The Levantini Podcast
The Levantini Podcast is a show about Near Eastern history, language, religion and culture.
Episodes
60 episodes since 2018
Plant‐related Philistine ritual practices at biblical Gath
Aren Meir and Sue Frumin come back on the show to discuss a paper they co-authored that examined plant-related Philistine ritual practices at Tell Es-Safi, which is believed to be the biblical Gath. You can find a link to the study
August 01, 2024
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Episode 60
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39:23
The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea
Joan Taylor is a Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London and the author of the book The Essenes, The Scrolls, and the Dead Sea. In this episode, we discuss her book that challenges misconceptions about ...
July 16, 2024
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Episode 59
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36:00
The Lost Roman Campaign in Arabia
Michael Fradley is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and a landscape archaeologist. He was one of the co-authors of a recent study about how a remote sensing survey in southern Jordan identified at least three Roman military...
October 24, 2023
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Episode 58
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23:54
The Consuming Fire
Liane Feldman discusses her book The Consuming Fire, which presents a complete translation of the Priestly Source of the Bible, offering a distinctive account of the origins of the people of Israel and their relationship with God. By pres...
July 25, 2023
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Episode 57
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43:54
Dysentery in Judah
Dr. Piers Mitchell is an Honorary Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge and the lead author of a recent study that analyzed sediments from two latrines from the Kingdom of Judah....
June 26, 2023
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Episode 56
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34:10
The Wolf King
In this episode of the podcast, Abigail Krasner Balbale discusses her book The Wolf King: Ibn Mardanish and the Construction of Power in Al Andalus. The Wolf King explores how political power was conceptualized, constructed, and wielded in twel...
April 20, 2023
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Episode 55
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48:55
The Origins of Ashkenazim
Dr. Shamam Waldman discusses a recent paper she co-authored with her colleagues at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that was published in the journal Cell. The study was an effort to sequence the DNA from the remains of Ashkenazi Jews in medi...
February 14, 2023
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Episode 54
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37:11
How The Bible Is Written
Professor Gary Rendsburg comes back on the podcast to discuss his book How The Bible Is Written. The book examines the literary aspects of the Hebrew biblical text and highlights the artistry and skill of the biblical authors. How The Bible Is ...
October 25, 2022
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Episode 53
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54:54
The Kharijites - Heroes & Villains
Hannah-Lena Hagemann is based in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Hamburg University, where she leads a research group on rebellion in early Islam. She is the author of The Kharijites in Early Islamic Historical Tradition which is the ...
July 26, 2022
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Episode 52
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48:10
The Assyrian War Machine
Professor Yosef Garfinkel is a Professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Yigael Yadin Chair in Archaeology of Israel. In 2021 he was one of the authors of a study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology which...
April 12, 2022
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Episode 51
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30:19
Revelation & Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition
Professor Benjamin Sommer is an American biblical scholar and Jewish theologian. He’s a Professor of Bible at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. Professor Sommer is the author of the ...
April 05, 2022
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Episode 50
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1:01:26
The Middle Maccabees
Andrea Berlin is the James R. Wiseman Chair in Classical Archaeology and a Professor of Archaeology and Religion at Boston University. Her research focuses on the archaeology and history of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Roman East, Ceramic S...
February 22, 2022
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Episode 49
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55:18
The Bar Kokhba Revolt
Professor Boaz Zissu is an archaeologist and a member of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University. He has authored and collaborated on numerous studies of the Bar Kokhba Revolt including co-...
December 14, 2021
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Episode 48
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43:19
Revelation in Islam
Khalil Andani is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Augustana College and holds a Ph.D. In Islamic Studies from Harvard University. Professor Andani’s dissertation “Revelation in Islam: Qur’anic, Sunni, and Shi‘i Ismaili Perspective...
September 22, 2021
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Episode 47
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1:36:15
Divorcing Lilith: From the Babylonian Incantation Bowls to the Cairo Genizah
Gideon Bohak is a Professor in the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University. He is a specialist in Jewish magic, especially in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and in the study of the Cairo Genizah. Professor Bohak came b...
May 25, 2021
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Episode 46
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1:14:15
The Samaritans
Matthew Chalmers is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Religious Studies and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Northwestern University’s Department of Religious Studies. He is a scholar and theorist of religion, working with texts and t...
May 04, 2021
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Episode 45
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1:07:49
The Rise and Fall of Viticulture in The Late Antique Negev Highlands
Daniel Fuks is a Newton International Fellow of the British Academy at the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. As a PhD candidate in the Archaeobotany Lab at Bar-Ilan University, he was the leading auth...
February 16, 2021
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Episode 44
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49:07
Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism
Sarit Kattan-Gribbetz is an Associate Professor of Theology at Fordham University and the author of Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism, which can be purchased on
February 09, 2021
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Episode 43
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1:16:32
Playaling
Playaling is a language learning platform founded by Jordan Gerstler-Holton, a former Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) fellow and lon...
January 25, 2021
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Episode 42
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42:27
When the Gods Were Born
Carolina Lopez-Ruiz is a Professor at Ohio State University in the Classics Department and her research focuses on understanding Greek culture in its broader ancient Mediterranean context. She has authored a number of books on the Phoenician ci...
January 23, 2021
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Episode 41
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48:58
Jewish Languages From A to Z
Professors Aaron D. Rubin and Lily Kahn came back on the show to discuss their new book Jewish Languages From A to Z. The book is a comprehensive survey of Jewish...
December 16, 2020
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Episode 40
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48:55
Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World
Michael Philip Penn is a professor of religious studies at Stanford University and the author of Envisioning Islam: Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim World as well as the book When Christians First Met Muslims. Professor ...
December 13, 2020
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Episode 39
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49:37
Philistine Invasion Biology
Sue Frumin is a post-doctoral researcher at Bar Ilan University and archaeobotanist. Sue works in the archaebotany lab run by Professor Ehud Weiss at the university. She is one of the co-authors of a 2015 paper that examined the impact of the P...
November 10, 2020
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Episode 38
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21:26
Jewish Magic in Late Antiquity
Gideon Bohak is a Professor in the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud at Tel Aviv University. He is a specialist in Jewish magic, especially in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and in the study of the Cairo Genizah. In this episode of the...
October 20, 2020
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Episode 37
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1:06:16
Life and Death in the Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant
Professor David Ilan has come back to discuss the Chalcolithic age in the Southern Levant (4500 - 3700 BC) and specifically theories concerning religious beliefs about death and reincarnation. Professor Ilan serves as the Director of the Nelson...
September 15, 2020
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Episode 36
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51:33