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Fertility Cults of CanaanOnly recently have scholars begun to unravel the complex religious rituals of Israel's Canaanite neighbors. Much of our knowledge of the origins and character of these fertility cults remains tentative and widely debated. ...
MOREThe City of JerichoAs one of the few gateways into the Judean Mountains, Jericho was a natural place for the Israelites to begin conquering the Promised Land.Jericho has a fascinating location and history. It is the lowest city in the world (more ...
MOREGive Us A KingYou may have learned somewhere that God did not want Israel to have a king. Most Christian churches teach this to youngsters early in Sunday school. But it is wrong. God did want Israel to have a king; he just had a certain kind of k...
MOREPeople in the ancient world worshipped a multitude of different gods. Each had its own story, its own myth, of the origin, the character, the blessings and curses they offered, and the worship each demanded. These myths often recalled ancient even...
MOREThe Palaestra In this large (six hundred by one hundred fifty feet) open area in front of the Marble Court, physical education was done on the sand floor. Smaller rooms around the outside were also used for physical training, conditioning (weights...
MOREBoth the settled shepherds living along the fringes of the wilderness and the nomadic wilderness shepherds pastured their sheep on barren hillsides unsuitable for farming.Visitors to the Near East wonder how sheep found food on these hillsides. Ye...
MORECity of PagansCaesarea Philippi, which stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon, was a city dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship.Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee. But t...
MOREA Picture of HellGehenna A sewer channel commonly ran under the streets of ancient cities. It traveled through the city gate and emptied into a nearby valley. Though the channels were probably used to drain rainwater from the towns, people also us...
MOREGezer stands to the east of Israel's coastal plain, a fertile stretch of land that lines the Mediterranean Sea. To the east are foothills, called the Shephelah, beyond which lie the Judean mountains and the Arabian Desert. Only fifteen miles away ...
MOREThe Text includes stories, poems, and arguments about a variety of topics. But more than anything else, it's a story about God and his relationship with humans.Biblical writers often used word pictures to describe God and his power in the world. A...
MOREThe city of AradAs far back as 3,000 BC, a large Canaanite city stood in the Negev, where the small town of Arad sits today. This city probably existed when Abraham and his family lived in Beersheba, a nearby desert region.Arad was eventually dest...
MOREMeans "league." Ancient city of Judah at the southern edge of the Hebron Mountains, north of the Negev and approximately 19 miles south of Jerusalem. Abraham lived here and purchased a tomb in this area where he, his wife, Sarah, Isaac, ...
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