PODCAST

This Week in the Ancient Near East

thisweekintheancientneareast

The podcast that takes archaeology exactly as seriously as it deserves.

history

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45:58

Tattoo Who? Or, From Egypt with Ink

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/03/16

The discovery of tattoos on an upper class woman from ancient Egypt has us asking, are these magical, medical, or a right of passage? But what about the tattooed criminals in ancient Greece? Maybe this tattoo thing goes different ways. The main thing is that people in the past looked more like modern Brooklynites than we realized.

55:05

The Xbox of the Early Bronze Age? Or, All That’s Left...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/03/03

A stone game board from Oman has us puzzled. Is this rare find a signpost in the evolution of human cognition or a flat rock with divots? What are games anyway? New ways to think or old ways to kill time? It’s all a game to you people, isn’t it?

51:28

A Crusader Mass Grave at Sidon, or Blunt Force Trauma...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/02/17

A mass grave of Crusaders at the Lebanese site of Sidon raises many questions about identity, mobility, and warfare in the 13th century. But it fits right in with our understanding of human cruelty, what with the beheadings and all, so at least there’s that.

01:01:44

Two Synagogues at Magdala, or, was Mary in the...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/02/03

Magdala had two synagogues, or did it? How many did they need and how often did they go to synagogue anyway? Is this just a post-Enlightenment conceit about pre-Enlightenment religiosity? But which is more important, the room with the services or the one with the bingo?

46:24

Garbage Dump of the Gods

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/01/20

What happens when a temple, say, Hatshepsut’s New Kingdom temple at Deir el Bahari, throws out offerings? Are there good and bad types of garbage? Let’s face it, archaeologists will take what they can get. But isn’t “precious rubble” the name of one of Barney and Betty’s kids?

55:15

The Strange Case of the Neo-Assyrian Armor in the...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2022/01/05

Neo-Assyrian leather armor? In a Western Chinese tomb? It’s a classic, what’s up with that situation. Is it really Neo-Assyrian? How do we know? If so, how did it get there? What can we make of a sample of one? Why are we talking about Ricardo Montalban? It’s an episode so filled with questions that we’re literally bubbling over.

52:30

Even More New Amazing Iron Age Finds from a Cult Site...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/12/23

A slightly lopsided Iron Age cult site just outside Jerusalem? Little human figurines, big silos, and now the stone legs of a cult statue? What’s going on beneath the highway overpass at Motza? But why is anyone surprised about another temple in Judah? Wouldn’t surprise be an indictment of our entire educational system?

51:29

The Curse of the Mummy’s Double Chins, or, It’s...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/12/08

A new study uses DNA from Egyptian mummies to literally reconstruct their faces. Oddly enough, they look like Egyptians. Is this accurate? Is it ethical? One way or another, they’re pretty good-looking. And isn’t that the main thing? Anyway, what’s with all the mummified cats?

35:39

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/11/25

Yes, we’re still here at ASOR, but now we’re interrogating an entirely new crowd about the question of conferences, namely Dr. Margaret Cohen, Professor Alexandra Ratzlaff and Professor Andrea Berlin. The questions are mostly the same, but the answers from these three leading female scholars are quite different.

42:58

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/11/24

What happens when a bunch of archaeologists start drinking bourbon and let their graying hair down? It’s an after hours edition with the one and only Professor James Hardin, who rather charmingly, can’t stay on script. He takes us to some surprising places, including some related to archaeological storytelling.

01:01:34

It’s the Very Nearly Live from ASOR 2021 Conference...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/11/23

A conference you say? That’s right, we’re here in Chicago at the ASOR meeting with a host of guests, luminary scholars with names like Professor Eric Cline, Dr. Matthew Adams (the one with a J.), Dr. Yorke Rowan, and Professor Morag Kersel. The topic - conferences and conference experiences. There are some important lessons here.

47:19

So You Need a Stone Floor For Your Hittite Temple? I...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/11/02

Making a floor isn’t rocket science, but style and execution count for a lot. The terrazzo floor at the 15th century Hittite sanctuary at Uşaklı Höyük might be the earliest mosaic floor, or does that honor belongs to the Minoans? What is the relationship between power and taste? Why are the triangles blue and what does the god Teshub really think about ‘oatmeal’ as a color?

54:16

11,500 Year Old Cultic Site With Huge Stone Circles,...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/10/19

Where does religion come from? How did hunter-gatherers build early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey? What’s with the gigantic carved stone pillars and the defleshed human skulls anyway? What is religion, really? Why am I asking you? It’s an episode as profound as it is, well, mystifying.

54:41

Middle Bronze Age Site Smashed by Exploding Comet,...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/10/01

Was a Middle Bronze Age site near the Dead Sea pulverized by a cosmic air burst at 1650 BCE? Say what? The science is compelling, from the shocked quartz to the melted iridium. But was all this remembered, maybe in a Biblical story about a site in the Jordan Valley pulverized by fire from the sky? That’s the tricky part.

52:15

New Underwater Discoveries in the Nile Delta, or, Our...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/09/24

A ship graveyard, a sunken ship, and a fruit basket? Our contestants take a voyage to the bottom of the sea to discuss finds from the Nile Delta and ask the important questions like, what is the connection between fruit baskets and death, and how did Iron Age maritime insurers stay in business?

41:35

It’s the End of Summer Archaeology Super Mega Fun...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/09/10

Missing basilicas, poison rats, and Trojan Horses? Holy Jerusalem earthquake Batman! Yes, that too and more in our end of summer stranger than fiction fantastic archaeology ripped from the headlines roundup episode! Our contestants are on the clock and it’s like Hollywood Squares without Paul Lynde! Or is it?

35:41

That’ll Do Iron Age Pig, That’ll Do, or, Jambon in...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/08/25

First sharks and now pigs? What’s going on in Iron Age Jerusalem with all these non-kosher species? Were Judeans in the shadow of the Temple noshing on something naughty or are there other explanations? Are there ever! Our panelists' speculations are unbridled in this laughter filled episode. To learn more https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/cryptic-2700-year-old-pig-skeleton-found-in-jerusalems-city-of-david-673989

55:02

(Almost) Biblical Writing, or How to Go From...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/08/11

It’s only four little letters, well maybe five, but another tiny Iron Age inscription has raised more than a few eyebrows. What’s the significance of this latest scribble? Is it the name of a biblical character, or the name of a guy who didn’t want his lunch stolen? And why are our panelists talking about being stuck in a suburban cul-de-sac? To learn more Five-letter inscription inked 3,100 years ago may be name of biblical

49:30

The Gospel of “Who the Heck Falls for This Stuff?”

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/07/28

The ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ is the latest high profile example of a forged ancient text. Scholars should have known better, but hey, where’s the fun in that? When Fox Mulder meets Elaine Benes the sparks fly and scholarship takes it on the chin. Our panelists are there ringside, sagely opining. To learn more A Scholarly Screw-Up of Biblical Proportions https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-scholarly-screw-up-of-biblical-proportions

50:24

And That’s How We Solved the Mystery of the Fossil...

This Week in the Ancient Near East ·

2021/07/14

A bunch of 80 million year old shark teeth in Iron Age Jerusalem have set the archaeological world ablaze. What are they doing there along with 10,000 fish bones and six and a half tons of pottery? It’s gotta be a joke, right? Do our panelists speculate wildly or do they jump the shark? To learn more Cache of 80-million-year-old shark teeth found in Solomon-era site in Jerusalem https://www.timesofisrael.com/cache-of-80-million-year-old-shark-teeth-found-in-solomon-era-site-in-jerusalem/

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