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In this episode, Susan Ackerman joins us to explore the life cycle of women in ancient Israel, from puberty and marriage to motherhood, ritual impurity, and death. We discuss why childbirth made women “unclean,” why women occupied a liminal role in ancient Israel, the story of Jephthah’s daughter, the concept of social menopause, and more. Along the way, we unpack what archaeology and biblical texts can, and can’t, tell us about the realities of womanhood in the ancient Near East.
📚 Reading Recommendations
Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality: Women's Life-Cycle Rituals in Ancient Israel by Susan Ackerman
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Susan Ackerman
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
Did ancient Israelites really sacrifice children? Dr. Kristine Garroway joins us to separate myth from archaeology. We dig into child burial practices, infant mortality, and what the archaeological record actually tells us. Spoiler: there are no mass burial pits of sacrificed children in ancient Israel, but what's really behind those "passed through fire" passages may surprise you.
📚 Reading Recommendations
The Dying Child: The Death and Personhood of Children in Ancient Israel by Kristine Henriksen Garroway
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Kristine Henriksen Garroway
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
What did it take to become a scribe in ancient Mesopotamia, and how do we actually know? This week, Dr. Joshua Bowen reveals how the physical shape of clay tablets unlocked the secrets of ancient education, and why the literary texts describing school life can't always be taken at face value. From vocabulary lists and memorization to indoctrination and local variation, the archaeology tells a very different story than the texts alone.
🔗 Resources & Links
Check out Digital Hammurabi's website for more
Learning to Pray in a Dead Language: Education and Invocation in Ancient Sumerian by Joshua Bowen
Join Kipp Davis for Hebrew this summer
📺 Check out Digital Hammurabi on YouTube
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Joshua Bowen
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
Was the author of Acts trying to preserve history, or persuade you of something deeper?
For years, readers have pointed to Acts’ historical accuracy as proof of its reliability. But what if that accuracy is actually part of the literary strategy? In this conversation with CJ Cornthwaite, we explore why Acts may be more historically precise than expected, and why that actually raises bigger questions about how it shaped the past.
📺 Check out CJ on YouTube
The Jerusalem Council is probably fabricated
Acts Is surprisingly accurate. That's the problem
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. C. J. Cornthwaite
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
What were Egyptian mummies really for? This week, Kara Cooney joins Bible & Archaeology to explore what mummification in ancient Egypt was really about, and who it was really for. From natural preservation in the desert to elite-controlled workshops and secret techniques, we unpack how mummification functioned as a display of power and how their afterlives reveal consequences the Egyptians themselves may never have expected.
📚 Reading Recommendations:
When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney
The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Kara Cooney
The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World by Kara Cooney
Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches by Kara Cooney
🔗 Resources & Links:
Listen to Dr. Cooney's Podcast: Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney
Join Dr. Cooney on Substack
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Kara Cooney
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
What did Jesus actually say about slavery? This week, Chance Bonar joins Bible & Archaeology to explore how slavery is addressed in the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. From the silence of the Gospels to the broader context of ancient slavery, we examine how these texts have been interpreted and misunderstood over time.
📚 Reading Recommendations
The Author in Early Christian Literature by Chance E. Bonar
God, Slavery, and Early Christianity: Divine Possession and Ethics in the Shepherd of Hermas by Chance E. Bonar
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Chance Bonar
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
What do we actually know about the Ten Commandments? Joel Baden joins Bible & Archaeology to explore how these famous laws appear in the Bible and why they became so central to later Jewish and Christian thought. From multiple versions in Exodus and Deuteronomy to their role in the story of Mount Sinai, we examine how the Ten Commandments function inside the biblical narrative and why they’ve been so widely misunderstood.
🔗 Resources & Links
Join Dr. Joel Baden for their class on the Ten Commandments
https://bit.ly/4scss1D
Watch the interview with Joel mentioned in this episode: https://youtu.be/KJvldHGDEhM
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Joel Baden
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
Who is Satan in the Hebrew Bible? In this episode of Bible & Archaeology, Dr. Peter Miller is back to explore why the figure called “the satan” in texts like the Book of Job may not be the devil many people imagine. We’ll explore how the Hebrew Bible portrays Satan as an adversary or accuser, and how later traditions transformed this figure into the embodiment of evil.
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Peter Miller
Hosted and edited by Mary Kate Lichty
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
Where did the moral obligation to help strangers come from? In this episode of Bible & Archaeology, New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman discusses his new book Love Thy Stranger and explores ancient ideas about charity, wealth, and caring for others before Jesus. We'll also examine how Jesus’ teachings reshaped these traditions and what happened to his message after he was gone.
📚 Reading Recommendations
Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West by Bart Ehrman
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Bart Ehrman
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
Can olive oil explain the Bronze Age? James Fraser joins Bible & Archaeology to explore the production, trade, and economic importance of olive oil across the ancient Mediterranean. From large-scale cultivation and storage to long-distance trade and its role in everyday life, we examine how olive oil became one of the most important commodities of the Bronze Age world.
🔗 Resources & Links
Check out the Albright Institute on YouTube
Watch Dr. Fraser's Albright lecture on Olive Oil HERE
📖 Read more about the excavations at Khirbet Ghozlan
Digging for Oil at Khirbet GhozlanDiscovering a 4,500-year-old olive oil factory in Jordan
✨ Become a Bible & Archaeology patron on Patreon.
✉️ Send us your questions: [email protected]
🔗 Want to watch the show? Find us on YouTube to see a video recording of this show.
🌐 Everywhere you can find us: Linktree
🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. James Fraser
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.
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