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

November 5, 2013
9:00 am

The ancient souk in Aleppo. (photo credit: Wikimedia)

To save Middle East’s cultural treasures, a race against time

The precious historical sites of Syria, Iraq and other war-torn countries could become another casualty of the Arab Spring

By Debra Kamin

November 2, 2013
5:59 am

Market in the Old City, leading down from Maronite Convent Road (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)

In the footsteps of a master forger

In 1883, respected antiques dealer Moses Wilhelm Shapira claimed to possess ancient scrolls of Deuteronomy. The text differed slightly from the accepted version: It had an 11th Commandment

By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am

October 18, 2013
4:10 am

This 2005 photo provided by the journal Science shows a pre-human skull found in the ground at the medieval village Dmanisi, Georgia. (photo credit: AP/Courtesy of Georgia National Museum)

Tel Aviv prof helps shake up evolutionary tree with 1.8m-year-old skull find

Yoel Rak part of international team to publish research on Georgian skull showing earliest movement of humans out of Africa

By AP and Times of Israel staff

October 11, 2013
11:07 am

A recycling site in a cave near Zichron Yaakov. (photo credit: AP/Dan Balilty)

Cavemen were great recyclers, Israeli scientists say

Tel Aviv University conference focuses on ancestors who would reuse flint and other objects hundreds of thousand of years ago

By Ariel David

October 5, 2013
6:23 am

Standing stones (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)

Discover Gezer, Israel’s lost city

Today it looks totally desolate, but over 3,000 years ago, Gezer was a major Canaanite center. Archaeologists are uncovering its turbulent history

By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am

September 28, 2013
8:03 am

A leopard at the Hannover Zoo in Germany. (Photo credit: Ralf Schmode/Wikimedia)

5,000-year-old leopard trap discovered in Negev

New study suggests ancient enclosure technology was used by the first regional sheep and goat herders around 6,000 years ago

By Times of Israel staff

September 18, 2013
9:31 am

View of the Sea of Galilee (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Biblical-era town discovered along Sea of Galilee

From the web Livescience: Archaeologists say site found in the Ginosar valley could be Dalmanutha, mentioned in the Gospel of Mark

September 9, 2013
11:12 am

Byzantine-era gold coins found near the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount (photo credit: courtesy Ouria Tadmor/Hebrew University)

Gold treasure trove unearthed at base of Temple Mount

Byzantine-era coins and unique menorah medallion found by Hebrew University archaeologists at site abutting Southern Wall

By Ilan Ben Zion

August 20, 2013
11:32 am

In this Monday, July 22, 2013 photo, a man walks through remains of St. Hilarion’s monastery in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip. St. Hilarion’s monastery, a reminder of the time in late antiquity when Christianity was the dominant faith in what is now the Gaza Strip, is one of many archaeological treasures scattered across this coastal territory. (photo credit: AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Gaza’s ancient ruins endangered by modern sprawl

Construction in one of the most crowded places on earth imperils sites spanning 4,500 years, from Bronze Age ramparts to Byzantine mosaics

By Daniela Berretta and Ibrahim Barzak

August 18, 2013
11:29 am

2,700-year-old pottery fragment discovered in the City of David site in Jerusalem (photo credit: courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)

2,700-year-old Hebrew inscription found in Jerusalem

First Temple-era pottery fragment features name similar to Biblical prophet’s father, archaeologists say

By Gavriel Fiske

July 18, 2013
3:58 pm

Khirbet Qeiyafa, where some archaeologists believe King David built his palace (photo credit: courtesy/ Israel Antiquities Authority)

Archaeologists say they’ve found one of King David’s palaces

Two large structures — one said to be monarch’s palace; the other a royal storeroom — uncovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa site near Jerusalem and dated to Davidic period

By Lazar Berman

July 14, 2013
1:09 am

Footage from a video purporting to show the Krak de Chevaliers castle being hit by an airstrike Friday. (Screesnhot via YouTube)

Crusader castle blasted by Syrian airstrikes

Krak de Chevaliers, near Homs, one of world’s best-preserved fortresses from 12th century; video shows heavy damage