by Tony Cartledge | Aug 5, 2020 | Opinion, Top Feature
Paige Patterson’s ill-fated tenure as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas had one good feature for archaeology nerds like me. He strongly supported the school’s archaeology program, known as the Tandy Institute. Not so the new president,...
by Tony Cartledge | Jul 29, 2020 | Opinion
Taxes have been around since the emergence of urban civilization but weren’t always paid in coinage, checks or bank drafts. Many ancient Hebrews paid their taxes in the form of grain, wine or olive oil, which were then stored in large pottery jars, typically holding...
by Tony Cartledge | Jul 22, 2020 | Opinion
Nine dollars and 15 cents. I drove away from the gas pump with a brimming tank for nine dollars and 15 cents. How is that even possible? With COVID-19 cutting travel and an oversupply of oil, prices were already down to $1.87 per gallon. I hadn’t bought gas in more...
by Tony Cartledge | Jul 15, 2020 | Opinion
Long before the Israelites inhabited Palestine, long before the Canaanites, long before the Natufians, peoples roamed the land. As part of the land bridge linking Africa to both Europe and the East, the earliest humans who came out of Africa would have come through...
by Tony Cartledge | Jul 8, 2020 | Opinion
The letter came in a business-sized envelope, but it was hand addressed in bold print with a complete return address and an honest-to-God stamp. How often does that happen? I noted the Raleigh postmark but didn’t recognize the sender’s name, so I opened it with some...
