Figuring out what to do with the ‘Song of Songs’ has preoccupied people reading the Bible for centuries.
'Song of Songs' illustrated by Florence Kingsford/Southern Methodist University/Wikimedia Commons
The famous biblical book alludes to God only once. Historically, though, most interpreters have argued the poem’s about love between the divine and his people.
‘Departure for Canaan,’ a detail of a 13th-century mosaic from the dome of Abraham in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
De Agostini Photo Library/De Agostini via Getty Images
The Bible is full of stories about migrants. That doesn’t mean it has a simple takeaway message about them.
Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank.
Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua via Getty Images
Samaritans still live in Israel, where they are often caught between Israeli and Palestinian identities.
Part of a restoration edict of Ammisaduqa, one of the rulers of ancient Babylon.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
A scholar of the ancient Near East explains how loan forgiveness was handled thousands of years ago in the Bible and royal decrees.
The Investiture of Zimri Lim Fresco from the palace of Mari gives us an image of royal ideology in the ancient Middle East.
Louvre Museum
The huppû, from modern-day Syria were celebrated athletes, trained in specialist academies, touring to foreign kingdoms, and facing the threat of arts funding cuts.