decades later, after Joshua fails to return in time to prevent the Romans defeat of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem, a proto-Christian Jewish community in Syrian Antioch has a crisis of faith. Within this community, popular rabbi Ariel must confront his flocks doubts, disillusionment, and desertion of the cult of Joshua. But Ariel still believes. His observations and experiences of the wars atrocities convince Ariel that the war is the fulfillment of signs revealed by Joshua himself. Ariel resolves to persuade his community that their messiah saw the war coming and will return as promised.

What if reality TV met one of our oldest stories of blood revenge, lust, envy, and coming-of-age? Though the story of SalomŽ has been told down through the ages, this new rendition from a woman's perspective portrays mother-daughter forgiveness based on the story of the sensuous young woman who danced for Herod then demanded John the Baptist's head on a platter at her mother's instigation. Lush language and a riveting storyline combine to create this small jewel from debut novelist Patti Rutka.

For 60 years Qumran research has been focused on epigraphy, exegesis, and the historical sources of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscripts are now published and accessible, and research is turning in a positive way to the archaeology of the site and its context. The time has come to provide researchers with a complete documentation. The excavator, Roland de Vaux, had given preliminary reports and a valuable interpretation made in the immediate aftermath of the excavations. Since considerable progress has been made in the archeology of Hellenistic and Roman Palestine, however, Qumran has to be reassessed and the interpretation objectively verified.Volume IIIA presents an up-to-date archaeological reconsideration: a shorter and more precise chronology, in which the earthquake of 31 BC is deleted; the concept of an Essene community is challenged, owing to the lack of a suitable infrastructure; the cemetery itself is connected with a Jewish diaspora scattered around the Dead Sea. Other facilities strengthen the Jewish character of the site, however. The function of Qumran fits better with the rites of a pilgrimage on the occasion of the festivals of Passover and Pentecost.In the second part, the peripheral Essene facilities, expanded around an earlier Hellenistic center, are analyzed and described. The essay seeks to outline their internal consistency and to determine their function. The restoration of a stratigraphy, by cross-checking the excavation archives, leads to a redistribution of pottery in four levels in a more precise chronology.The reconsideration makes use of anthropology, which opens up the archaeological field and throws additional light on the manuscripts.