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archaeology in Israel
David Tanami, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist, works his way into the narrow tomb opening to bring out a jar at a Canaanite burial site near Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo. (Shua Kisilevitz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Afterlife snack: Jar of toads popped open in 4,000-year-old Canaanite tomb dig
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Excavation just outside Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo gives window into funerary rites, with unexpected remains of decapitated toads and not-local myrtle and date pollen
David Tanami, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist, works his way into the narrow tomb opening to bring out a jar at a Canaanite burial site near Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo. (Shua Kisilevitz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
September 25, 2017, 2:31 pm
Afterlife snack: Jar of toads popped open in 4,000-year-old Canaanite tomb dig
Excavation just outside Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo gives window into funerary rites, with unexpected remains of decapitated toads and not-local myrtle and date pollen
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A jumble of bones found at the Khirbet el-Maqatir archaeological dig in 2013. (Steven Rudd)
September 12, 2017, 3:11 pm
A 2,000-year-old murder leads to an illicit burial in the heart of the West Bank
When archaeologists said 7 women and a youth found in caves were slain by Romans during the Great Revolt, settlers secretly stepped in to illegally pay their last respects
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Haifa University Prof. Danny Rosenberg holds the 7,200-year-old model clay grain silo found at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley. (Haifa University)
September 6, 2017, 5:02 pm
Unique 7,200-year-old clay model silo forces rethink of how society evolved
Discovered at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, one-of-a-kind vessel testifies to earliest agricultural rituals known in the ancient Near East
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Complete seal bearing the name 'Ahiav ben Menahem' found at Jerusalem' City of David, summer 2017. (Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)
September 4, 2017, 2:12 pm
Jerusalem welcomed Jewish refugees 2,700 years ago, new finds show
A trove of clay imprints from official documents indicates that after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, refugees fled to the Kingdom of Judah, where they rose in the ranks
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Souvenir 'coins' made at the Israel Museum's Youth Wing, alongside their certificate of inauthenticity. (Israel Museum)
August 27, 2017, 4:52 pm
Too good to be true: 8-year-old’s ‘rare coin’ not an ancient artifact
Originally thought to have been minted during the 66-70 CE Jewish Revolt, the piece is actually a worthless, kid-made souvenir from the Israel Museum's Youth Wing
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
8-year-old Hallel Halevy holding her find of a rare 2,00-year-old half-shekel coin on August 23, 2017 in Halamish. (courtesy)
August 24, 2017, 11:47 pm
8-year-old girl’s 2,000-year-old ‘half-shekel’ turns out to be museum souvenir
Coin found in Halamish, initially believed to be minted just prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, is actually one of thousands produced by children each year at Israel Museum, expert says
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
An archaeologist works on part of a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor bearing the names of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, on August 23, 2017 (AFP PHOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI)
August 23, 2017, 11:18 am
Outside Jerusalem’s Old City, a once-in-a-lifetime find of ancient Greek inscription
During a salvage excavation ahead of telephone cable infrastructure placement, archaeologists uncover a rare intact 1,500-year-old mosaic from the dawn of the Christian empire
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Dr. Yonatan Adler on-site at the stone quarry and tool production center excavations at Reina in Lower Galilee. (Samuel Magal/IAA)
August 10, 2017, 11:51 am
2,000-year-old stone workshop discovered near where Jesus turned water into wine
Because it was immune to ritual impurity, the use of stoneware was rife among Jews during the Roman era
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative: An ultra-Orthodox man examines a citron (etrog) in Jerusalem (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 9, 2017, 10:44 pm
As Italy’s citron crop fails, an archaeologist looks to fruit’s 2,500-year history in Israel
After a disastrous frost that looks to wipe out the majority of this year's etrog yield, Chabad Jewry braces for a crisis ahead of the Feast of Tabernacles
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Dueling Bethsaida excavations: (clockwise from top left) Bronze coin from e-Tell, team member at el-Araj, mosaics found at el-Araj, city gate at e-Tell excavation site. (courtesy)
August 7, 2017, 2:20 pm
Sites vie to be seen as Christianity’s ‘lost’ city of Bethsaida
Seeking the location of a myriad of New Testament miracles, excavations in area of important Second Temple-era town uncover conflicting finds
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Biblical characters that Lawrence Mykytiuk claims to have verified. Clockwise, from left: Sargon II; Cuneiform prism describing the restoration of Babylon by Esarhaddon; a relief of King Sennacherib from his palace in Nineveh; Tiglath-pileser III from the palace at Nimrud. (Public domain)
August 4, 2017, 6:29 pm
Researcher gives seal of approval to 53 biblical characters’ existence
Lawrence Mykytiuk looks for ancient personalities who have made an impression -- be it on a signet ring or a monument
By Rich Tenorio
Visitors wait at the entrance of the Flagellation Monastery, off the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City, for the Archaeology and Multimedia exhibition. (Courtesy of Tamschick Media)
July 31, 2017, 9:37 pm
Travel back in time at this secret cool oasis in Jerusalem’s Old City
The first stage of the 100-year-old Terra Sancta Museum's reboot offers a multi-media tour of the holy city from a Christian perspective
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
The structure in which shattered jugs were found during the summer 2017 Israel Antiquities Authority dig, attesting to the destruction. (Eliyahu Yanai, Courtesy of the City of David Archive)
July 26, 2017, 3:37 pm
Finds in Jerusalem shore up biblical account of Babylonian conquest
On the eve of the Hebrew commemoration of the destruction of the Temples, archaeologists discover remnants of a blaze indicating the city was grander than thought
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
One of the four ritual baths found at the Galilee's Magdala dig site, which are the earliest ever discovered in the country to use ground water. (courtesy)
July 26, 2017, 1:15 pm
New finds suggest Second Temple priests who fled the Romans kept up holy rituals in the Galilee
After seven years of excavations at Magdala, four rare ritual baths and a unique carved stone point to importance of ancient fishing town to priestly class
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Digging in the ancient 1,600-year-old wine press in Ramat Negev, summer 2017. (Tali Gini, Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 25, 2017, 12:58 pm
1,600 years ago, soldiers may have quaffed wine from this desert press
A large Byzantine-era wine press uncovered in the Negev region is only the second of its kind to be found
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
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