RESEARCH • WRITING • FIELDWORK
Writing & Research
Biblical archaeology, Egyptology, Ancient Near Eastern history, Grand Canyon geology, museums, and the places where physical evidence and historical texts intersect.
Most of my research starts with place: a landform, an archaeological site, an artifact, a museum collection, a map, or a historical text that can be compared against the physical setting.
SELECTED WORK
Research & Publications
Academic papers, conference research, and selected studies in geology, archaeology, Egyptology, and biblical history.
2023 • INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CREATIONISM
Shoreline Transgressive Terraces: Tufa-Encrusted Landforms Indicate Rapid Filling and Failure of Hopi Lake
Co-authored with Steven A. Austin, Edmond W. Holroyd III, and Thomas F. Folks. The study examines terrace-like landforms in the western Bidahochi Basin and their implications for the filling and failure of Hopi Lake and the development of Grand Canyon.
2023 • ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION
The Celestial Tapestry Woven into Egyptian Lore and Iconography
An examination of stars, the sun, moon, and planets in ancient Egyptian religion and cosmology, including celestial symbolism, the afterlife, circumpolar stars, and familiar Egyptian iconography. The paper also considers how sky imagery functioned across religious texts, monuments, and funerary traditions. It further compares celestial themes across royal, funerary, and temple contexts.
2023 • BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
An Early Yahwist Cult Site on Mount Ebal
A study of the Mount Ebal complex, its construction phases, location, ritual setting, and possible role in early Yahwist worship among an emerging proto-Israelite community.
2022 • ARTIFACT STUDY
A Curse Tablet Defixio from Mount Ebal
An object analysis of the folded lead item discovered in material from the Mount Ebal altar site, considering its archaeological context, proposed identification as a defixio, and chronology.
2022 • CRITICAL REVIEW
A Critical Review of “Does ‘Curse Amulet’ Prove the Discovery of Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal?”
A critical review examining claims surrounding the Mount Ebal lead object and the identification of the site.
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Archaeology & Egyptology Papers
Selected coursework includes studies on standards of living in New Kingdom Egypt and the use of dendrochronology as an archaeological dating tool. Together, those papers explore how material evidence, chronology, and scientific methods can inform archaeological interpretation.
FIELD-BASED RESEARCH
Start with the thing itself.
My work is shaped by firsthand observation: geological fieldwork in the Grand Canyon and American Southwest, archaeological and museum research in Egypt and the United Kingdom, and the use of mapping, aerial imagery, photogrammetry, and 3D terrain visualization to better understand sites and landscapes.
Academic questions become most useful to me when they reconnect to something tangible—a landscape, artifact, stratigraphic relationship, museum collection, inscription, or historical text that can be examined directly.
ON THE DESK
Current Book Projects
Shepherd Kings
The Hebrew Hyksos and Israel’s Arrival in Egypt
A developing study of the Hyksos period, the eastern Nile Delta, and the historical setting of Israel in Egypt. The project brings together Egyptian history, eastern Delta archaeology, and biblical chronology to examine the setting in which Israel may have entered Egypt.
Research in development.
The Landmark Exodus
Tracing the Biblical Route from Egypt to Sinai
A geographical and archaeological investigation of the Exodus route, its landmarks, chronology, and Egyptian setting.
Nimrod and Narmer
The Egyptian-Mesopotamian Connection
Research into early Egypt, Mesopotamia, cultural contact, and questions surrounding the earliest civilizations.
Research in development.
ACADEMIC PROFILES