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Khirbet el-Maqatir sits southeast of the Arab village of Beitin (Bethel?). Excavations conducted at the site between the years 1995-2017, led by Bryant G. Wood and Scott Stripling, revealed the remains of a rural Jewish settlement from the Second Temple period. Among the remains, beneath the settlement area, is the first hiding complex excavated in the highlands north of Jerusalem. The finds from the hiding complex reflect the devastation suffered by the local inhabitants in the two revolts against Rome. The finds from the First Jewish Revolt in the system are consistent with the results of the excavation on the surface and indicate the destruction of the settlement in the third year of the First Jewish Revolt. The hiding system was also used in the Bar-Kokhba Revolt, but the existence of a settlement at the site during the period between the two revolts remains uncertain. This information supplements the results of excavations and surveys conducted at sites and refuge caves in the Bethel Hills that indicate the presence of a Jewish population in the region after the First Jewish Revolt and through the end of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2019, an expedition on Mt. Ebal to examine the discarded material from Adam Zertal’s 1982–1989 excavation yielded a small, folded lead tablet. The east dump pile, from which the object emerged, contained the discarded matrix from two structures that he interpreted as altars dated to the Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age I. The earlier and smaller round altar lay underneath the geometric center of the later and larger rectangular altar. The tablet could not be opened without damaging it. A team of scientists performed X-ray tomographic measurements with different scanning parameters. The tomographically reconstructed data were subjected to advanced processing to reveal the hidden text. Epigraphic analysis of the tomographic data revealed a formulaic curse written in a proto-alphabetic script likely dating to Late Bronze Age II. The inscription falls within the literary genre of Chiastic Parallelism and predates any previously known Hebrew inscription in Israel by at least 200 years.

Jews and Christians in Mesopotamia commonly used incantation bowls in the fifth to seventh centuries CE to bind or empower demons. Aramaic, or a related script, appears on all incantation bowls. Normally the script forms known words and sentences. However, a significant number of these bowls, perhaps 10 to 20 percent, are inscribed with pseudo-text, and as a result, are rarely published. This article, through the results of scientific testing, establishes the provenance of two pseudo-text incantation bowls from the University of Pikeville collection. It explores the broader issues of magic and literacy in the Mediterranean world of the late classical period. The popularity and perceived function of incantation bowls among Jews, and secondarily Christians, is illuminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the details of the upcoming 75th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), including the program theme of "Theological Anthropology" and the submission deadline for paper proposals. It also provides updates on the NEASociety, such as the new website, membership renewal, publication news, and initiatives to support excavations and student scholarships.

A cartoon is presented about the way toddles and teenagers laugh.

Presents a letter to the editor in response to the article "A Closed Question and Ecumenism Now," by Richard John Neuhaus that appeared in the October 1992 issue of "First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life."

Presents a letter to the editor in response to the article "The Grammar of Baptism," by Alvin F. Kimel, published in the December 1991 issue of "First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life."