Introduction
1 The Nag Hammadi Library
Nag Hammadi Codices Shed New Light on Early Christian History
by James Brashler
12 The 'Ain Dara Temple
The New 'Ain Dara Temple: Closest Solomonic Parallel
by John Monson
31 The Tel Dan ("David") Stela
"David" Found at Dan
47 Mona Lisa of the Galilee
Mosaic Masterpiece Dazzles Sepphoris Volunteers
52 "Yahweh and His Asherah": The Kuntillet 'Ajrud Ostraca
Did Yahweh Have a Consort?
by Ze'ev Meshel
68 St. Peter's House
Has the House Where Jesus Stayed in Capernaum Been Found?
by James F. Strange and Hershel Shanks

86 The Siloam Pool
The Siloam Pool: Where Jesus Cured the Blind Man
by Hershel Shanks
94 Ashkelon's Arched Gate
When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon
by Lawrence E. Stager
118 Jerusalem's Stepped-Stone Structure
Jerusalem in David and Solomon's Time
by Jane Cahill West

137 Jerusalem's Babylonian Siege Tower
Found in Jerusalem: Remains of the Babylonian Siege
by Suzanne F. Singer

142 The Authors
143 Notes

This eBook, developed by the editors at the Biblical Archaeology Society, features ten of
the most important and exciting archaeological finds covered in the pages of Biblical Archaeology
Review (BAR) over the past three and a half decades. It is by no means an exclusive list; others
would perhaps make different selections for their top ten. Taken together, these “top discoveries,”
from the nearly 4,000-year-old arched gate of Ashkelon to the lost fourth-century C.E.
manuscripts of Nag Hammadi, offer a minicourse in Biblical archaeology.
This eBook includes the original BAR articles in which the finds were published, many
authored by today’s most prominent Biblical archaeologists. Their articles not only highlight the
historical and Biblical significance of these dramatic discoveries, but also place them in their
appropriate archaeological context. In “When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon,” for
example, Lawrence Stager provides a thorough overview of the port city’s extensive Bronze and
Iron Age remains, including the massive walls and ramparts through which passed the world’s
oldest arched gateway. Similarly in “The Siloam Pool,” BAR editor Hershel Shanks details the
recent discovery of a monumental, first-century C.E. Jerusalem pool that functioned as a Jewish
ritual bath (miqveh) and may have been the place where Jesus cured the blind man (John 9).
In these articles, you will also learn how the most important archaeological discoveries
are often made completely by accident. In “‘David’ Found at Dan,” you’ll read how Gila Cook, an
archaeological surveyor working at the site of Tel Dan in northern Israel, accidentally stumbled
across an inscribed stone containing the first historical reference to King David outside the Bible.
Likewise, in James Brashler’s article on the Nag Hammadi codices, you’ll learn how this
invaluable collection of fourth-century C.E. Gnostic writings and lost gospels was found not by
archaeologists, but rather by two farmers looking for fertilizer along the banks of the Nile.
We hope this collection of articles not only allows you to dive deeper into the world of the
Biblical archaeology, but also reflect on the amazing discoveries that are made in the Biblical
lands year after year.