Summary:

In this episode, you’ll learn how archaeological discoveries from the Middle Bronze Age shed light on Abram’s world and travels across Mesopotamia and Canaan. By reexamining evidence, scholars now suggest that Abram’s birthplace may have been near Haran in northern Mesopotamia—not the distant Sumerian Ur—highlighting how imprecise headlines have sometimes misled biblical geography.

Episode links:

Code of Hammurabi: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010174436

“Ur, Iraq,” Online Collection at the Penn Museum: https://www.penn.museum/collections/highlights/neareast/location/ur.php

"A Spectacular Discovery." Expedition Magazine 60, no. 1 (May, 2018): -. Accessed October 09, 2025. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/a-spectacular-discovery/

Objects from the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Online Collection at British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x32510

Sanlıurfa Museum: https://www.turkishmuseums.com/museum/detail/2227-sanliurfa-museum/2227/4

Amanda Hope Haley, “Big Digs, Bad Detectives” in Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/03/big-digs-bad-detectives/

Red-Haired Archaeologist® links:

First Friday Freebie: https://redhairedarchaeologist.myflodesk.com/firstfridayfreebie

Website: ⁠https://redhairedarchaeologist.com/⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/AmandaHopeHaley/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/amandahopehaley/⁠

Book: https://stonesstillspeak.com

Learn more about my fabulous video editor, Tanya Yaremkiv, by visiting her website at ⁠https://tanyaremkiv.com⁠ and listening to her podcast, Through the Bible podcast with Tanya Yaremkiv. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram @tanyaremkiv.

Summary:

In this week’s episode, we will explore the Bible’s use of metaphorical language (such as symbolic numbers) to convey meaning rather than timelines. You’ll also learn how the word yom in Genesis can mean either “day” or a longer period of time, showing that creation and the flood narratives are written to teach theological truths, not to serve as scientific accounts.

Episode links:

Nashville Rising: Our Story of the 2010 Flood: https://maps.nashville.gov/npl_2010FloodStory/

Samuel Noah Kramer, "Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood," Expedition Magazine 9, no. 4 (July, 1967): 15. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/reflections-on-the-mesopotamian-flood/

Map: Kingdom of Urartu: https://www.asor.org/resources/photo-collection/maps/mid000036

Amanda’s blog post about the Ark Encounter: https://redhairedarchaeologist.com/arkencounter/

Red-Haired Archaeologist® links:

First Friday Freebie: https://redhairedarchaeologist.myflodesk.com/firstfridayfreebie

Website: ⁠https://redhairedarchaeologist.com/⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/AmandaHopeHaley/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/amandahopehaley/⁠

Book: https://stonesstillspeak.com

Learn more about my fabulous video editor, Tanya Yaremkiv, by visiting her website at ⁠https://tanyaremkiv.com⁠ and listening to her podcast, Through the Bible podcast with Tanya Yaremkiv. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram @tanyaremkiv

Summary:

Episode 2 explores our understandings of Creation accounts within the Bible and in historical traditions, including theories for Eden’s location and the impact Renaissance art on Western images of Adam and Eve, the serpent, and cherubim.

Episode links:

“The cave of Machpelah (Part one),” The Zohar, Kabbalah Centre International, https://www.zohar.com/zohar/Chayei%20Sarah/chapters/14

The Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs: https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/11/02/the-secrets-of-the-cave-of-the-patriarchs/

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Adam and Eve, Ca. 1550. Oil on canvas. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/adam-and-eve/e0ca4331-fb89-47a7-9ba0-be0ece23426b.

The destruction of the temple at Ain Dara: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42858265

Red-Haired Archaeologist® links:

First Friday Freebie: https://redhairedarchaeologist.myflodesk.com/firstfridayfreebie

Website: ⁠https://redhairedarchaeologist.com/⁠

Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/AmandaHopeHaley/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/amandahopehaley/⁠

Book: https://stonesstillspeak.com

Learn more about my fabulous video editor, Tanya Yaremkiv, by visiting her website at ⁠https://tanyaremkiv.com⁠ and listening to her podcast, Through the Bible podcast with Tanya Yaremkiv. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram @tanyaremkiv.