Hershel Shanks

First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist? From the September/October 2017 Biblical Archaeology Review Hershel Shanks December 02, 2025 10 Comments 66183 views Share Amihai Mazar (better known as Ami) is one of Israel’s most highly regarded archaeologists. He recently retired from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Akhenaten and Moses Did the monotheism of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten influence Moses? Robin Ngo April 10, 2025 99 Comments 157726 views Share Defying centuries of traditional worship of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten decreed during his reign in the mid-14th century B.C.E. that his subjects were to worship only one god: the sun-disk Aten. Akhenaten is sometimes called the world’s first monotheist. Did his monotheism later influence Moses—and the birth of Israelite monotheism?

Exodus in the Bible and the Egyptian Plagues Can we make sense of the Biblical plagues? BAS Staff April 01, 2025 47 Comments 129078 views Share The Book of Exodus in the Bible describes ten Egyptian plagues that bring suffering to the land of pharaoh. Are these Biblical plagues plausible on any level? In the following article, “Three Ways to Look at the Ten Plagues,” Ziony Zevit looks at these Biblical plagues from various vantage points.