For over 2,000 years, the Hebrew Bible has been considered sacred scripture by Jews and Christians. It also contains traditions held in high regard by Muslims. One of the most influential books ever written, it is also one of the more important artifacts of ancient Middle East. In this lecture by Andrew Burlingame, PhD student in Northwest Semitic Philology, we explore the Hebrew Bible and its work, and trace the new discoveries and revolutionary approaches to biblical scholarship that have emerged through the research of organizations like the Oriental Institute.