The Red-Haired Archaeologist

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. Episod...

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: Nashvi...

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 T...

Summary: Join Amanda as she begins season 5 and introduces her new book, Stones Still Speak , with an explanation of her inspiration and hopes for the book. Then consider the stones throughout the ancient world that were first stacked and erected as memorials and signposts, but were eventually used to build the cities that many archaeologists excavate. Episode links: Origins of clickbait: https://...

Amanda and her family have relocated to Nashville, TN, where she is now preparing for the launch of Stones Still Speak: How Biblical Archaeology Illuminates the Stories You Thought You Knew on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, from Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group). Season 5 of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast is now planned for the fall, when each episode will correspond to a chapter...

Amanda is hard at work perfecting her next book, which will release on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, from Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group). Season 5 of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast will release in early 2025, but in the meantime, you can continue to connect with her through social media, the RHA® website, and her monthly email, the First Friday Freebie! Red-Haired Archaeologis...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about the Neo-Babylonians’ defeat by the Persian Empire and how that changed all exiles’ lives; understand the differences between the terms “Hebrew,” “Israelite,” and “Jew”; and consider why Chronicles is critical to the re-development of Jerusalem in the 6th and 5th centuries. Episode links: Tablet from the Marushu Archive, Penn...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn how both Egypt and the Southern Kingdom fell to Nebuchadnezzar of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, what ancient documents help us to better understand the biblical narrative of ancient Israel’s fall, and where some traditions locate the Ark of the Covenant today. Episode links: “Why the brick lions that protected the streets of Babylon...

The Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast will return with the final 2 episodes of season 4 in January. Until then, connect with her and other listeners on the RHA social media pages at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaHopeHaley/ and https://www.instagram.com/redhairedarchaeologist/

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about Josiah's religious reforms and military interactions. Consider what the "book of the law" looked like and contained, how the Neo-Assyrian Empire lost ground to the growing Neo-Babylonians, why Egypt flipped from friend to foe, and where the first (and last?) battle in recorded history was fought. Episode links:...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about Hezekiah’s successor and son, Manasseh. Consider why a wicked man was allowed to be the longest-reigning monarch in ancient Israel, when and where the stories of his life were recorded, and how sibling rivalry may have been the beginning of the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Episode links: Victory Stele of Esarhaddon: https...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about one of the Southern Kingdom’s most righteous kings, Hezekiah. Understand what he did to restore right-worship of Israel’s God to his nation, why the mighty Neo-Assyrians didn’t conquer Jerusalem, and how his final actions foreshadowed Jerusalem’s future fall to the Neo-Babylonians. Episode links: Tel Beer Sheva National Park...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about the collapse of the Northern Kingdom to the Neo-Assyrians. Understand why the conquerors are “neo,” where the “lost tribes of Israel” went, and how the Samaritans’ culture developed. Episode links: “House of David“ inscribed on a victory stele, (now at the Israel Museum): https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/371407-0 Black...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about the Northern Kingdom’s most infamous king and queen: Ahab and Jezebel. Find out where Samaria’s capital city was built, how Phoenician religion and trade affected the nation, and why we think of Jezebel as a seductress instead of a powerful politician. Episode links: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn what caused the ancient United Kingdom of Israel to split into the North and the South, why religion impacted that action, where the Northern tribes attempted to worship God, and how Israel’s dead were buried. Episode links: “Two Riddles of the Queen of Sheba,” tapestry from Strasbourg, Germany (ca. 1490-1500), Metropolitan Museum...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn about the extrabiblical evidence of David and Solomon, including the Tel Dan Stele and Solomon’s “great” cities of Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer. Then consider the differences between what Scripture says about the first Temple and the Queen of Sheba and how other traditions have influenced our interpretations.   Episode links: Michael...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn why David was up on his roof staring at Bathsheba, what made Hebron so important to Israelite leaders, and how lamps were made and used in antiquity. Episode links: “Tour” a 4-Room House at Harvard’s Museum of the Ancient Near East: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=sQamX7QGS2v Matti Friedman, “In an ancient figurine, an ordinary...

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn how "ruddy" David was chosen to be Israel’s second king, why there is confusion about Goliath’s height, what happened in a cave in En Gedi, and where the City of David is located. Episode links: Edward Burne-Jones, “David and Goliath” (1872), Vyner Memorial Window, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford: https://www.chch.ox.ac....

During this episode of the Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast, learn why the Iron Age got its name, how Israel changed from a confederation of tribes to a unified kingdom, and what makes Samuel and Saul so important to Israel's history. See one of the earliest pieces of proto-Hebrew writing, and learn how "lots" were actually used for decision making in the ancient world! Episode link...

Amanda is coming back with Season 4 of The Red-Haired Archaeologist® Podcast in October! She's titled the season, "Kings of the Iron Age: From Tabernacle to Temples." Watch for a preview of what is to come. Show notes: Lahav Harkov, “Rocking out under the Iron Dome,” Jerusalem Post (12 May 2023), https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-742825

Travel: why it's important, why I love it, and a promise to my readers and listeners...

Egypt's interaction with Israel isn't limited to the biblical and classical periods of history. The two nations have continued to be intertwined in recent history and modern politics. Listen to this last full episode of Season 3 to learn how Egypt transitioned from Christianity to Islam, and how Arab politics continue to impact the State of Israel. Episode links: To order signed copies of Amanda's...

Herod the Great may have pushed Joseph, Mary, and Jesus into exile in Egypt, but tradition says it was Mark the Evangelist who brought Christianity to the nation. Learn how Egypt moved from worshipping gods to worshipping God during the final centuries of the Roman Empire. Episode links: To order signed copies of Amanda's books, visit https://amandahopehaley.square.site/ For help making your podca...

The entrance of Alexander the Great into Egypt was not the "liberation" the native Egyptians expected. The conqueror and his successors, the Ptolemies, Hellenized Egypt's culture, people, and government. Episode links: For help making your podcast sound as good as this one, contact Nicholas Allaire at nicholasjallaire@gmail.com

In today's episode, Egypt encounters the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires--with Israel always in the middle. Episode links: For help making your podcast sound as good as this one, contact Nicholas Allaire at nicholasjallaire@gmail.com