Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Finally, Some Evidence of the Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo, or, How to Excavate in the One Tiny Spot on Your Site That’s Sort of Undisturbed and Find Cool Things
Episode 113
The Pharaoh Necho has finally turned up at Megiddo (well, his guys have), which isn’t so surprising since the Bible says he killed King Josiah there. But this raises questions like, do pots equal peo…
Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago
New Excavations in the Church at the Navel of the World, or, How to Dig in Jerusalem Without Things Blowing Up (Again)
Episode 112
The new excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have us asking questions. What’s it like digging in the holiest place in the Christian world? Is it as stressful as it sounds? How many phases …
Published on 5 months, 1 week ago
The Case of the Late Iron Age Building in the Middle of the Desert Filled With Dead Young Women Probably Going to Yemen for Unclear and Possibly Unsavory Reasons, or Worst Vacation Ever?
Episode 111
A late Iron Age building in the Negev Desert has us asking questions. Why is it filled with dead young women? Who were they and what were their connections with Yemen? Why don’t we call it The Yemen …
Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Hezekiah Gets His Grooves Off, Or, Cult Consolidator or Cost Cutter?
Episode 110
Newly published excavations of cultic rooms cut into the living rock of the City of David have us asking questions. Why are there big grooves cut in the floor? Who was crushing olives and/or grapes a…
Published on 6 months ago
Carbs, The Lower Paleolithic Breakfast of Champions, Or, Pass the Acorns and Water Lillies, Please
Episode 109
New research shows that prehumans collected and prepared carb heavy foods around 780,000 years ago. So who says that processed foods are bad for you? After all, it made their brains bigger. With a sh…
Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Case of the Very Long Roman Legal Papyrus from the Judean Desert, Or, Do You Really Have to Pay Sales Tax on Slaves?
Episode 108
The publication of a really long Roman legal document from the Judean Desert has us wondering about crime. Is changing a location on a contract really forgery? How about a little light counterfeiting…
Published on 7 months ago
The Mysterious Giant Astronomical Observatory of Stone That Wasn't, or Rujm el-Hiri and the Spirit in the Sky
Episode 107
You know that giant prehistoric stone circle on the Golan Heights, Rujm el Hiri? Yeah, its not really aligned with the sun and stars and isn't the only big stone thing up there. So what is it? Beats …
Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago
The Art of Cursing Your Rivals in Ancient Athens, Or, How to Say #$@#!&! in Greek
Episode 106
In 4th and 3rd century BCE Athens lead curse tablets were snuck into cemeteries so the dead could take the messages to the underworld. Asking the departed to help put a hit on a business or romantic …
Published on 8 months ago
The Early Alphabet (™) in Third Millennium Syria? Or, Spelling it Out, Lightly Baked Edition
Episode 105
Some lightly baked clay cylinders from a late third millennium tomb in Syria have alphabetic markings. They’ve got us thinking. Does this mean -the- alphabet originated hundreds of years earlier than…
Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Between Death and Taxes in the 8th Century BCE, or Hezekiah’s Beltway Politics
Episode 104
An excavation in southern Jerusalem revealed a tax office belonging to Hezekiah. This raises a question, was Jerusalem really a capitol district and not just a city? A more pressing question, however…
Published on 8 months, 4 weeks ago