Finding Emmaus

With Clyde Billington

One of the elusive sites of biblical archaeology is Emmaus, the destination of the two disciples, when they were joined by the resurrected Jesus (Luke 24:13). Several sites have been proposed but now archaeologist Israel Finkelstein believes he has found evidence that supports the site where he is digging, Kiriath Jearim. That's one of the leading stories in our news digest in the latest issue of our biblical archaeology news magazine ARTIFAX, and one of the topics in this week's discussion with prof. Clyde Billington, my co-editor. We also discuss results of investigations into Bronze Age copper mining and smelting at the Arava sites of Timna and Faynan, and what that tells us about the biblical world of three millenia ago, and the accuracy of the biblical account. Tin used in smelting Copper to make Bronze came all the way from England.

tags: Kiriath Jearim Timna Phoenicians Edomites Emmaus Faynan Tin England

The Mystery of the Magi, part 2

With Dwight Longenecker

The annual Christmas holiday has layers and layers of tradition that have accumulated over 2,000 years but in recent years we have tried to strip away some of the tradition and go back to the story of the birth of Jesus from the Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke, and for some reason we've focused on the story of the Wise Men a lot in recent years. Dwight Longenecker, the author of a new book called The Mystery of the Magi, digs into this unusual story from Matthew's Gospel and suggests that these Wise Men did not come from Persia, which was quite distant from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but rather from the Kingdom of Nabatea, which was right across the Dead Sea.

tags: Magi Wise Men Persia Nabatea Petra Aretas

The Mystery of the Magi

With Dwight Longenecker

The annual Christmas holiday has layers and layers of tradition that have accumulated over 2,000 years but in recent years we have tried to strip away some of the tradition and go back to the story of the birth of Jesus from the Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke, and for some reason we've focused on the story of the Wise Men a lot in recent years. Dwight Longenecker, the author of a new book called The Mystery of the Magi, digs into this unusual story from Matthew's Gospel and suggests that these Wise Men did not come from Persia, which was quite distant from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but rather from the Kingdom of Nabatea, which was right across the Dead Sea.

tags: Magi Wise Men Persia Nabatea Petra Aretas

Josephus, part 3

With Prof. Steve Mason

Steve Mason, a professor of history at York University in Toronto, gave us some insights into the ancient historian Josephus, in this August, 2000 interview. Josephus was a prolific writer and his writings offer many insights into the world of first century Judaism. In part 3 of this 3-part conversation, some comments about parallels in the accounts of Luke and Josephus.

tags: Josephus Luke Acts

Volunteer at Elah Fortress #2

With Luke Chandler

Volunteer reports on experience digging at Khirbet Qeiyafa in 2009

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