Reading Matthew’s Gospel in the Cemeteries of Roman Syria and Judea
2025-10-30 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Phoenix) | Zoom, 4985 SW 74th Court, Miami, FL, 33155, United States
Why does the Gospel of Matthew prefer a different word for burials, taphoi, than the other New Testament gospels? And why does Matthew consistently revise his sources to describe Jesus’s burial as costly? Matthew emphasizes that Jesus was anointed with expensive spices and buried in a rich patron’s new tomb, which makes it appear as though he wanted to portray Jesus as receiving an elite burial. If, however, we read Matthew’s descriptions of burials in light of archaeological evidence of changing mortuary practices in provincial Syria and Judea, where the gospel was composed sometime in the late first century, his motives appear more complicated. Quick though he is to indicate that Jesus received a rich man’s burial, Matthew is clear that this did not include any of the lavish displays of status that were increasingly common on elite tombs in Matthew’s context. Through a critical analysis of both text and funerary archaeology, this presentation explores how the author of Matthew and his earliest audiences responded to and participated in cultural and socioeconomic changes induced by geopolitical shifts in the Roman East.
Biography
Dr. Tony Keddie is Associate Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions and Fellow of the Ronald Nelson Smith Chair in Classics and Christian Origins at the University of Texas at Austin. An award-winning social historian, Keddie’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersections of religion and economics in the Roman East, particularly among Jews and Christians in Judea and Asia Minor. He is the author of four books, including Class and Power in Roman Palestine; co-editor of five books, including Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East; and author of more than two dozen articles.
Registration required. Follow this link to register: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/wggxz9iBS2WOCEFg3nGIUA

Webinar: Radiocarbon Dating & Stable Isotopes in Archaeology
2026-02-12 19:30 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver)
Join SGS Beta for an accessible introduction to radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating and stable isotope applications in archaeology and related sciences. This webinar will cover the fundamentals of how radiocarbon dating works, including why calibration is essential for accuracy, and the special considerations needed when working with bone samples. Through case studies, you’ll learn how ¹⁴C analysis has been applied to archaeological discoveries ranging from Viking burials to mammoth remains, and how stable isotopes like strontium and oxygen provide insights into ancient migration, diet, and provenance.
Dr. Maren Pauly is a natural scientist specializing in isotope geochemistry who undertook her PhD in Natural Sciences at the Freie Universität Berlin and previously completed her Master of Science and Bachelor of Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada. She is currently working as a scientific associate at SGS Beta.

New Insights into Changing Lifeways in Ancient Nubia
2026-04-30 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Phoenix)
Brenda J. Baker, PhD
Professor of Anthropology
Center for Bioarchaeological Research
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
“New Insights into Changing Lifeways in Ancient Nubia”
The Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) focuses on the area between the Fourth and Fifth Cataracts of the Nile River in northern Sudan, enriching our understanding of the extent to which people peripheral to core areas where state-level societies operated were integrated. Interconnections are evident from the Kerma period (c. 2500-1500 BCE) on, incorporating exotic items such as carnelian and Red Sea mollusc shell beads and Egyptian vessels, though local craft production is evident. Analysis of strontium isotopes from tooth enamel shows a decrease in mobility throughout the Kerma period in this area, likely reflecting a shift in subsistence practices. Late Meroitic through Post-Meroitic period burials from the Qinifab School site cemetery (used c. 250-1450 CE) include extra-local items indicative of continuing access to far-flung exchange networks despite the construction of a network of stone-walled forts in the region and evidence of conflict commencing during this time. Inclusion of archery equipment in the graves of several males coincides with high rates of trauma reflecting interpersonal violence. These trends suggest that the disintegration of the Meroitic empire led to ongoing incursions and that control by the kingdom of Makuria and conversion of the local populace to Christianity was fraught. Avulsion of lower incisor teeth in nearly 10% of adult males and females became a new marker of identity in late Meroitic to medieval people of the region and new work reveals that tattoos were also far more common in ancient Nubia than previously recognized.
Biography
Brenda J. Baker is a professor of anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, a core faculty member of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research and curator of the ancient Nubian collections housed at ASU. She directs the Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) in northern Sudan and is the founding co-editor-in-chief of Bioarchaeology International (2015-present). Baker taught previously at Tufts University (1992) and Minnesota State University Moorhead (1993-94), and was director of the Repatriation Program and curator of Human Osteology at the New York State Museum from 1994-1998. She has served on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (2012-2015), as an associate editor of the International Journal of Paleopathology (2010-2015) and Journal of Human Evolution (2020-present), and was a founding Steering Committee member of the Western Bioarchaeology Group (2012-2022). She is also a founding member of the American-Sudanese Archaeological Research Cener, serving on its advisory panel (2017-present). Baker’s teaching includes upper-division undergraduate courses such as the Global History of Health, Life and Death in Ancient Egypt, Bioarchaeology, undergraduate and graduate courses in human osteology, and graduate courses in Paleopathology, Children and Childhood in the Past, Nubian Bioarchaeology, and field methods.
Registration is required. Follow this link to register: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/VrIBqv9sQ_CwgC39LZu8MQ#/registration
