When archaeologists dig at a site like Hazor, they're not just moving dirt — they're reading history written in layers. Understanding stratigraphy is the key to understanding how we know what we know about the ancient world of the Old Testament.

In this episode we cover what a tell actually is, how archaeologists assign meaning to destruction layers, how Hazor illustrates all of this with stunning clarity, and why pottery matters more than almost anything else for dating ancient sites.

🗺️ Explore the OT in its original context: https://otincontext.com

👥 Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldtestamentincontext

(Note: This episode includes references to on-screen map demos. For the full visual experience, watch on YouTube — but the teaching stands on its own as audio.)

When you read "nation" in the Old Testament, what do you picture? A country on a map with borders and a flag? That's not what the word means — and the difference changes how you read the entire Bible.

In this episode, we explore how the ancient world understood nations, states, and peoplehood — why you can't draw a nation on a map, and why this distinction is the engine of the whole Old Testament story.

This is Episode 3.1, the first in our Nations & Empires series.

Episode links:

• OT in Context App: https://otincontext.com
• YouTube (with visual demos): https://youtube.com/@OTinContext
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldtestamentincontext

Previous: The Land of Canaan: Why This Specific Place? (Episode 1.5)

Next: Suzerains, Vassals, and Satrapies: How Ancient Politics Worked (Episode 3.2)

Of all the places God could have planted His people — the fertile Nile, the rich plains of Mesopotamia — He chose a narrow, contested strip of land wedged between empires. Why?

In this episode, we explore the geography of Canaan: a land so compact you could walk across it in a few days, yet packed with more geographic diversity than regions ten times its size. From the coastal plain to the central hills to the Dead Sea — the lowest land elevation on earth — this land was built for dependence, exposure, and encounter.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Why there?

0:34 - What this series is about

1:10 - The space between empires

3:15 - A land of remarkable diversity

6:10 - Why this place? Position, dependence, exposure

9:24 - Many names, one land

10:24 - What's next

🔗 LINKS

OT in Context App: https://otincontext.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldtestamentincontext

🎬 PREVIOUS: Jericho: 11,000 Years of History

🎬 NEXT: Coming soon

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