March 5, 2014
2:19 pm

Mask decorated with paint, Nahal Hemar Cave, Judean Desert, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, 9,000 years old. (photo credit: Elie Posner/Israel Museum, Jerusalem)

Israel reveals eerie collection of Neolithic ‘spirit’ masks

Ahead of Purim, 12 relics of 9,000-year-old ancestor worship from Judean Desert, Hills to go on display at Israel Museum for first time

By Ilan Ben Zion

February 25, 2014
5:14 pm

The dissected earrings and other contents of a silver hoard found at Abel Beth Maacah. (photo credit: Gabi Laron)

3,300-year-old silver earrings found at biblical site

Earthenware jug containing five complete earrings and ingots from the late Bronze Age discovered near Israel’s border with Lebanon

By Ilan Ben Zion

February 16, 2014
11:14 pm

Colossi of Memnon, Theban Necropolis, Egypt (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, Hajor, CC BY-SA 1.0)

Egypt: Missing pieces of ancient statues found

German archaeologists discover lost remnants of famed Colossi of Memnon, one of the country’s oldest tourist attractions

By AP

February 13, 2014
8:55 pm

Relief depicting Sea Peoples taken captive by Ramesses III at the temple of Medinet Habu. (photo credit: CC BY-SA Rémih, Wikimedia Commons)

Roving Sea Peoples may have settled Transjordan, archaeologist says

Not all scholars convinced by evidence suggesting kin of Philistines migrated as far inland as site associated with Bible’s Jabesh Gilead

By Ilan Ben Zion

February 9, 2014
9:43 pm

The Nile Delta is home many ancient Egyptian sites. View of the 4,500 year old Sphinx, April 1, 2006. (photo credit: Melanie Fidler /Flash90)

Egyptian team finds trove of ancient artifacts

Archaeologists find hieroglyphs with the name of King Psammeticus I dating back to 600 B.C.

By AP

February 5, 2014
1:31 pm

Digging up a medieval Jewish quarter in the heart of Cologne (photo credit: Cologne Municipality)

1,700 years of Jewish history come alive in downtown Cologne

Excavations in a city where Jews have lived as long as Christians yield some remarkable findings, to be displayed in a major new museum

By Raphael Ahren

January 24, 2014
10:44 pm

Irving Finkel, curator in charge of cuneiform clay tablets at the British Museum, poses with the 4000 year old clay tablet containing the story of the Ark and the flood during the launch of his book 'The Ark Before Noah' at the British Museum in London, Friday, Jan. 24, 2014. The book tells how he decoded the story of the Flood and offers a new understanding of the Old Testament's central narratives and how the flood story entered into it. (photo credit: AP/Sang Tan)

British Museum: Prototype for Noah’s Ark was round

Curator Irving Finkel calls 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian tablet telling flood story ‘one of the most important human documents ever discovered’

By Jill Lawless

January 10, 2014
8:51 pm

Illustrative photo (Nati Shohat /Flash90)

Biblical water tunnel discovered in eastern Jerusalem

‘Beautiful’ 2,500-year-old underground corridor believed to have served a Judean king

By JTA

January 9, 2014
2:02 pm

View of the Cave of the Patriarchs and Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron. (photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90)

State funding archaeological dig in heart of Hebron

West Bank settlers secure support from Ariel University, Israel Antiquities Authority to excavate purported biblical site

By Yifa Yaakov

December 19, 2013
12:10 pm

A 5th century silver drachm from Persian era Palestine with a gorgoneion on the obverse (left) and a lion and bovine on the reverse (right). Above the lion are the Aramaic letters yod, heh and dalet -- Judea. (photo credit: Vladimir Naikhin/The Israel Museum)

Israel Museum obtains world’s ‘first Jewish coin’

American donor gives Jerusalem institution collection of 1,200 silver Persian coins, including 4th century BCE drachm with earliest mention of Judea

By Ilan Ben Zion

December 13, 2013
4:00 pm

The Parador de Lorca Hotel, in Lorca, Spain (photo credit: courtesy)

Spanish hotel built on 15th century synagogue opens new shul

Management incorporates other findings, like a 15th century mikveh, into the building’s architecture

By JTA

December 10, 2013
11:16 pm

‘Holland’s oldest mikvah’ is fake, archaeologist says

Expert: Site, which dates back to 13th century, is actually a government building’s cellar

By JTA

December 8, 2013
6:48 pm

Fountain and plumbing from medieval mansion in Ramle (photo credit: Ron Peled, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Medieval Arab mansion unearthed in Ramle

Complete with fountain and intact plumbing, unique 11th century villa was likely abandoned after pair of earthquakes struck region

By Ilan Ben Zion

November 27, 2013
7:22 am

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, as imagined by the 19th-century German painter Ferdinand Knab

Expert claims to find Babylonian gardens

Daily Mail: Dr. Stephanie Dalley of Oxford University says a new textual analysis reveals that the hanging gardens of Babylon were in Nineveh, near present-day Mosul

November 25, 2013
4:24 pm

Excavation at Eshtaol along Route 38. (photo credit: Yoli Shwarz, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)

10,000-year-old house uncovered outside Jerusalem

With range of dramatic finds in excavations ahead of highway expansion, archaeologists trace 10 millennia of human development

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Topic: archaeology

Israel reveals eerie collection of Neolithic ‘spirit’ masks

Ahead of Purim, 12 relics of 9,000-year-old ancestor worship from Judean Desert, Hills to go on display at Israel Museum for first time

3,300-year-old silver earrings found at biblical site

Earthenware jug containing five complete earrings and ingots from the late Bronze Age discovered near Israel’s border with Lebanon

Egypt: Missing pieces of ancient statues found

German archaeologists discover lost remnants of famed Colossi of Memnon, one of the country’s oldest tourist attractions

Roving Sea Peoples may have settled Transjordan, archaeologist says

Not all scholars convinced by evidence suggesting kin of Philistines migrated as far inland as site associated with Bible’s Jabesh Gilead

Egyptian team finds trove of ancient artifacts

Archaeologists find hieroglyphs with the name of King Psammeticus I dating back to 600 B.C.

1,700 years of Jewish history come alive in downtown Cologne

Excavations in a city where Jews have lived as long as Christians yield some remarkable findings, to be displayed in a major new museum

British Museum: Prototype for Noah’s Ark was round

Curator Irving Finkel calls 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian tablet telling flood story ‘one of the most important human documents ever discovered’

Biblical water tunnel discovered in eastern Jerusalem

‘Beautiful’ 2,500-year-old underground corridor believed to have served a Judean king

State funding archaeological dig in heart of Hebron

West Bank settlers secure support from Ariel University, Israel Antiquities Authority to excavate purported biblical site

Israel Museum obtains world’s ‘first Jewish coin’

American donor gives Jerusalem institution collection of 1,200 silver Persian coins, including 4th century BCE drachm with earliest mention of Judea

Spanish hotel built on 15th century synagogue opens new shul

Management incorporates other findings, like a 15th century mikveh, into the building’s architecture

‘Holland’s oldest mikvah’ is fake, archaeologist says

Expert: Site, which dates back to 13th century, is actually a government building’s cellar

Medieval Arab mansion unearthed in Ramle

Complete with fountain and intact plumbing, unique 11th century villa was likely abandoned after pair of earthquakes struck region

Expert claims to find Babylonian gardens

Daily Mail: Dr. Stephanie Dalley of Oxford University says a new textual analysis reveals that the hanging gardens of Babylon were in Nineveh, near present-day Mosul

10,000-year-old house uncovered outside Jerusalem

With range of dramatic finds in excavations ahead of highway expansion, archaeologists trace 10 millennia of human development

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