Evidence for the material culture of ancient Israel comes mostly from artifacts and archaeology and attests to the influence of the great empires that surrounded Israel.
Terra-cotta pillar figurines are found throughout the biblical territory of Judah and date to the eighth to seventh centuries BCE. Most were decorated with a white background layer and one or more…
Laws of Hammurabi on Babylonian Stela, eighteenth century BCE. The stela was originally placed in the temple of the god Marduk in the city of Babylon. Inset shows part of the prologue.
A detailed description of the priests’ sacral vestments in Exodus 28 provides written evidence of sacred dress and adornment, although neither archaeological evidence nor pictorial representations for…