Jodi Magness (JodiMagness.org) is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in the Department of Religious Studies. She specializes in the archaeology of ancient Palestine in the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods. Since 2011, excavations that she directs at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee have brought to light a Late Roman synagogue paved with stunning mosaics depicting an array of biblical and non-biblical stories – a discovery featured in the April 2024 issue of National Geographic magazine. This course incorporates research from Magness’ most recent book, Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (Oxford University Press 2024).