This bonus content is a reading from Platypus, the CASTAC Blog. The full post by Faridah Laffan can be read at https://blog.castac.org/2026/04/whats-in-a-name/. About the post: In 1870, Samuel Birch, respected Egyptologist at the British Museum, wished to form a society aimed at understanding the ancient near eastern world through its cuneiform and hieroglyphic texts. Similar organizations had existed, but none that lasted and certainly none that carried out the kind of rigorous geographical, archaeological, and philological work that Birch trusted. How could he create an organization centered around detailed intellectual research while holding the moneyed attention necessary to publish it? Specialist societies proliferated throughout the century, but whether they survived was down to numerous factors, not least of which were membership size and wealth. In the end, Birch leaned on the theological implications of his interests to devise a name for his organization calculated to attract the membership he needed: the Society of Biblical Archaeology was born. (This episode is available in additional languages on Platypus, The CASTAC Blog.)