Biblical World

Latest Episodes:

Amy and Chris - Epic of Gilgamesh (Part 7) Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

Episode: We’re back, with Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Chris and Amy take us on a deep dive into the "love" of Ishtar, Gilgamesh refusing that love as cruel and temporary, the Bull of Heaven's rage and death, and the impending fate of Enkidu. Tune in and enjoy! Click to listen back to PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, and PART 6.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Amy Balogh

Image Attribution: By Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92742680

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Best Archaeological Finds of 2024 (Part 2) – Chris and Kyle Mar 06, 2025

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Episode: Part 2 of our Best Archaeological Finds for 2024 (we’re not that far into 2025!). Enjoy this second of a two-part series.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Related Episodes: Have a listen to Part I HERE.

Image Attribution: Cuneiform tablet known as Letter ZTT 22. (Credit: Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project)

Best Archaeological Finds of 2024 (Part 1) - Chris and Kyle Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Episode: Back by popular demand is our Best Archaeological Finds series, and this one for 2024 (we're not that far into 2025!). Enjoy this first of a two-part series.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Image Attribution: Cuneiform tablet known as Letter ZTT 22. (Credit: Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project)

Egyptology and the Exodus Narrative - Chris and Mark (Egypt Series) Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

Episode: We're continuing our series on Egypt and the Bible! In this episode we're focused on the geography, archaeology, and the history of the exodus, including the route and wilderness wanderings. We discuss the sites Pi-Ramesses, Pithom, and Succoth.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Mark Janzen

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Image Attribution: By Ancient_Egypt_map-en.svg: Jeff Dahlderivative work: Wikipedia

Egypt Series: Check out these other episodes in the Egypt Series
* Egypt and the Bible (Part 1) - https://onscript.study/egypt-and-the-bible-part-1-mark-janzen-and-chris-mckinny/
* Egypt and the Bible (Part 2) - https://onscript.study/egypt-and-the-bible-part-2-mark-janzen-and-chris-mckinny/
* Karnak and Egyptology - https://onscript.study/podcast/biblical-world-karnak-mark-janzen/
* The Egyptian Plagues - https://onscript.study/the-egyptian-plagues-real-world-calamities-on-the-nile-egypt-series/
* Early or Late Emergence of Israel - https://onscript.study/early-or-late-emergence-of-israel-egypt-series-chris-mckinny-and-mark-janzen/

Historical Geography - John Monson Jan 02, 2025

Show notes

Episode: In this episode, Kyle and Chris are joined by John Monson to discuss the history of one of their favorite subjects – the Historical Geography of the Bible.

Guest: Dr. Monson was born to missionary parents in Zaire but spent most of his youth in Jerusalem, Israel, where he developed an interest in biblical studies, archaeology, and historical geography. Prior to coming to Trinity he taught for eleven years at Wheaton College, where he received the Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching. His archaeological fieldwork has taken him to Syria, Lebanon, and numerous excavations in Israel. He's the author of Dothan I: Remains from the Tell (1953-1964), co-editor, (Eisenbrauns, 2005), 1 Kings in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, and The Temple of Solomon (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) (adapted from the TEDS website).

Hosts: Chris and Kyle

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Resource: Jerusalem University College offers short term study courses in Historical Geography in the land of Israel, both in-person and online. https://www.juc.edu/academics/short-term-study-programs/historical-geographical/

Image Attribution: https://www.juc.edu/academics/master-arts/biblical-history-and-geography/

Chris and Kyle - Archaeology: What It Is and What It Does Dec 04, 2024

Show notes

Episode: Episode: In this episode, Kyle and Chris talk about the fundamentals of biblical archaeology - both its underlying methodology and why they remain hopeless devotees to it. This episode includes stories from the field, the similarities and differences with Raiders of the Lost Ark, and so much more! If you wondered what biblical archaeology is and why you should care - this is the episode for you.
Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer
Resources:

Blakely, Jeffrey A. And Lawrence E. Toombs. 1980. The Tell el-Hesi Field Manual: The Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi Vol. 1. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research. ISBN: 0897572033. Cline, Eric H. 2009. Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-534263-5 ------ 2017. Three Stones Make A Wall: The Story of Archaeology. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691183237 Harris, Edward C. 1989. Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy. 2nd edition. London San Diego: Academic Press. (available for free download at URL). ISBN-13. 978-0123266514 Renfrew, Colin, Paul Bahn, and Elizabeth DeMarrais. 2024. Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. Ninth edition. Thames & Hudson: London. ISBN-13: 9780500849989 Strange, James Riley. 2023. Excavating the Land of Jesus: How Archaeologists Study the People of the Gospels. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. ISBN: 9780802869500 Urban, Patricia A. And Edward Schortman. 2019. Archaeological Theory in Practice. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 9781138202801

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Image Attribution: Courtesy of the Khirbet el-Ra'i Expedition

Amy and Chris - Epic of Gilgamesh (Part 6) Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

Episode: We're back, with Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Chris and Amy take us on a deep dive into the great cedar forest at the mountains of the gods, where they will face Humbaba, guardian of the forest. Tune in and enjoy! Click to listen back to PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, and PART 5.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Amy Balogh

Article by Amy mentioned in the Episode: Balogh, Amy L. "Chapter 2 The Tree of Life in Ancient Near Eastern Iconography". In The Tree of Life, (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2020). Access the article HERE.

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Image Attribution: Wikipedia. By Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50284881

The Ephraimite Conquest of Bethel in Judges Oct 09, 2024

Show notes

Episode: Chris and Kyle continue their series on the book of Judges, looking at the Ephraimite conquest of Bethel in Judges 1:22-26. They cover problems in the archaeology of Bethel, and they discuss the identity of the "Hittites" in this same passage.

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

Give: Help support OnScript and Biblical World as we grow and develop. Click HERE.

Image: Khirbet Banat Bar, sometimes identified with the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, birthplace of Jeroboam. By Bukvoed - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97495425

Sennacherib's War Camps - Chris and Kyle Sep 03, 2024

Show notes

Episode: In this episode, Chris and Kyle discuss a recent journal article that claims to have found new evidence of Sennacherib’s 701 BC campaign against Judah. The article makes a lot of interesting, but ultimately problematic claims about the Historical Geography of the Biblical World. (Note: Although the audio makes reference to video, we were unable to do the video)

Hosts: Chris and Kyle

Give: Help support OnScript and Biblical World as we grow and develop. Click HERE.

Image: King seated on his throne, within the walls of a captured city, including three houses and seven tents. [Quyunjik], Layard, nypl.digitalcollections.510d47dc-4779-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.g

Stephen Compton Article - https://popular-archaeology.com/article/first-ever-discovery-of-ancient-assyrian-military-camps-includes-biblical-site/

Jerusalem Through the Ages - Jodi Magness Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Episode: New co-host Jason Staples speaks with Jodi Magness, Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill about her new book, Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (Oxford University Press, 2024), the spectacular synagogue mosaic her team discovered at Huqoq, why specializing in pottery is an advantage for archaeologists, and lots more.

Guest: Dr. Jodi Magness is Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Magness’ research interests, which focus on Palestine in the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods, and Diaspora Judaism in the Roman world, include ancient pottery, ancient synagogues, Jerusalem, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Roman army in the East. Her most recent books are Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (New York: Oxford University, March 2024); and Ancient Synagogues in Palestine: A Reevaluation Nearly a Century After Sukenik’s Schweich Lectures. The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy 2022 (London: The British Academy/Oxford University Press, June 2024). Three of Magness’ books have won awards: Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth (Princeton: Princeton University, 2019) was selected as a finalist for the 2019 National Jewish Book Award in the category of History, the Gerrard and Ella Berman Memorial Award; The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002; revised edition 2021) won the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society’s Award for Best Popular Book in Archaeology in 2001-2002 and was selected as an “Outstanding Academic Book for 2003” by Choice Magazine; and The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003) was awarded the 2006 Irene Levi-Sala Book Prize in the category of non-fiction on the archaeology of Israel. Her other books include The 2003-2007 Excavations in the Late Roman Fort at Yotvata (co-authored with G. Davies) (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015); The Archaeology of the Holy Land from the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple to the Muslim Conquest (New York: Cambridge University, 2012); and Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011). In addition, Magness has published dozens of articles in journals and edited volumes. (from the UNC website)

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