I am amazed by the reach of this magazine. I recently learned that we have subscribers scattered across 75 countries. We have readers in nearly every country in Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, including subscribers in far-flung nations such as Montenegro, Madagascar and Mauritius!
It inspires me to see people all over the world interested in biblical archaeology.
This shows how important Israel’s archaeology is, not just to scientists, or to Jews and Christians, but to humanity. It also shows how important it is that Israel’s biblical history be cherished, preserved and shared.
But of the many thousands of people we reach across the Earth, we have a special affection for one nation in particular: Israel.
One of the main goals of the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology and this magazine is to share Israel’s biblical archaeology with the people of Israel. After all, this is their land and their history!
Archaeology is generally considered a scholarly and intellectual endeavor—and it is. But while archaeology is practiced by scientists and follows important scientific and academic processes, it is not the sole domain of scholars. Archaeology is relevant to all people. When it is communicated effectively, it can be understood by almost anyone—and it can inspire everyone. We were taught this by our friend, the late Dr. Eilat Mazar. Eilat would often discuss how eager she was to share her archaeology—not just with her colleagues, the archaeologists, professors and scientists, but with the general public. Dr. Mazar believed her archaeological discoveries belonged to all Israelis. She told us many times that “regular Israelis” were fascinated by biblical archaeology and that this was the audience she really wanted to reach.
It was remarks like this by Dr. Mazar that inspired the establishment of our institute. Our staff does a lot of academic and scholarly work. We strive to keep abreast of the many archaeological excavations in Israel, we interview archaeologists and scholars, and we work regularly at Hebrew University, helping publish Dr. Mazar’s archaeology. Our team is constantly reading scientific reports and scholarly articles. Why? It isn’t merely because it interests us or because we want to grow as scholars. First and foremost, we do it because we want to share the archaeology with the largest audience possible, with the “regular people”—especially Israelis.
Our aim is similar to that of the Prophet Isaiah, who wrote: “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, Get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, Lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah: ‘Behold your God!’” (Isaiah 40:9). All men, and especially the Jewish people, need the “good tidings” proclaimed in biblical archaeology.
One translation of Isaiah 40:9 reads, “O herald of happiness to Jerusalem; raise it fearlessly and tell the towns of Judah, here is your God!” There is a lot of education, excitement and inspiration in Israel’s archaeology. Dr. Mazar was full of positive energy—a real dynamo. Where did all that enthusiasm come from? Most of it came from the history she would relentlessly study and excavate, the history of the Jewish people. Israel’s biblical history is just that powerful, inspiring and encouraging. This is the history we aim to share with the “regular people” in the “towns of Judah.”
There are a lot of brilliant scientists in this world. Unfortunately, too few have a genuine interest in sharing their brilliance and their work with the general public. Scholars can so easily turn inward and become so absorbed with their subject that they fail to share their work with the larger community. They can easily operate in an echo chamber where they share their knowledge and discoveries with only a handful of colleagues or maybe a small community of fellow experts. Dr. Mazar recognized this tendency. She believed that some of the common people of Israel had more vision than the elites. Many Jewish people know their Bibles, and love the history it records.
When it comes to the goal of sharing biblical archaeology with the “regular people” in Israel we face an obvious and significant obstacle: Our friends in Israel speak Hebrew!
While many speak English, they are most comfortable speaking and reading Hebrew. We have long known that if we are going to reach the largest audience possible—if we are ever going to share this message with the “regular people” living in the “cities of Judah”—we would need a Hebrew-language version of Let the Stones Speak.
I am thrilled to announce that we now have it! After 55 years of doing our archaeology work solely in English, we now have a Hebrew-language publication. It’s called לתת לאבנים לדבר, which is a close translation of “let the stones speak.”
This was an ambitious undertaking, and more challenging in practice than it was in theory. We are a relatively small organization, and English is our first language. While some of our staff know Hebrew, they aren’t fluent enough to translate articles on complex scientific topics. We overcame this challenge by having the magazine translated by a professional translation company.
The company is based in Israel, and all the translators are Israelis. Then, to safeguard the science, the Hebrew translations were edited by our friend, Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Viviana Moscovich, who was a personal assistant to Dr. Mazar.
The desktop publishing was also done by Israelis, then edited by our brilliant graphic designers and artists. It takes between 10 to 12 people to produce the English-language Let the Stones Speak. The Hebrew-language magazine was produced by close to 20 people.
The timing of this development couldn’t be better. The first issue published in Hebrew is our special exhibit edition. This is the November 2023–February 2024 issue, which focused on the archaeology of the Kingdom of David and Solomon and was created to accompany our archaeological exhibit, now underway in Edmond, Oklahoma.
We printed 5,000 copies of this issue and had them sent to our office in Jerusalem. In July we will be ready to start dispatching these across Israel!
Now that we have Let the Stones Speak in Hebrew there’s only one thing left to do: We need to get word to the people of Israel. We are developing an advertising strategy, which will include both online ads and ads in newspapers. We are also exploring the possibility of sharing the magazine via other programs.
As far as we know, Israel doesn’t have a magazine devoted solely to its archaeology—which is one reason we believe לתת לאבנים לדבר has the potential to make a positive impact!
For now, the magazine will be mailed from Israel and will be available only to people living in Israel. If you have friends and family living in Israel who you think might enjoy this magazine in Hebrew, they can request the first issue by e-mailing requestIL@ArmstrongInstitute.org.
The first issue of Let the Stones Speak was published in January 2022 and was sent to 1,435 subscribers. This issue is being sent to 10,417 subscribers scattered all over the world! And now we have a Hebrew-language magazine! I don’t think any of us expected to be creating a Hebrew version this soon.
We are a small organization that tries to think big. In future issues we hope to share ideas we have for other ambitious projects. For now, we are thrilled to announce לתת לאבנים לדבר, an exciting new development that will allow us to share Israel’s biblical archaeology with the regular people living in the “towns of Judah.”
