In this episode, Zen speaks with Dr. Joel Burnett about his cutting edge research on the Amman Theater Statue, a larger-than-life, Iron Age statue discovered in 2010. We discuss the statue's origin, its features, and its religious function. Along the way, Joel helps us understand how this statue relates to and sheds light on other ancient Near Eastern societies, including Israel and Judah only seventy miles to the west. Here's a link to an article about the Amman Theater Statue, including numerous pictures: https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/12/Amman-Theatre-Statue-and-Ammonite-Royal-Ancestor-Cult Here's a link to Joel Burnett's new book on the statue: https://www.asor.org/news/2024/05/aasor75-amman-theater-statue Also in this episode, Cade Jarrell from Baylor Press joins us to discuss a new book by Philip Jenkins , Kingdoms of This World . You can learn more about that book here: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481319935/kingdoms-of-this-world/ Other Episodes You Might Like: Seeing and Touching History with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seeing-and-touching-history-cynthia-shafer-elliott-on/id1648052085?i=1000585869717 The Book of...Judges? with Julian Chike: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-book-of-judges-julian-chike-on-literary/id1648052085?i=1000610082013 Africana Biblical Criticism and the Book of Esther with Ericka Shawndricka Dunbar: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/africana-biblical-criticism-and-the-book-of/id1648052085?i=1000600183961…