Bible and Archaeology

How did the New Testament become the New Testament? This week, we are exploring the long process of canon formation with Ian Mills. From the myth of a single moment at Nicaea, the impact of authority, popularity, councils, and empire, to the role of figures like Marcion and Jerome, we'll unpack the gradual standardization that shaped the New Testament canon (or as much as we can).

📚 Reading Recommendations
The Hypothesis of the Gospels: Narrative Traditions in Hellenistic Reading Culture by Ian N. Mills

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Ian Mills
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

After the death of Alexander the Great, a new imperial power emerged across Western and Central Asia: the Seleucid Empire. But how did it actually hold such a vast territory together, and how much of its “history” was carefully constructed after the fact?
This week, we explore how Seleucid rulers shaped memory, built cities, minted propaganda on coins, and even influenced dating systems to legitimize their rule with Ben Abbott. Were they inheriting empire, or inventing it as they went?

📚 Reading Recommendations
Forging the Anchor: Antiochus I and the Creation of the Seleucid Empire by Benjamin Abbott

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Benjamin Abbott
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

In 2 Kings 3, Israel appears to lose a battle after the king of Moab performs a child sacrifice on the city wall. Why would the Hebrew Bible preserve a story where a foreign god seems to defeat Israel’s armies?
This week, Jordan and Mary Kate break down the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone), ancient warfare, divine conflict, prophecy, propaganda, and the strange ending of one of the Bible’s most debated battle stories.

📚 Reading Recommendations
King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities by Francesca Stavrakopoulou
"Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings" by Thomas Römer
North Israelite Memories of the Transjordan and the Mesha Inscription by Prof.Israel Finkelstein and Prof.Thomas Römer

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Ft. Mary Kate Lichty and Dr. Jordan Jones
Edited by Mary Kate Lichty
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

What happened when you died in ancient Israel? The Hebrew Bible offers no clear picture of heaven or hell, but it does preserve a fascinating world of ancestors, burial rituals, Sheol, and the ongoing process of dying.
This week, Dr. Matthew Suriano joins the podcast to talk about death and the afterlife in the Hebrew Bible, including the meaning of nefesh, the importance of burial, and why a “bad death” was one of the greatest fears in the ancient world. Drawing on archaeology, biblical texts, and ancient Near Eastern history, this conversation explores what it meant to become one of the dead in ancient Israel.
📚 Reading Recommendations
A History of Death in the Hebrew Bible by Matthew Suriano

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Matthew Suriano
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

In this episode, Susan Ackerman joins us to explore the life cycle of women in ancient Israel, from puberty and marriage to motherhood, ritual impurity, and death. We discuss why childbirth made women “unclean,” why women occupied a liminal role in ancient Israel, the story of Jephthah’s daughter, the concept of social menopause, and more. Along the way, we unpack what archaeology and biblical texts can, and can’t, tell us about the realities of womanhood in the ancient Near East.

📚 Reading Recommendations
Maturity, Marriage, Motherhood, Mortality: Women's Life-Cycle Rituals in Ancient Israel by Susan Ackerman

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Susan Ackerman
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.