This project will investigate the interface between the study of the bible and the study of antiquity in the nineteenth century. These two areas -- the bible and classics -- are central to the intellectual world of the 19th century, a source of knowledge, contention, and authority both as discrete topics, and, more importantly, in relation to and in competition with one another. It is impossible to understand Victorian society without appreciating the intellectual, social and institutional force of these concerns with the past. Yet modern disciplinary formation has not only separated them in the academy, but also marginalized both subject areas -- which has deeply attenuated comprehension of this foundational era. Our project will bring together scholars working on a range of fields including classics, history of education, cultural history, art history, literary history to bring back into view a fundamental but deeply misunderstood and underexplored aspect of the nineteenth century, which continues to have a significant impact on the contemporary world.