Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was used mainly for monumental purposes, like in this painted relief from the Osiris temple at Abydos built by Ramesses II in c. 1270 BCE. The Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

The Egyptian language is the sole representative of an autonomous branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Semito-Hamitic) language family. As such, Egyptian is related to both the Semitic languages of the Levant and the various languages of northern Africa. Ancient Egyptian’s closest relatives include Semitic (such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Ethiopic) and Berber. Like the Semitic languages, Egyptian exhibits three sentence types: nominal, adverbial, and verbal, where the predicate is a noun, an adverb, or a verb, respectively.

Now extinct, Egyptian was the mother tongue of ancient Egyptians for more than four millennia, and it ceased to function as a living language only several centuries after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 CE. To some extent, it was likely read and understood beyond the borders of ancient Egypt, depending on territorial expansion and commercial ties. There clearly were numerous regional dialects of Egyptian spoken across the land, but given the nature of the Egyptian writing system, which is purely consonantal, dialectal variations became fully visible only in its final stage, Coptic, for which Egyptians of the first centuries of Common Era adopted the Greek alphabet. Before Coptic, we have only hints, such as in a letter from around 1200 BCE that has the writer complaining about his correspondent’s language being as incomprehensible as that of a southerner speaking with a northerner.

The elegant, symmetrical hieroglyphs on this alabaster vessel identify its owner as King Pepi I (2276–2228 BCE). They also indicate the jar was used at the Sed-festival celebrating the pharaoh’s 30-year jubilee. The Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

The history of ancient Egyptian can be divided into two major phases that differ typologically in the nominal syntax and the verbal system: Earlier Egyptian and Later Egyptian. Earlier Egyptian was spoken until 1300 BCE, although in formal religious texts it survived until the second century CE. It expressed gender and number but lacked the definite article; and verbal phrases followed the verb-subject-object pattern (“listen-he to her”). Earlier Egyptian included three distinctive stages: Old Egyptian, Middle (Classical) Egyptian, and Late Middle Egyptian. Although Middle Egyptian gradually morphed into Late Egyptian (see below), it remained the standard hieroglyphic language for the rest of ancient Egyptian history. Used primarily in religious texts, Late Middle Egyptian extended into the Greco-Roman period and included the so-called Ptolemaic Egyptian preserved in extensive temple inscriptions of the period.

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Later Egyptian differs substantially from Earlier Egyptian in that it expressed grammatical categories with prefixes (not suffixes), shifting the verbal pattern to subject-verb-object (“he-listen to her”). It also began to use the numeral “one” as the indefinite article (“a” or “an”) and the demonstrative pronoun “this” as the definite article (“the”). As a written language, Later Egyptian lasted from 1300 BCE to the Middle Ages, and it included Late Egyptian, Demotic, and Coptic. As a spoken language, however, its earliest stage, which we call Late Egyptian, emerged already around 1600 BCE and remained in use until about 600 BCE, when it was superseded by Demotic. Demotic developed from Late Egyptian in the mid-seventh century and lasted until the fifth century CE, overlapping with the final stage of the Egyptian language, Coptic, which then survived as a spoken language until about the 11th century.

Inventory tags from Abydos are the earliest examples of hieroglyphic writing. Courtesy Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World.

The earliest known examples of Egyptian writing were excavated at Abydos, some 300 miles south of Cairo. They are inventory tags made of ivory and bone and measuring less than 1 inch per side. They each contain no more than three distinctive images, which likely identified commodities, their provenance, and quantity. Scholars generally consider these signs to be proto-hieroglyphs, as some of them later appear in actual hieroglyphic writing and seem to have phonetic value (in contrast to mere pictographs standing for concrete objects). Coming from the site’s extensive cemetery of Predynastic and Early Dynastic kings, these labels date from around 3400 to 3200 BCE and may thus predate the earliest known examples of cuneiform writing.

The Egyptian language was historically written in four distinctive scripts: hieroglyphic, hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic. Except for the last one, none of the writing systems expressed vowels. The earliest of these are hieroglyphs. Termed so by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the hieroglyphs were mostly used to record monumental and sacral texts, such as on temple walls, statues, coffins, and stelae. All hieroglyphs are pictures of real or imagined things, such as legs, a papyrus roll, or a mythical creature. These can be used in three different ways. Hieroglyphic signs can function as ideograms, representing the actual depicted thing (for example, a picture of legs means “legs”). This is how we use emojis or understand “I NY” t-shirts. Hieroglyphic signs can also be phonograms, where these same pictures are used for their phonetic (sound) value, such as when the ground plan of a house (per) is combined with other signs to write such unrelated words as perit, “emergence.” This is how English is written, except that our signs/characters have highly abstract shapes and are limited to 26. Finally, most signs can be used as determinatives, added at the end of a word to help readers determine the general idea of the word written with phonograms and, hence, not representing the depicted thing. For example, three little circles following a word written with the signs for house and mouth indicate that the preceding signs are to be read phonetically to mean “seeds” and that the word has nothing to do with actual houses or mouths.

Religious texts and private documents written on papyrus mostly used the cursive script known as hieratic, as in this Book of the Dead from c. 1070–945 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Public Domain.

When written with a reed pen and ink on papyrus or wood, hieroglyphs were produced in a much simpler way called cursive hieroglyphs, although it is still fairly easy to identify the individual shapes of their hieroglyphic counterparts. Early on, however, scribes developed a true cursive version of hieroglyphs that we call hieratic. The hieratic script was used widely to record administrative and religious texts and to write letters or literature. With the emergence of Demotic, in the mid-seventh century BCE, came an even more cursive and abbreviated script. The language of administration and literature, Demotic was written primarily on papyrus. Grammatically, it naturally developed from Late Egyptian, but its script is radically different—a more cursive variant of the hieratic script. One of the most curious examples of Demotic script is written in the Aramaic language to record biblical Psalms. This so-called Papyrus Amherst 63 was found in southern Egypt in the late 19th century and likely originated with the Jewish community on Elephantine.

Hieratic and its hieroglyphic counterpart of a section from the Maxims of Ptahhotep, a Middle Egyptian wisdom text attributed to the vizier Ptahhotep, from c. 2350 BCE. From James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian (2014), p. 7.

While cursive hieroglyphs, hieratic, and Demotic were mostly written horizontally from right to left, hieroglyphs could be written in any direction, except from the bottom up. As an example, our first image above reads vertically from the right; the second image reads horizontally from the center to both left and right and then vertically down. Finally, the hieratic text of the papyrus above reads horizontally from right to left, but in the opening vignette, the right four columns of hieroglyphs read vertically from left, while the four columns on the left read vertically from the right. This versatility was useful in producing symmetrical designs and could adapt to any accompanying pictorial elements.

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The last stage of the Egyptian language, Coptic, which emerged in the third century CE, adopted the Greek alphabet. It was initially the language of the Christian church that grew to become the language of official administration, replacing Greek, before it, too, was superseded by Arabic. When the last hieroglyphic inscription was inscribed, in 436 CE, its language was already dead. It had become a mysterious language written with esoteric signs, until 200 years ago, when Champollion succeeded in cracking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs and began to decipher the language behind them.

Demotic was both the latest form of cursive Egyptian script and a stage of the Egyptian language. Dated to December 6, 127 BCE, this inscribed sherd contains a record of an oath taken by one Patasetat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Public Domain.

For much of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE), Canaan was under intermittent Egyptian rule, and isolated Egyptian incursions into the southern Levant continued well into the early Iron Age. When we also consider the exceptional relevance of Egypt to the biblical traditions of Joseph, the Exodus from Egypt, and the emergence of ancient Israel, the importance for biblical studies of exploring the Egyptian sources becomes obvious. In Bronze Age Canaan, Egyptian presence is attested also in the archaeological record, such as in the destruction of Gezer or in Egyptian statuary found at Hazor.

When Canaan was dominated by Egypt, scarabs and other examples of material culture, such as statues and monumental art, streamed into the region. The most prominent and ubiquitous examples of Egyptian writing preserved in the Levant are scarabs. In Egypt proper, the better known texts relevant for biblical studies include the Bubastite Portal in the temple of Amun at Karnak that celebrates military victories in the Levant of Pharaoh Shoshenq I (biblical Shishak), who campaigned through much of Israel and Judah in c. 925 BCE (see 1 Kings 14:25–26; 2 Chronicles 12:4). BAR readers will also recognize the famed Merneptah Stele excavated at Thebes and containing the first mention of a people called “Israel.” Also important are lists of Canaanite cities conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III (r. 1479–1425), sculpted on the temple walls at Karnak. To fully engage with this Egyptian evidence, one must read the Egyptian language.

During his 1458 BCE military campaign into the southern Levant, King Thutmose III defeated a coalition of Canaanite city-states, which are listed in this relief in the temple of Amun at Karnak. Hannah Pethen, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Students of Egyptian typically begin with Middle (Classical) Egyptian, which preserved a variety of literary works, including wisdom literature and stories like the Tale of Sinuhe and the Shipwrecked Sailor. In English, the most widely used teaching grammar of Middle Egyptian is James P. Allen’s Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, accessible from the Internet Archive. The handiest dictionary is Raymond Faulkner’s concise dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Finally, Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae is an electronic corpus of a wide variety of Egyptian texts for private study.

For a detailed discussion of the Egyptian sources for the history of Canaan, Donald B. Redford’s Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times is a good starting point, while the edited volume Did I Not Bring Israel Out of Egypt? explores specifically the biblical narratives of Exodus vis-à-vis biblical, archaeological, and Egyptian evidence.

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What Is Biblical Hebrew?

What Is Akkadian?

What Is Aramaic?

What Is Hittite?

What Is Biblical Greek?

The Rosetta Stone: Key to Egyptian Hieroglyphs

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You Too Can Read Hieroglyphics

Narmer’s Enigmatic Palette

When Pharaohs Ruled Jerusalem

Pharaoh’s Fury: Merneptah’s Destruction of Gezer

This article was originally published in Bible History Daily on May 3, 2024

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How was Jesus crucified? Crucifix showing Jesus with his palms and feet nailed to the cross (Spain, 12th century). Photo: The Met Cloisters, public domain.

How was Jesus crucified? This question sounds so trivial it is almost confusing. Christian tradition has always portrayed Jesus hanging from the cross with his palms and feet painfully pierced with nails. Nail wounds feature prominently in the graphic representations of the crucified Jesus. We may then be surprised to learn that the otherwise detailed gospel accounts of Jesus’s execution never actually specify how Jesus was secured to the cross. Although Roman execution methods did include crucifixion with nails, contemporary sources paint a more complex picture.

Writing for the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Jeffrey P. Arroyo García revisits all the evidence we have for the crucifixion of Jesus. In his article titled “Nails or Knots—How Was Jesus Crucified?” García focuses on how exactly Jesus was secured to the cross—whether nails were used or not.

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Professor of biblical studies at Gordon College who specializes in the Gospels and Greco-Roman Jewish literature, García first examines contemporary written sources—both Jewish and Greco-Roman. “Our historical and textual sources from the late Second Temple period are quite vague on how crucifixion was carried out,” summarizes García in his review of historical writings. Apparently, the Gospels use ambiguous Greek words meaning “to hang up” or “to hang on a stake” when describing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the Dead Sea Scrolls use the similarly ambiguous Hebrew word talah “to hang” when reporting on crucifixions of criminals.

Heel bone from Givat HaMivtar with a nail driven through it (replica). Photo courtesy of the Photo Companion to the Bible.

Intriguingly, archaeologists found a pierced heel bone (see photo above) at the Jewish burial site of Givat HaMivtar in Jerusalem in 1968. It was mixed with other human remains at the bottom of an ossuary dating from the period between the first century BCE and the First Jewish Revolt (66–74 CE). The ossuary (ancient bone box) was one of eight discovered in the Givat HaMivtar tombs. Although otherwise undecorated, this box featured an incised inscription Yehohanan ben hagaqol, where the first word is clearly a personal name. The term hagaqol, however, may describe the method of crucifixion with “knees apart,” as proposed by pioneering Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin.

While there are no pictorial representations of crucifixion dating from the time of Jesus, García suggests that the crucifixion method from the Yehohanan’s ossuary inscription has parallels in later ancient depictions. The famous Alexamenos graffito (see drawing below), for instance, shows a deity with the head of a donkey, fixed to what looks like a cross. Dating from early-third-century Rome, the accompanying inscription identifies the bystander as one Alexamenos, who allegedly is worshiping the crucified figure as his god. Notably, the donkey-headed deity has knees apart.

Alexamenos graffito showing a person worshiping his deity suspended on a cross (Rome, third century CE). Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

But let us return to the initial question: How was Jesus crucified? Although some have suggested the gruesome find from Givat HaMivtar may date from the time of Jesus, it cannot be taken as a proof that Jesus was crucified using nails or that such a method was common in Judea. In fact, it is not until the Great Jewish Revolt, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, that we have written reports about this specific Roman execution method. In his Jewish War, which he wrote in the late 70s, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus describes the “nailing” of some of Judah’s elites to the cross (War 2.308) and then specifies that Roman soldiers similarly executed some of Jerusalem’s defenders (War 2.451). It would then seem that in Judea the Roman method of crucifixion with nails does not predate the First Jewish Revolt, while there is evidence that it continued well into the second century.

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To further explore the evidence for Jesus’s crucifixion, read Jeffrey P. Arroyo García’s article “Nails or Knots—How Was Jesus Crucified?” published in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Nails or Knots—How Was Jesus Crucified?” by Jeffrey P. Arroyo García in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

Ancient Crucifixion Images

A Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods

Roman Crucifixion Methods Reveal the History of Crucifixion

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Iron Age Jerusalem’s administrative district just south of the ancient Temple Mount, located in the area of the ongoing Givati Parking Lot excavations, included a magnificent elite residence (see arrow). Yaeir Z, Courtesy of the City of David Archive.

The magnificent structure recently excavated in the City of David was unique in Jerusalem’s ancient landscape during the closing centuries of the Iron Age. Destroyed most likely during the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 586 BCE that marked the end of the First Temple period, this large public building reflects the daily life of Jerusalem’s ruling elite. But what exactly was its purpose? Could it have been an example of a “chamber” that the Hebrew Bible often associates with Jerusalem’s priests and senior officials (2 Kings 23:11; Jeremiah 35:2–5)?

Co-directors of the current Givati Parking Lot excavations, Israeli archaeologists Yuval Gadot and Yiftah Shalev, present their latest findings about “Building 100” in the Spring 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Their article “Lifestyles of Jerusalem’s Rich and Famous” offers a first-hand account of the building and its possible functions. A complementing article by Reli Avisar published in the same issue introduces one specific and rare type of artifact recovered from the building. Titled “Fragments of Luxury: The Jerusalem Ivories,” it explores the hundreds of fragments of ivories found in Building 100 and what they reveal about Jerusalem’s wealthiest residents.

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Building 100 is one of the largest structures known from Iron Age Jerusalem. Only three ground floor rooms are preserved of the two-story building. Mikhael Kaplan.

Fine architectural features, preserved decoration, and recovered artifacts all attest to the uniqueness of Building 100. “Most impressive was a thick, terrazzo-style plaster floor that adorned at least part of the building’s second story,” write Gadot and Shalev. “The floor was made of a base of coarse limestone fragments, topped by a thick layer of well-sifted sediment and calcite crystals. Its hardened surface was polished to create a smooth, reddish, shimmering floor. This is the first time such a floor has ever been found in Iron Age Israel.”

Also reflecting the building’s splendor is a rich collection of bullae and seals that indicate the presence of the personal or administrative archive of a high official. The rich assemblage of tableware discovered smashed on the floor of one of the ground-floor rooms included a set of fine drinking vessels suited for banquets, receptions, and official ceremonies.

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The ivory fragments found in Building 100 most likely belonged to plaques used as inlays to decorate luxury furniture. Sasha Flit.

“Although we still don’t know when Building 100 was first built, we do know it was violently destroyed,” write Gadot and Shalev. “Throughout the building, we found the collapsed walls and floors of the upper story, along with charred wood and burnt debris caused by a great fire that engulfed the building. The pottery from the collapse, together with radiocarbon and archaeomagnetic data, all confirm the site was destroyed in the early sixth century—most likely during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE that marked the end of the First Temple period.”

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Subscribers: Read the full articles “Lifestyles of Jerusalem’s Rich and Famous,” by Yuval Gadot and Yiftah Shalev, as well as “Fragments of Luxury: The Jerusalem Ivories,” by Reli Avisar, in the Spring 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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This article was first published in Bible History Daily on April 10, 2024.

Related reading in Bible History Daily

Start of the Jewish Diaspora

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The post Biblical “Chamber” Identified in Jerusalem? appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

The oldest complete Book of Psalms in Coptic after restoration. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The psalter owes its nickname to the unusual circumstances of its discovery. In 1984, the codex was excavated by antiquities inspectors from a humble Christian grave at al-Mudil, an Egyptian village some 25 miles northeast of al-Bahnasa (ancient Oxyrhynchus, known for its papyri). It was found open and placed as a pillow beneath the head of an adolescent girl. It was the only object buried with the girl and one of immense value. The purpose of such arrangement is unclear, but it brings to mind the ancient Egyptian practice of burying the Book of the Dead with the deceased to aid their passage into the afterlife. The girl’s family must have loved her exceedingly to send her off with such a precious object; they may have believed the holy book would aid her chances of resurrection. The psalter is more commonly known as the Mudil Codex, having been discovered at al-Mudil. It has since found its way to the Coptic Museum in Cairo, where it was first displayed in 1992 and given catalogue number 6614.

Background image © Google Earth

Despite favorable environmental conditions, which preserved the parchment codex for more than one and a half millennia, the manuscript was in desperate need of professional treatment. Over the past five years, a team of Egyptian conservators from the Coptic Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art worked to address various forms of damage that had resulted from ancient usage, contact with the corpse, and dry climate. The whole book had to be dismantled to allow for thorough treatment of individual pages and the binding. Throughout this process, the Mudil Codex was documented using ultraviolet and infrared digital photography. Upon completion of the restoration work, it was finally sewed together and given a prominent place in the museum.

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The Mudil Codex measures about 6.5 by 5 inches and consists of 498 parchment pages bound between two wooden boards with leather binding. It is handwritten in a dark brown, iron-based ink, with additional notes and corrections in black carbon ink. As mentioned, this is a complete Book of Psalms, offering the most fulsome text of all the old Coptic manuscripts, even though not all of the text is now fully legible. Like its presumed source text, the Greek Septuagint, it contains 151 individual psalms (not 150 like the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible). The regional dialect of this Coptic translation corresponds well to its find spot near ancient Oxyrhynchus and is usually known as Oxyrhynchite or Mesokemic (i.e., from Middle Egypt). A small bone peg carved into the shape of an ankh (the ancient Egyptian key of life) was found attached to it by a string.

Coptic Museum in Cairo is home to the largest collection of Egyptian Christian art. Radosław Botev, CC BY 3.0 PL, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Mudil Psalter is significant not only because it is the oldest surviving complete translation of the Book of Psalms in Coptic. Its text differs from other contemporary or later Coptic translations of the Septuagint psalms, thus adding to the history of text transmission. The two major questions are (1) what the model texts for this translation were (i.e., to which text family it might belong), and (2) in what ways it was revised. In fact, it contains some linguistically difficult passages and curious readings. It is also important to consider that, unlike so many manuscript finds (including much of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the “Gnostic library” from Nag Hammadi), this codex comes from a controlled excavation.

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Unfortunately, the only book-length study of the manuscript appeared recently in German. Meticulous and highly technical, this monograph is written only for the selected few who read German and the relevant original languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Coptic), which are quoted without accompanying translations. Luckily, an accessible summary is available in the form of an English book review.

Cleaned and restored, the Mudil Codex is now back on view, in a special permanent exhibit at the Coptic Museum—the Book of Psalms Hall. This museum space includes interactive screens for visitors to engage with the artifact. Also available are digital photographs of the entire manuscript, label text in seven languages, and an audio guide. For their accomplishment, the restoration team won the Dr. Zahi Hawass Award for the best restoration project in 2023.

This article was originally published in Bible History Daily on March 29, 2024.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

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The post The “Pillow Psalter” Returns appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover. […] As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. […] He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” (Luke 22:7–12)

This two-story stone building atop Mount Zion (below) ranks among the most intriguing sites in Jerusalem. It is traditionally called the Cenacle (from the Latin coenaculum, “dining-room”) and you will find it just outside the present-day Old City walls to the south (see map). The building’s lower story has been associated since the Middle Ages with the Tomb of David, the purported burial place of the Biblical King David, while the upper story—often referred to in English as the “Upper Room”—is traditionally believed to be the place of Jesus’ Last Supper.¹

Masonry of the Cenacle’s eastern wall clearly demonstrates its “layered” history—from the Second Temple period through the Byzantine and Crusader periods to the Ottoman period. Visible on the right is the Dormition Abbey. Photo: Courtesy of David C. Clausen.

Even though it suffered numerous natural and man-inflicted disasters and was claimed and successively held by the faithful of all three monotheistic religions, the Last Supper Cenacle remains standing as a testimony to a long-shared sacrality in the Eternal City. It has been a church, a mosque and a synagogue.

It was not until quite recently, however, that the location of Jesus’ Last Supper and the identity of this particular building were questioned and became an object of scholarly debate. David Christian Clausen, adjunct lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, examines the evidence for various claims regarding the historical purpose of the Cenacle in his Archaeological Views column “Mount Zion’s Upper Room and Tomb of David” in the January/February 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Jesus’ Last Supper and the Tomb of David are traditionally associated with the Cenacle on Mount Zion.

Regrettably, no archaeological excavation has ever been attempted at or around the alleged site of Jesus’ Last Supper and the Tomb of David on Mount Zion to assess the development, relationship or even age of the built structures. Only limited probing and non-invasive soundings were performed at different times in history—typically in association with new construction or renovation at the site.

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In his latest book,² Clausen looks at all the extant historical evidence and tries to make sense of what the limited archaeological data tell us when interpreted together with contemporary artistic representations, literary sources, accounts by Western pilgrims and the various traditions passed on through the ages.

In unraveling the complex story, Clausen tackles two sets of issues: First, when was the building we now call the Cenacle established, and what were its functions over the centuries? Second, where are the actual sites of Jesus’ Last Supper and the Tomb of David?

The presumptive Tomb of David is commemorated in the Cenacle on Mount Zion by this cenotaph. The niche visible behind the cenotaph is seen by some as evidence for the space having been a synagogue in antiquity. Photo: Courtesy of David C. Clausen.

Biblical texts locate the Tomb of David in the City of David, the ancient settlement overlooking the Kidron Valley (1 Kings 2:10 and Nehemiah 3:14–16). It was apparently only in the Middle Ages that the burial place of King David began to be expressly associated with Mount Zion. Adding to the puzzle, however, is the uncertain location of the Biblical Zion vs. the modern-day Mount Zion. Can we safely identify the Biblical Zion with the western hill we now call Mount Zion?

Modern scholars generally argue that the Biblical Zion was located on the hill east of the present-day Mount Zion, on the site where the formerly Jebusite City of David stood; they also mostly agree that Mount Zion came to be identified with the western hill only around the turn of the era. It is thus highly unlikely that the Cenacle has anything to do with the actual tomb of David.³

Where Jesus’ Last Supper took place as narrated in the Gospels is even more intricate. Unlike with the tomb of David, the location of the Last Supper’s cenacle is not specified in the Bible.⁴ Nor is the location of a number of other events associated with the same building clear, including appearances by the risen Jesus (Luke 24:36; John 20:19–29), the selection of Matthias the twelfth apostle (Acts 1:26), the first Pentecost following Easter Sunday (Acts 2:1–14), and the interment of Jesus’ brother James. And literary sources, such as the anonymous pilgrim from Bordeaux and Egeria who associate the location of Jesus’ Last Supper with Mount Zion, go back only to the fourth century C.E.

As the alleged place of congregation and worship for early Christians in Jerusalem, the Cenacle on Mount Zion would be the first Christian church ever.⁵ So, did subsequent churches at the site of today’s Cenacle honor the location of the original Upper Room? Was the Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sion (“Holy Zion”)—built in 379–381 C.E. and demolished in 1009 C.E.—constructed to incorporate the house where Jesus’ Last Supper happened? Called “the mother of all churches,” the Hagia Sion might have been, but the sixth-century mosaics of Jerusalem from Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and St. George Church in Madaba, Jordan, which are the two earliest artistic representations of the basilica, do not support this opinion, but rather show an autonomous structure standing to the south of the Holy Zion Church.

This sixth-century C.E. mosaic map of Jerusalem from the Church of St. George in Madaba, Jordan, shows the large Byzantine basilica on Mount Zion with a small building next to it (encircled), which might be the building traditionally identified as the “Upper Room” of Jesus’ Last Supper and the Tomb of David.

Next, what is the relationship of the earliest architectural stages of the Cenacle to the Crusader-period Church of Virgin Mary and to the modern Dormition Abbey and the Basilica of the Assumption (or Dormition), built in the early 1900s over the western end of the Byzantine-era Hagia Sion?

A mosaic in the Santa Maria Maggiore Church in Rome depicts a large basilica on Mount Zion flanked by a small building—the cenacle of Jesus’ Last Supper and the Tomb of David? Photo: Courtesy of David C. Clausen.

But, most fundamentally: Do the Cenacle’s origins actually date back to Jesus’ time? Without new hard evidence—such as from excavations—this is impossible to tell for sure. Did other Biblical events traditionally associated with this building really take place at the same spot? We might never know.

Re-used in this medieval, Islamic-period dome inside the Cenacle is a Crusader-era column capital with carved eagles and other Christian symbols. Photo: Courtesy of David C. Clausen.

Some scholars, including Amit Reem of the Israel Antiquities Authority, maintain that the structures detected under the Cenacle are nothing more than just remains of a late-fourth-century Byzantine church, the Holy Zion basilica. Clausen, however, asserts that the Cenacle’s oldest elements did originate before the Byzantine period.

To learn Clausen’s full argument, read his Archaeological Views column “Mount Zion’s Upper Room and Tomb of David” in the January/February 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full Archaeological Views column “Mount Zion’s Upper Room and Tomb of David” by David Christian Clausen in the January/February 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Notes

1. “Room upstairs” in the opening quote from Luke’s gospel corresponds in the original Greek text to the word anagaion, which denotes any upper-floor room (or elevated part) of the house. In Luke’s gospel, it serves as a dining-room (hence the Latin coenaculum).

2. David Christian Clausen, The Upper Room and Tomb of David: The History, Art and Archaeology of the Cenacle on Mount Zion (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016).

3. See Jeffrey R. Zorn, “Is T1 David’s Tomb?” BAR, November/December 2012.

4. See Matthew 26:17–20; Mark 14:12–17; Luke 22:7–12.

5. See Bargil Pixner, “Church of the Apostles Found on Mt. Zion,” BAR, May/June 1990.

Related reading in Bible History Daily

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal

The Last Days of Jesus: A Final “Messianic” Meal

Pilgrims’ Progress to Byzantine Jerusalem

This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on February 9, 2017.

The post Did Jesus’ Last Supper Take Place Above the Tomb of David? appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

Biblical Jerusalem has revealed many secrets over the past decade. Base photo courtesy of the Photo Companion to the Bible.

Jerusalem is one of the most excavated places in the world. Since Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) first appeared in 1975, its readers have had a front-row seat to some of the most fascinating discoveries from the Holy City. Over the past 50 years, we have treated BAR readers to exciting stories and scholarly debates over what archaeologists excavated in biblical Jerusalem and what their discoveries might mean for our understanding of the biblical past.

For the Spring 2025 issue of BAR, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, three prominent Israeli archaeologists summarize and put into context the most consequential archaeological finds of the past decade. They are Yuval Gadot, a professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University; Yiftah Shalev, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA); and Joe Uziel, head of the Dead Sea Scrolls Unit at the IAA. This trio is well positioned to report on the archaeology of biblical Jerusalem, since Gadot and Shalev co-direct the Givati Parking Lot excavation in the City of David, while Uziel has excavated several areas in the City of David and the Western Wall Tunnels. From the much-contested tenth century BCE, which saw the emergence in Judah of a centralized state, to the Babylonian destruction of biblical Jerusalem in 586 BCE, which resulted in the exile of many Judahites, Gadot, Shalev, and Uziel highlight discoveries that have changed how we see Jerusalem’s development throughout the Iron Age (c. 1200–586 BCE).

The Stepped Stone Structure is identified by some with the biblical Millo (2 Kings 12:20) and by others as a massive retaining wall. Photo courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer, BAS.

In the early tenth century, the city was supposedly ruled by the biblical kings David and Solomon. Several monumental structures across the City of David signal the prosperity of biblical Jerusalem and the ambitions of its rulers. The Stepped Stone Structure (see above), sometimes identified with the biblical Millo (2 Kings 12:20), and the Large Stone Structure, sometimes identified with David’s palace, are among the major construction projects dating from that era.

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In 2019, archaeologists excavating in the Givati Parking Lot detected a ditch running in the east-west direction along the western slope of the City of David (see below). “For four years, we excavated through more than a thousand years of accumulated debris—from the Abbasid back to the Hellenistic period—before we finally came down to bedrock. We now believe this trough is not a natural valley but a manmade ditch, measuring nearly 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, that extended across the entirety of the northern part of the City of David,” report Gadot, Shalev, and Uziel. This discovery confirms the original theory of British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon that the more elevated area of the Ophel and the Temple Mount lay outside the city walls, to the north of the City of David, which was apparently separated by a moat protecting biblical Jerusalem from the north.

A manmade trough separating the ancient Temple Mount from the City of David to the south. Givati Parking Lot Expedition, courtesy Yuval Gadot.

As biblical Jerusalem expanded during the ninth and eighth centuries as the thriving capital of a small kingdom, the city was involved in regional trading networks and further developed its administrative system. Both trends are well attested in rich finds of pottery vessels and clay bullae near the city’s ancient water source, the Gihon Spring.

The article also summarizes the discovery of a purported biblical “chamber” (2 Kings 23:11; Jeremiah 35:2–5), as previously reported in the Spring 2024 issue of BAR: “Building 100, a luxurious, two-story reception hall that we excavated along the western slope of the City of David, is a fine example of both elite architecture and the city’s westward expansion. Although the building continued in use until the Babylonian destruction, new radiocarbon dating confirms it was first constructed in the ninth century, with a substantial renovation in the mid-eighth century.”

An assemblage of drinking vessels found in Room B of Building 100 in the Givati Parking Lot excavation. Photo by Sasha Flit.

Gadot, Shalev, and Uziel then consider discoveries from the seventh and early sixth centuries, when Jerusalem became one of the wealthiest and most important cities of the southern Levant. By that time, Building 100 likely functioned as a royal reception or banqueting hall. Archaeologists uncovered signs of luxury, including a terrazzo-style plaster floor, a set of fine drinking vessels (see above), and a collection of precious ivory inlays that once decorated the hall’s furniture.

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To explore these and other recent discoveries from biblical Jerusalem, read Gadot, Shalev, and Uziel’s article “A Decade of Discoveries in Biblical Jerusalem,” published in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “A Decade of Discoveries in Biblical Jerusalem” by Gadot, Shalev, and Uziel in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

Locating Jerusalem’s Millo

Did I Find King David’s Palace?

Biblical “Chamber” Identified in Jerusalem?

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

Lifestyles of Jerusalem’s Rich and Famous

Fragments of Luxury: The Jerusalem Ivories

Did I Find King David’s Palace?

The Millo: Jerusalem’s Lost Monument

The post What’s New in Biblical Jerusalem? appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

The monastic complex atop Mount Nebo grew in the fourth–sixth centuries around where Moses was buried according to the Bible. From Davide Bianchi, A Shrine to Moses (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2021), p. 174; Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

This uncertainty, however, did not discourage early Christians, who determined that Moses died and was buried on Mt. Nebo, in what is today central Jordan. Known locally by its Arabic name, Siyagha, Mt. Nebo began attracting Christian worshipers in the early fourth century, when Christianity was acknowledged in the Roman Empire as a lawful religion. Its connection to Moses and the Exodus narrative brought in Christian monks, who wanted to live and pray near where Moses was buried, as well as pilgrims, who wished to commemorate the prophet and contemplate God’s promises to his people.

The monastic network of Mt. Nebo included other Christian sites, such as ‘Uyun Musa, Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Ma‘in, and Madaba. Biblical Archaeology Society.

In her article “Moses and the Monks of Nebo,” published in the Summer 2022 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Debra Foran outlines the early history of Christian pilgrimage to and around Mt. Nebo and describes some of the central monuments in the region. “A network of monastic communities extended from [Mt. Nebo] to the east as far as the desert fringes and to the south until the Wadi Mujib (the biblical Arnon River). This development was likely connected to the growing monastic movement across the southern Levant during the Byzantine period, exemplified by the Judean Desert monasteries near Jerusalem.”

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Assistant Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Foran also delves into related questions of how the monks of Mt. Nebo interacted with the local population. “Interwoven into this monastic landscape was an active and prosperous lay population that catered to its ascetic neighbors. The rural population also served the many pilgrims traveling through the region.”

One of the earliest Western pilgrims to the Holy Land was a noble woman named Egeria (or Etheria), who in the 380s visited the alleged place where Moses was buried. In her Latin itinerary, she wrote:

So we arrived at the summit of that mountain, where there is now a church of no great size on the very top of Mount Nabau. Inside the church, in the place where the pulpit is, I saw a place a little raised, containing about as much space as tombs usually do. I asked those holy men [i.e., monks] what this was, and they answered: “Here was holy Moses laid by the angels, for, as it is written, no one knows his burial place, and because it is certain that he was buried by the angels. His tomb, indeed, where he was laid, is not shown to this day; but as it was shown to us by our ancestors who dwelt here, so do we show it to you, and our ancestors said that this tradition was handed down to them by their own ancestors (XII, 1–2).

Northern baptistery of the Mt. Nebo Byzantine basilica features a baptismal font (front) and elaborate mosaics dating to c. 530 C.E. Photo by flowcomm, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The small church that Egeria visited was rebuilt and expanded in the fifth century to include several side chapels and a baptistery (see photo), all of which were decorated with intricate mosaics or paved with marble tiles arranged in geometric patterns. This Byzantine basilica was recently excavated, and a new church (termed the Memorial Church of Moses) was built over it to protect the archaeological remains and provide visitors with the visual experience of the sixth-century church. During the restorations in 2013, an empty tomb was discovered in the center of the nave of the basilica. Foran writes:

Located at the highest point of the mountain, this tomb initially may have been part of an earlier shrine dedicated to Moses that was later incorporated into the basilica and sealed under its floor. The monastic community of Mt. Nebo possibly regarded this tomb as a burial monument dedicated to Moses, and it could have been the one that Egeria and her fellow pilgrims saw in the fourth century.

Where was Moses buried? This empty tomb in the center of the basilica on Mt. Nebo is likely the traditional site of Moses’s burial, around which the first monks settled. From Davide Bianchi, A Shrine to Moses (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2021), p. 64; Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

Several other monastic sites around the alleged burial site of Moses at Mt. Nebo flourished during the Byzantine period (fourth–seventh centuries). Among them were ‘Uyun Musa (the Springs of Moses)—a perennial spring in the valley to the northeast of Mt. Nebo that also offered caves for Christian hermits (see photo). There is also Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, which is a hill about 2 miles southeast of Mt. Nebo that has at least three churches dating from the sixth and seventh centuries. This site is the focus of current explorations within the Town of Nebo Archaeological Project, directed by Foran.

Caves at ‘Uyun Musa (2 mi. northeast of Mt. Nebo) provided shelter to the Christian monks who came to live and pray near where Moses was buried. From Davide Bianchi, A Shrine to Moses (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2021), p. 166; Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

To further explore the Christian monuments of Mt. Nebo, read Debra Foran’s article “Moses and the Monks of Nebo,” published in the Summer 2022 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Moses and the Monks of Nebo,” by Debra Foran, in the Summer 2022 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

Who Was Moses? Was He More than an Exodus Hero?

Video: Moses the Magician

The Biblical Moses

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

Spirituality in the Desert: Judean Wilderness Monasteries

Why Moses Could Not Enter The Promised Land

This article first appeared in Bible History Daily on July 20, 2022

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Among the spoils of the Jewish War paraded through the center of Rome in the summer of 71 C.E. was the Temple Menorah, depicted in this deeply carved relief panel from the Arch of Titus in Rome, which was erected for the victorious general (and later emperor) to permanently commemorate his major accomplishment. Photo: Courtesy Steven Fine, The Arch of Titus Project.

After quelling a dangerous revolt in the Roman province of Judea in 71 C.E., Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus returned to Rome to publicly celebrate their victory. Following an ancient martial tradition, they marched victoriously through the city center in a riotous triumphal procession, parading prisoners and spoils of the war.

To commemorate this Roman triumph and to honor the victorious general (and later emperor), Titus, Emperor Domitian built an honorific monument—the Arch of Titus, which stands on the main processional street of ancient Rome (Via Sacra) to this day. The relief panels of the Arch of Titus in Rome chronicle the triumphal episodes following the fall of Jerusalem, capturing prominently the triumphal procession. One of the scenes confirms that the Temple Menorah was carried on litters in the parade that took place in the summer of 71 C.E. But what happened to the seven-branched candelabrum after that? The possibilities are explored in detail in the article “Did the Temple Menorah Come Back to Jerusalem?” in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, where Fredric Brandfon unravels the Menorah’s intricate story.

The first-century C.E. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus informs us that after the triumph—depicted so famously on the Arch of Titus in Rome—most of the Temple treasures were deposited in the newly built Roman Temple of Peace.¹ Josephus rather vaguely mentions “those golden vessels and instruments that were taken out of the Jewish temple.” Was the Temple Menorah among these artifacts?

The Roman Temple of Peace was apparently a magnificent building that Emperor Vespasian built “in so glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion” and had “adorned with pictures and statues.”² It is then no wonder that the Roman polymath Pliny considered this Roman Temple of Peace among the most beautiful buildings in the city.

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Yet we can only speculate that the Temple Menorah was among the Temple spoils and “all such rarities” (as Josephus puts it) collected from every part of the Roman Empire and displayed for public viewing in the Roman Temple of Peace.

The only time the Temple Menorah reappears in our records (after it had been portrayed on the Arch of Titus in Rome in c. 81 C.E.) is when a second-century rabbi Simeon ben Yohai travels to Rome, where he reportedly sees the Menorah. Where precisely? Presumably in the Roman Temple of Peace. This temple then burned down around 192 C.E. It was later rebuilt, but we never again hear of the Temple Menorah.

Only ruins remain of the Roman Temple of Peace that once housed the spoils of the Jerusalem Temple, according to Flavius Josephus’s The Jewish War. Was the Temple Menorah among these treasures? It must have been, although no historical source mentions it explicitly. But would the Temple Menorah have survived the fire that destroyed this pagan temple around 192 C.E.? If so, what followed?

If the Temple Menorah survived the destruction of the Roman Temple of Peace, what happened to it after the sack of Rome by Visigoths in 410 and by Vandals in 455? Is it even possible that the Menorah survived all the calamities and chaos of the fifth and sixth centuries? A tradition recorded by the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500–560) has it that the Temple treasures eventually ended up back in Jerusalem.³ Procopius relates that Emperor Justinian returned the spoils of the Temple to Jerusalem because they were cursed—any city that once housed them was eventually destroyed. Could the Temple Menorah have still been part of the Temple treasures at that point in history and thus found its way back to the holy city?

Through an in-depth examination of historical accounts, obscure Jewish writings and traditions, Fredric Brandfon tells the fascinating story of the Temple Menorah in his article “Did the Temple Menorah Come Back to Jerusalem?” in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

BAS Library Members: Read the full article “Did the Temple Menorah Come Back to Jerusalem?” as it appears in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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A version of this post first appeared in Bible History Daily in 2017

Notes:

1. Josephus, The Jewish War 7.158–162.

2. Ibidem.

3. Procopius, The Wars of Justinian, trans. by Henry B. Dewing, introduction and notes by Anthony Kaldellis (Indianapolis & Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Co., 2014), 4.9.6–9.

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

On Display in Rome: Images of the Temple Menorah

The Arch of Titus’s Menorah Panel in Color

What Did Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem Look Like?

Jewish Captives in the Imperial City

The post Where Did the Temple Menorah Go? appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

The iconic scene of Pilate washing his hands is based on the Gospel of Matthew (27:24): “[Pilate] took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’” This representation comes from a late medieval prayer book produced, most likely, in Brabant. Photo: Walters Manuscript W.164, fol. 33v.

Readers of the Bible are presented Pilate early one morning, a day before the central Jewish festival of Passover. The chief Sadducean priests and the Pharisees—with the consent of the Temple council (Sanhedrin)—bring Jesus before Pilate, calling upon the Roman statesman to judge and punish the charismatic teacher, whom they arrested in Jerusalem the night before.

Here it is important to understand that while the Jewish leaders were granted a significant degree of local self-government by the Romans and were allowed to regulate the internal matters of their people, while also representing the religious authority among their nation, they lacked the jurisdiction to impose a death sentence, which is what they wanted for the itinerant rabbi from Galilee, as we are told. Only the highest representative of the occupying power—the Roman prefect over Judea, Pontius Pilate—wielded that authority.

So the Jewish leaders drag Jesus before Pilate and try to make their case by piling accusations and pressing Pilate to act, say the Gospels. Ultimately, Pilate succumbs: Using his executive powers, he sentences Jesus to death. Based on that alone, Pilate deserves to be considered the ultimate bad guy. Or does he?

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Ancient historians report that the Roman governor Pontius Pilate clashed with the Jewish population on several sensitive issues. One such conflict involved bringing to the holy city, Jerusalem, the military standards featuring the image of the emperor. Pictured here is a scene from Trajan’s Column in Rome (built 113 C.E.) showing praetorians carrying similar standards. Photo: Roger B. Ulrich.

Despite the fact that it was Pilate who sent Jesus to the humiliating and painful death on the cross, the Christian tradition is remarkably excusatory of Pontius Pilate—starting with the Gospel portrayal of Jesus before Pilate.

“I find no case against him,” says Pilate about Jesus in John 18:38. Mark 15:14–15 reads as follows: “Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.” Matthew 27:24–25 even inserts a malediction reportedly pronounced by the people: “[Pilate] took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ Then the people as a whole answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’”

The Bible is no history book, no matter the proportion or accuracy of historical events it relates. In telling this particular story of Jesus before Pilate, the evangelists obviously did not intend to provide a transcript of the trial. To them the scene was an episode in a larger narrative: Jesus, the Son of God, came as the true Messiah, but his own people (the Jews) did not accept him. Instead, they conspired against him and had him killed. Pontius Pilate plays a rather compassionate role in this drama. He considers Jesus innocent and wants to release him, but has to ultimately yield to the Jewish leaders, realizing “that a riot was beginning” (Matthew 27:24).

This is what we know thus far from the Gospels. But do we know the real Pontius Pilate? Are there even any extra-Biblical sources to tell us about the historical Pontius Pilate, the governor of Roman Judea? What do the ancient historians and archaeological evidence have to say? And how does the picture painted in the New Testament compare to the real Pontius Pilate?

Pilate’s dedication to promoting Roman religion in Judea is reflected in the coins he struck during his tenure. The mintages produced between 29 and 31 C.E. bore pagan symbols in the form of sacred vessels of the sort encountered in other parts of the Roman Empire. None of Pilate’s successors in Judea used these pagan cult symbols. This example here shows a simpulum, or a ritual ladle. It was the smallest coin in circulation, referred to in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2 as a lepton. Photo: Dr. Mark A. Staal Collection.

In his article “Pontius Pilate: Sadist or Saint?” in the July/August 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, R. Steven Notley, who is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Nyack College in New York City, looks into the conflicting presentations of Pontius Pilate and checks them against the historical evidence. Sorting through archaeological and literary sources, Notley pieces together a picture of the real Pontius Pilate—a ruthless governor loyal to the Roman emperor and the imperial cult.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Pontius Pilate: Sadist or Saint?” by R. Steven Notley in the July/August 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily:

30 People in the New Testament Confirmed

Tour Showcases Remains of Herod’s Jerusalem Palace—Possible Site of the Trial of Jesus

Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible

On What Day Did Jesus Rise?

This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on July 17, 2017.

The post Jesus Before Pilate appeared first on Biblical Archaeology Society.

Rock-cut tombs at Madain Saleh, ancient Hegra of pre-Islamic Arabia. Photo: Basheer Olakara, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In the first two centuries CE, Jews led two major revolts against the Romans—first, the Great Revolt (66–74), then the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132–135). In their tragic aftermath, when the Temple lay in ruins and Jews were forbidden to live in or near Jerusalem, many decided to seek new homes abroad. Some from this early Jewish diaspora turned south and ended up in North Arabia, where only inscriptions survive to bear witness to individuals who clearly belonged to the scattered Jewish communities of pre-Islamic Arabia.

In his article “Jews of Arabia: Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Jewish Diaspora,” published in the Fall 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Gary A. Rendsburg explores a set of ancient inscriptions that reveals the presence of a Jewish diaspora at the major oases of North Arabia. Rendsburg, who is a professor of Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers University and has extensively published on the Hebrew language and literature, focuses on inscriptions from four major sites that illustrate the range of testimonies these silent witnesses can deliver about the long-lost Jewish diaspora of pre-Islamic Arabia.

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Pre-Islamic Arabia became home to a sizable Jewish diaspora. Map courtesy BAS.

“In the main, we have only the names of Jewish individuals, but here and there more pertinent information surfaces, including their high rank in society, their worship of the one God, their use of the term “rabbi,” and their observance of Passover,” writes Rendsburg.

At Madain Saleh (ancient Hegra), which features stunning rock-cut tombs (see photo above), a funerary inscription was found written in Aramaic using Nabatean script. Dated to 356, it reads, in part: “This is [the tomb] which Ady[on] son of Honi son of Samuel, chief citizen (ryš) of Hegra, [erected] for Mawyah his wife, daughter of Amru son of Adyon son of Samuel, chief citizen (ryš) of Tayma.” Honi and Samuel in this inscription are Hebrew names identifying the persons as Jewish. Even more interesting, the two families clearly climbed to the highest ranks of their respective communities.

Another example comes from Tayma, where an Aramaic tomb inscription was similarly written in Nabatean script. Dated to 203, it mentions four people, three of which were apparently Jewish, judging by their personal names: Isaiah, Joseph, and Amram. Remarkably, one of these individuals served as city councilor, and another one was the city mayor. “Undoubtedly, the family would have settled in Tayma at least a generation or two earlier, in time to allow its scions to rise in the ranks of the local society. Thus, we may posit a scenario whereby the ancestors of this family moved to Tayma soon after or possibly even some years before the Bar-Kokhba Revolt,” theorizes Rendsburg.

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A tomb inscription from Tayma oasis commemorates “Isaiah, the councilor, son of Joseph, the mayor of Tayma.” Photo: Nesnad, CC-BY-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

“Clearly the Jews (and Christians) of the Hejaz exerted a major influence on Muhammad, as he broke with the polytheism of Arabia to establish a new religious path. How the former group reached the region and how they sustained themselves in the lead-up to the rise of Islam has remained an open question,” concludes Rendsburg. Fortunately, ancient inscriptions allow us at least a minor window into that fascinating world.

To learn more about these and other ancient inscriptions and what they reveal about the early Jewish diaspora in pre-Islamic Arabia, read Gary A. Rendsburg’s article “Jews of Arabia: Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Jewish Diaspora,” published in the Fall 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full article “Jews of Arabia: Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Jewish Diaspora” by Gary A. Rendsburg in the Fall 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Exploring Arabia’s Pre-Islamic Heritage

The Earliest Evidence of Christianity in Arabia?

The Apostle Paul in Arabia

Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library:

Jesus in Arabia: Tracing the Spread of Christianity into the Desert

Paul of Arabia? The Apostle’s Early Adventures

Archaeology Thriving in Saudi Arabia

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