Elaborately ornamented front of the stage building in a Roman theater.

' A goat let loose in the wilderness on Yom Kippur after the high priest symbolically laid the sins of the people on its head (Lev. 16:8,10,26).

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Name given to a room in the Qumran community in which many scholars believe the Essenes wrote some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Excavation has revealed tables and benches similar to those used by scribes, as well as ink pots and basins in which the Essenes could ritualistically wash their hands before and after writing God's sacred name.

One of the oldest Decapolis cities. Originally, Beth Shean, renamed Scythopolis, or "City of Scythians," following Alexander the Great's conquest. Reputation for abundant water and fertile land. Located on the road Galileans walked in the Great Rift Valley to Jerusalem.

Freshwater lake filled by the Jordan river, located in the Great Rift Valley and site of the first-century commercial fishing industry; significant for a trade route on its northern shore. Jesus spent the majority of his ministry here, including the miracle of walking on water.

In Greek means "revered one," same as Latin Augustus.

In this revolt of AD 132-135, the Romans totally removed the nation of Israel. Also known as the Bar Kochba Revolt.

' Modern worldview based on an evolutionary model that considers human beings the ultimate life form and denies the existence or relevance of God. Right and wrong are determined by human standards, not God's.

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'%uFFFDGreek for Hebrew zippor, meaning "bird," because the town perched like a bird on a mountaintop in Lower Galilee. Hellenistic city built as Herod Antipas' regional capital; a major urban center of Hellenistic culture and power, with 20,000 inhabitants. Built three and a half miles from Nazareth during Jesus' childhood and youth; likely that he and his father, Joseph, worked here as tektons (builders).

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Means "70." Greek translation of the Old Testament made during the rule of the Ptolemies over the Jews. Frequently quoted by the authors of the New Testament.

Egyptian god of fertility and medicine, ruler of the dead. Worshiped by the Greeks and Romans also.

Means "weeks"; also known as Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks. It's celebrated 50 days after the Sabbath following Passover.

Hebrew word for "lowlands." It refers to the area between the Judea Mountains and the coastal plain where the Israelites and Philistines met.

A trumpet-like instrument made of ram's horn blown by priests to announce sacred events such as time of sacrifice.

An extremist sect of the Zealots heavily involved in the First Jewish Revolt. They were named after their short, curved dagger (sica), which they used to assassinate Romans and Jewish collaborators.

After workers built the tunnel of Hezekiah, they carved a description of its creation in the stone roof. The inscription tells how two teams of workers, digging from opposite directions, met in the middle. It is unusual because the story is told from the perspective of the workers and not the king. It is in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Peninsula south of Israel. Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, may be located here. The Israelites wandered here for 40 years.

Synonym for being a ruler, judge, or official, because the gate compartments functioned as courthouses.

Stage of Roman theater.

City near the southern end of the Dead Sea that was destroyed by God because of its wickedness, which included oppression of the poor.

The wisest king of all, and accomplished many great things (including the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem), but broke almost every command God gave for a king.

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Name the Essenes gave themselves as followers of God. Their enemies (Romans and the apostate priesthood in Jerusalem), in their opinion, were the sons of darkness. The New Testament uses this language also (1 Thess. 5:5).

The Soreq was a five-foot-tall stone wall that surrounded the inner courts of the consecrated temple area and was designed to keep Gentiles and their "unacceptable" people out of the inner courts. Gentiles could not pass the Soreq on pain of death.

Valley linking the coastal plain and the Judea Mountains through the Shephelah. Samson lived here.