Featured Article
Let the Stones Cry Out? Dolmens and Megalithic Standing Stones in the Biblical World

Gary Byers

Standing stones are mentioned 34 times in the Bible, sometimes as a positive reference (Exodus 24:4), usually negatively (Deuteronomy 16:22) and, occasionally, in a neutral sense (Genesis 28:18). These standing stones – usually a translation of massebah (Hebrew; plural masseboth) – were always set up by people and have been found in archaeological surveys and excavations across the Holy Land. Unfortunately, none of the specific standing stones mentioned in the Bible have been identified today.

LEFT: Five of the ten Canaanite standing stones (Hebrew masseboth pl; massebah singular) in a row at ancient Gezer. Known as Gezer’s High Place, these massive standing stones were embedded in the earth and likely set up commemorating an important covenant event between Canaanite towns or communities.
(Photo: Alexander Schick).

RIGHT: At Hazor, Yigael Yadin excavated an impressive collection of Bronze Age standing stones, as well as altars, orthostats and vessels – all carved from basalt. The standing stones pictured were among the cultic accoutrements of one of the city’s Bronze Age temples. (Photo: Mike Luddeni)
Dolmens

Not really considered within the category of “standing stones,” there is a significant number of megalithic standing stones universally referred to as “dolmens” (singular “dolmen”) in English. While there is no indication dolmens are referenced in the Bible, they have been around for millennia and are known across the biblical world.

Today, these megalithic (Greek “large/stone) structures are understood to have been used throughout the Bronze Age, beginning as far back as the Chalcolithic – possibly even Neolithic – period. Constructed of multiple megaliths, dolmen stones are generally slab-shaped – some worked but mostly just natural slabs or even boulders. The base of these stones is generally dug into the ground, not just standing on the surface and were “set up” as a unit for some important ancient purposes...
“Ultimate”-type dolmen from Damiyah Dolmen Field, Jordan, relocated to the entrance of the Jordan Museum, Amman (Photo: Mike Luddeni)
Bonus Article
Choosing Light Over Lies... At All Times

Dear ABR family,

As I was pondering the message that the Lord wanted me to share with you today a familiar and poignant passage came to mind from chapter 10 of Matthew’s gospel. In the larger context of this passage we observe Jesus instructing His disciples as He prepared to send them out to proclaim the Good News in the towns and communities of the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”. The world they were entering was filled with “wolves” who would strongly resist their message and would use the court system to harass and even physically abuse them. But there is more…

Under demonic delusion – speaking of “Beelzebul” - some powerful and influential people would hear the gospel message and identify it as hateful and evil speech and would perceive themselves as doing good for persecuting the disciples and by seeking to silence them. Consider the behavior of the Apostle Paul before his salvation experience, whose conscience was clear, but whose mind was gripped with delusion in his efforts to persecute the early church. Here, in Matthew 10, Jesus boldly challenged and charged the apostles: “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” 

The Gospel of Jesus brings light and salvation to the soul, exposing the rottenness and poison of sin that has been suppressed and kept carefully hidden away. This light has the power to bring a holy brokenness and a spirit of repentance so that the truth of grace may come flooding in. As the Gospel exposes personal sin in the human heart, it also works to expose the sin of society and culture and can even expose the lies and corruptions of the forgotten past….even those things buried away from sight from ancient times. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:6, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did,” where God calls us to look back, to be warned, and to understand...

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ABR Staff Member, Bryan Windle will be joining us again for another archaeological biography. We’ll be talking about one of the longest reigning kings of Judah – King Uzziah. Topics include: the Uzziah tablet, his expansionist policy, the Sebnayau Seal, Amos' earthquake, and more!
Breaking News
In a new study, published in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, researchers compared the dimension of hundreds of storage jars from ancient Israel and Judah and discovered that the diameter of the inner rim remained constant...

Researchers at the University of Tübingen recently announced the discovery of a winepress in Lebanon dating to the 7th century BC...

In a recent podcast, Prof. David Ben-Shlomo summarizes the recent scientific study (from July 2020) of four pottery vessels taken from the caves below the Tomb of the Patriarchs in a clandestine incursion in 1981...
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