Category: Ancient Near East
The Elephantine in the Room
Location of Elephantine on the Upper Nile, courtesy of Wikipedia’s article, “Elephantine.” Over 2,400 years ago there was an active community of Jewish immigrants living on the island of Elephantine…
Alma Son of Judah: The Ancient Bar Kokhba Letters from Israel Refute a Popular Argument Against the Authenticity of the Book of Mormon
One of the more popular “easy” arguments to dismiss the Book of Mormon is that the name Alma is a woman’s name. Many critics have pointed out that it’s a…
Further Notes on One of the Earliest Hebrew Texts, the Silver Amulets of Ketef Hinnom
Last year I discussed an intriguing archaeological find near Jerusalem: two inscriptions on silver amulets which appear to be the oldest Hebrew inscriptions found so far. See “The Oldest Hebrew…
The Oldest Hebrew Inscription and the Psalms in the Book of Mormon
Tiny silver amulets engraved with Hebrew from the era of King Josiah, found at Ketef Hinnon, Israel. From the Biblical Archaeology Society. My recent publication on David and the Psalms…
Some Resources for the Puzzling Facsimile 3 of the Book of Abraham
Latter-day Saints interested in the Pearl of Great Price have much to be excited about thanks to recent scholarship giving us many more insights into the significance and meaning of…
John Gee’s Introduction to the Book of Abraham: A Lifetime of Book of Abraham Scholarship Distilled into a Valuable Book for a Broad Audience
It was a pleasure to read John Gee’s recently published An Introduction to the Book of Abraham (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and BYU Religious Studies Center,…
A Rookie Mistake in Forging an Ancient Document
Biblical Archaeology Review just shared an interesting story on a purportedly ancient Jewish document. As reported in October 2016, a papyrus mentioning the city of “Jerusalem,” “the king,” and “jars…
Ancient Temples, Shrines, and Altars Outside of Jerusalem
An old argument against the Book of Mormon is that no self-respecting Hebrew would even think of building a temple outside of Jerusalem as Nephi did in the New World….
The Rod of Iron: Part of Another Intriguing Wordplay in the Book of Mormon
In a recent article I prepared for The Interpreter, “The Great and Spacious Book of Mormon Arcade Game: More Curious Works from Book of Mormon Critics” (Interpreter: A Journal of…
Evaluating Book of Mormon Claims: Where Do We Stand after 187 Years?
After 187 years of critics poking fun at the Book of Mormon and exposing its weaknesses, today it seems to be the established view of numerous highly educated elites that…
