(1888PressRelease)
August 08, 2009 - The Biblical Archaeology Society is celebrating the publication of the 200th issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) with a special double issue that includes a retrospective of its adventures over the last three decades, as well as a tribute to some of the greatest discoveries and people in the field.
We begin with one of our hallmark feature articles, “The Riches of Ketef Hinnom” by Gabriel Barkay. This long-awaited BAR publication of the fascinating Jerusalem site of Ketef Hinnom features two silver amulets that bear the earliest inscription of a Biblical text—nearly 400 years before the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Our special 200th-issue section begins with “How BAR Was Born,” which chronicles the evolution of BAR from an idea inspired by Hershel Shanks’s year-long sabbatical in Israel to a magazine that reaches out to hundreds of thousands people with every new issue. In “Letters We Loved” we reprint some of our favorite letters to the editor over the years to celebrate the opinions and thoughts of the readers that continue to make BAR so successful.
The ten stunning archaeological photos of “Biblical Archaeology in Focus” and their significance are a tribute to Jerusalem’s late David Harris, whose photographic genius documented some of the greatest archaeological discoveries of our time.
We also took on the daunting task in “Ten Top Discoveries” of choosing some of the most important archaeological discoveries published in our first 199 issues, and we looked at how they have influenced the field of Biblical archaeology.
“BAR’s Crusades” follows the pivotal—and sometimes controversial—role that the magazine and the Biblical Archaeology Society have played in some of the most dramatic debates, discoveries and issues in the last 35 years of Biblical archaeology.
Last but not least, for a bit of fun, our “Where in the Wide World?” quiz challenges readers to test their knowledge of the origins of some of our past WorldWide artifacts.
Check out www.biblicalarchaeology.org/BAR for more about our 200th issue.
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