Ancient Near East
In the last two hundred years, a large number of discoveries have been made that shed light on the world of the Bible. Below are a few of the images that have helped us understand more about the culture, language, and scripts of the ancient Near East. For additional images, see the articles under Dead Sea Scrolls.
El-Kerak An inscription from Moab.
The MRZH Text An ancient contract from the city of Ugarit.
Cuneiform Tablet An ancient cuneiform tablet from Mesopotamia.
The Amman Citadel Inscription An ancient inscription from one of Israel’s neighbors.
The Heshbon Ostraca Economic records from an ancient Moabite/Israelite city.
Cylinder Seals An ancient form of impression seals.
Sam’alian Texts Phoenician and Aramaic texts from Zincirli.
El-Amarna Tablets Ancient tablets written in cuneiform script.
Persepolis Fortification Archive Aramaic, Elamite and Anepigraphic tablets found at Persepolis.
Article Categories
Non-Biblical Ancient Texts Relating to the Biblical World: Non-biblical inscriptions and documents from ancient times that improve our understanding of the world of the Bible.
Biblical Manuscripts: Images and commentary on ancient and medieval copies of the Bible.
Dead Sea Scrolls: Images and commentary on selected Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts.
USC Archaeology Research Center: Images of artifacts from the teaching collection of the University of Southern California.