Iphigenia in Aulis (or at Aulis) was written by Euripides, the youngest and most popular of the trilogy of great Greek tragedians. The play was based on the well-known myth surrounding the sacrifice of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia. With the winds silenced by the goddess Artemis, the young girl's sacrifice at the goddess's altar would allow the Greeks to sail... [...]

For how long do we build a household? For how long do we seal a document? For how long do brothers share the inheritance? For how long is there to be jealousy in the land(?)? The Epic of Gilgamesh, chapter 10, Tablet X. I have always been fascinated by the Gilgamesh-related immortality perspective. Nobody can live forever. However, the human soul and its [...]

BAS Dig Scholarship winner Rebecca Zami is featured on the cover of the January/February 2019 “Dig” issue of BAR. Photo: Courtesy of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project.

They came, they saw, they dug.

This past summer, volunteers traveled to archaeological excavations throughout the Biblical world. They gave their time, energy, and enthusiasm to keep digs running effectively. Students and teachers, amateurs and professionals, juveniles and retirees—they all picked up trowels and brushes to actively [...]

The best-known vision of the Norse afterlife is that of Valhalla, the hall of the heroes where warriors chosen by the Valkyries feast with the god Odin, tell stories from their lives, and fight each other in preparation for the final battle of Ragnarök, the end of the world and death of the gods. This image is as deeply associated with Norse beliefs from around the Viking Age (c. 790-1100... [...]

People in the Middle Ages have acquired something of a bad reputation when it comes to cleanliness, especially the peasantry. However, despite the general lack of running water and other modern amenities, there were common expectations of personal hygiene such as regularly washing from a basin, especially the hands before and after eating which was regarded as good etiquette in a period when cutlery... [...]