numerous books, including Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth, The Archaeology of the Holy Land from the Destruction of Solomon's Temple to the Muslim Conquest, Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus, and The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Magness applied the “Page 99 Test” to her new book, Jerusalem through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades, and reported the following:
Readers who open my book to page 99 will probably find themselves somewhat lost. This page is in the middle of the chapter on Judahite Jerusalem, which focuses on the year 587 BCE, shortly before the city’s destruction by the Babylonians. The book introduces readers to Jerusalem by presenting the history and archaeology of the city in different periods, from its beginnings to the Crusades. Without the preceding historical and archaeological framework for Judahite Jerusalem, most readers probably will not be able to understand or appreciate the discussion on page 99, which describes inscribed seals, bullae, and stone capitals from a late Iron Age public building recently excavated to the south of the Temple Mount. Among these is a stone seal that belonged to a woman named Elihana daughter of Gael. Seals (which were used to seal documents by making an impression into a lump of clay) and bullae (clay sealings - that is, lumps of clay impressed with a seal) bearing female names are rare because ancient Israelite families were patriarchal. Most women did not own seals since they did not conduct business in their own name. The Elihana seal and other finds were discovered among the debris that filled the public building, which was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.Visit Jodi Magness's website.
The Page 99 premise is intriguing, but Jerusalem’s story is so rich and complex that I doubt any one page in my book can convey an accurate impression of the overall contents. I hope that readers of this blog will discover this for themselves by reading the entire book, or, at least, the chapters on periods of interest to them.
--Marshal Zeringue
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