The Roman Germanic Museum in Köln (Cologne) has some fascinating artifacts.
Galli Guys
The Romans knew about a people and a land called Gaul.
Constantine's Throne Room
The brilliance of Roman engineering is on display in the throne room of Constantine the Great.
Climbing the Snake Path
Climbing Masada's Snake Path is an adventure!
The Roman Forum of Athens
The Roman forum of Athens isn't exactly eye-popping, but the weather station is cool!
Go to the Theater. You'll Feel Better
Epidaurus, in the Greek peloponnesus, was a site of healing and health. Grateful for his recovery, one patron donated a theater to the site. It still stands today as a remarkable expression of thanks.
Christianity on Trial
Christianity was on trial when Paul stood before the proconsul at Corinth.
The Isthmus of Corinth
The Isthmus of Corinth connects mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. The nearby site of Corinth provided a name and supervision to this strategic strip of ground.
Take it to the Oracle
The Oracle of Delphi was considered a source of truth and inspiration (and folly) in the Greco-Roman period.
This is us/them
I sat with Moriah and Peter in a 160-year-old restaurant in Köln known as Brauerei zur Malzmühle. While we chewed crispy pork knuckle, grilled pork belly, and raw minced pork (do you smell a theme here?), a local family settled into a stained wooden table adjacent to ours. Somehow we stood out as foreigners and became a subject of their whispered conversation.
James goes West
What happened to James the Great
The death of James the Great is described in the NT. Outside the NT, however, his story lives on. Part of that story is dedicated to an epic journey, and part of that story is dedicated to a post-death appearance. Both of these accounts teeter wildly into the area of myth but never say that to a Spaniard. It may cost you an eye.
Pompey-city
More than a decade before the hobnailed boots of Pompey the Great scraped the pavers of the Jerusalem Temple,* the Roman commander was out West. On the Iberian Peninsula, he pursued a campaign against the guerrillas of Quintus Sertorius. This pursuit kept Pompey busy for five years, from 76 to 71 BC. In that half-decade, Pompey developed his military chops, demonstrated a reputation for brutality, and earned a Roman triumph. The experience would serve him well.
A chain of whispered stories
Mountain portal
Like a patch ripped off
Ptolemaic puzzles (part 2)
Ptolemaic puzzles (part 1)
Restoration
Jesus trail report, 2017
Thirteen explorers from five U.S. states met at the opening of 2017 to walk the Jesus Trail. The Trail is a blazed course that passes through urban and rural regions of northern Israel-Palestine. Many sites of significance were encountered by the group; these give testimony to the deep and diverse history of the area known as Galilee.