R. Steven Notley is Professor of Biblical Studies, New York City campus of Nyack College. He collaborated with David Flusser on the historical biography Jesus and is editor for Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels. Currently he is completing The Sacred Bridge: An Historical and Geographical Atlas of the Bible, with Anson Rainey. Ze'ev Safrai studied Talmud and History in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is now the Martin Szuz Professor in the Land of Israel Studies Department at Bar Ilan University. Among his books: The Jewish Community in the Talmudic Period (in Hebrew), The Economy of Roman Palestine, The Missing Century and the Macmillan Bible Atlas.

One of the challenging tasks for archaeologists and biblical historians alike is the identification of sites mentioned in the Bible - some of which were destroyed and disappeared in time without a trace. The first comprehensive attempt to locate these places was that of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea and fourth-century church historian (ca. 260-339 CE). In his "Onomasticon," Eusebius cataloged most of the cities, sites and regions mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. Supplementing his list when possible, Eusebius provided detailed information concerning the sites' history and location, including their distances in Roman miles from other well-known metropolitan centers in fourth century Palestine. The "Onomasticon" of Eusebius is the most important book for the study of the Land of Israel in the Roman period. Scholars and students alike will find his work indispensable for an understanding the physical settings of the biblical narrative.