Bible and Archaeology

Was David a murderer? This week, David Shepherd joins Bible & Archaeology to explore bloodguilt in the story of Israel’s most famous king. What did ancient Israel think about guilt, justice, and royal power, and does the Bible actually hold David responsible for shedding innocent blood?

📚 Reading Recommendations:⁠
King David, Innocent Blood, and Bloodguilt by David J. Shepherd

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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. David Shepherd
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

Rising high above the Dead Sea, Masada is one of the most dramatic landscapes of the ancient world. But long before it became a symbol of defiance and martyrdom, it was an Hasmonean fortress, reshaped in spectacular fashion by Herod the Great into a palace-fortress that clung improbably to the edge of empire.
This week, Jodi Magness joins the podcast to guide us through Masada’s layered past: its Hasmonean origins, Herod’s architectural ambition, and the rebels who later refashioned a royal complex into a last refuge during the revolt against Rome. We examine the archaeology of daily life, the Roman siege works below, the testimony of Flavius Josephus, and the enduring legacy of Yigael Yadin—asking how excavation, memory, and meaning have shaped the story of Masada for generations.

📚 Reading Recommendations:Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth by Jodi Magness

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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Jodi Magness
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty
The Bible & Archaeology podcast is made with support from Amanda Stone
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

The Apostle Paul is one of the most towering figures in early Christianity. But behind the familiar narratives lies a far more complex reality. Who was the historical Paul? And perhaps more importantly, how many different Pauls have been handed down to us through the centuries?
This week, Jordan welcomes Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh to untangle the various Pauline traditions that have shaped our understanding of this enigmatic apostle. From the authentic letters to later attributions, from his claimed persecutions to his mysterious visions of Christ, Dr. Walsh guides us through the evidence and the contradictions. Is Paul really that exceptional, or have we been reading him through the lens of later mythmaking?
👉 Dr. Walsh helps us explore:
–Was Paul's influence on early Christian communities as profound as tradition suggests?
–What did it truly mean for him to "see" Jesus?
–Is the historical Paul really that exceptional?
–Why is Paul baptizing lions?
📚 Reading Recommendations:
"Why Thekla Does Not See Paul: Visual Perception and the Displacement of Erōs in the Acts of Paul and Thekla" by Jennifer Eyl
Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles by Stanley Stowers
“The Apostle Paul,” in Ancient Philosophy of Religion: The History of the Western Philosophy of Religion, ed. Graham Oppy and N. N. Trakakis, (Durham: Acumen, 2009), 145-157.

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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty
The Bible & Archaeology podcast is made with support from Amanda Stone
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

The golden calf is one of the most infamous images in the Hebrew Bible—but what was it really? An idol? A political symbol? Or something more complicated?
This week, Dr. Elizabeth VanDyke joins the podcast to re-examine the golden calf traditions and ask where these stories actually begin. Together, we explore the biblical origins of the golden calves, questions of identity and power in ancient Israel, and what kind of “calf” we should really be imagining. We also look beyond the Bible, tracing possible connections to Assyrian imperial policy, the relationship between making kings and making calves, and the strange (yet meaningful) practice of kissing the calf.

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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Elizabeth VanDyke
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty
The Bible & Archaeology podcast is made with support from Amanda Stone
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

The late antique Mediterranean was an enchanted world where the dead were not silent or distant, but active participants in everyday life. This week, historian Michael L. Satlow joins the podcast to explain why cemeteries, saints’ bones, and the spirits of the dead were seen as powerful points of contact with the divine, and why early Christians were especially drawn to them. We'll explore how practices that feel strange or forbidden today were completely normal.

👉Dr. Satlow helps us explore:
– What it meant to live in an “enchanted world”
– Where the dead fit within the supernatural hierarchy
– Why Christians were drawn to the dead (and what Jesus has to do with it)
– Why necromancy crossed a line when other contact with the dead did not

📚 Reading Recommendations:
📖 An Enchanted World: The Shared Religious Landscape of Late Antiquity

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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Michael Satlow
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Additional contributions by Mary Kathryn Lichty
The Bible & Archaeology podcast is made with support from Amanda Stone
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.