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Post-lockdown field trip? Visit some of Israel’s (320!) archaeological gardens
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
Free historical sites nationwide, open to the public at all hours, feature Roman-era marble artifacts, ancient sarcophagi, farming implements, Crusader ruins and more
An overlook next to a mikveh, or ritual bath, at the Givat Titora archaeological garden. (Shmuel Bar-Am)
September 20, 2020, 6:38 am
Post-lockdown field trip? Visit some of Israel’s (320!) archaeological gardens
Free historical sites nationwide, open to the public at all hours, feature Roman-era marble artifacts, ancient sarcophagi, farming implements, Crusader ruins and more
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
The Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the West Bank town of Hebron, June 22, 2017. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
September 16, 2020, 2:33 pm
LISTEN: Purloined pottery from Tomb of Patriarchs gets 1st scientific study
Prof. David Ben-Shlomo speaks about new ceramics study, history of Judaism’s second holiest site where Abraham buried Sarah, and findings from his recent excavations at Tel Hebron
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Wine cellar room at the Tel Kabri archaeological site.
September 13, 2020, 4:06 pm
Archaeologists say earthquake caused sudden disuse of Canaanite wine palace
Joint Israel-US team at Tel Kabri site in Galilee region propose why thriving complex with well-stocked cellar was abandoned 3,700 years ago despite no sign of war or pandemic
By Stuart Winer
Examples of Hebrew ostraca from Arad. (Michael Cordonsky, Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority)
September 9, 2020, 9:07 pm
Police forensics join AI algorithms to track down who wrote the Bible, and when
An unprecedented Tel Aviv University study combines human handwriting know-how with cutting-edge computer science to analyze literacy of Judahites in 7th century BCE Arad
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A hoard of gold coins dating to the Abbasid Caliphate is pictured during a press presentation of the discovery at an archeological site near Tel Aviv in central Israel (Heidi Levine / POOL / AFP)
August 24, 2020, 10:52 am
Pure gold: Teens find 425 Islamic coins from 1,100 years ago at Israel dig
Rare trove ‘in excellent condition’ includes a coin fragment, cut to make ‘small change,’ that shows a connection between Abbasid Caliphate and rival Byzantine empire
By TOI staff
Illustrative: Close-up of a 12,000-year-old human burial embedded in the white material found in the Ein Gev cave. (courtesy)
August 19, 2020, 4:35 am
1st complete strontium isotope map of Israel tracks ancient human migration
New study of rock and soil samples taken from entire span of Israel provides first comprehensive database for archaeologists to perform ‘forensics’ on movements of people, animals
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
High school student Jenny Vasiutin holding the 'Windmill' game board, found during IAA excavations in Rahat, a Beduin city in the Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 16, 2020, 1:54 pm
Earliest soap factory in Israel, discovered in Negev, shows seeds of early Islam
In accord with Muslim roots, 1,200-year-old industrial soap factory uses olive oil as its base, as opposed to lard found in soaps of Europe of the same era
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Detail of the north-east quarter of the cremation pit during excavation. A fragment of collapsed wall inside the pit is visible (star). (Bocquentin et al, 2020/PLOS ONE, CC BY)
August 13, 2020, 4:23 pm
Neolithic cremains in Israel are Mideast’s oldest funerary pyre, claims scholar
Levant’s first deliberate cremation occurred between 7013-6700 BCE, according to new analysis of remains of young adult discovered in northern Israel’s Beisamoun site in 2013
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Givati Parking Lot excavations in the City of David Park in Jerusalem, a site where remnants of the 586 BCE destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians were discovered. (Shai Halevi/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 9, 2020, 1:24 am
Burnt remains from 586 BCE Jerusalem may hold key to protecting planet
A new analysis of 1st Temple-era artifacts, magnetized when Babylonians torched the city, provides a way to chart the geomagnetic field – physics’ Holy Grail – and maybe save Earth
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Baby-faced 'corn mummy' does not contain any human or animal remains, rather corn and mud. (Screenshot)
August 6, 2020, 11:29 am
Mystery of Haifa mummies finally unraveled
Hi-tech CT scans of bird-shaped and baby-faced mummies at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus solve one riddle, but create a whole new conundrum
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
100,000-year-old tools uncovered at a flint-knapping site outside Dimona in Israel's Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 4, 2020, 2:19 pm
Paleolithic flint tools are 1st ‘breadcrumbs’ of modern man’s trail to Israel
Migration route from Africa given new clarity by 100,000-year-old tools discovered outside Dimona in the Negev Desert made by unusual flint-knapping technique
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
The face of Yahweh? A clay head dated to the 10th century BC, found at Khirbet Qeiyafa, some 20 miles from Jerusalem (Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 31, 2020, 4:42 pm
Face of God? Archaeologist claims to find 10th cent. BCE graven images of Yahweh
Hebrew U Prof. Yosef Garfinkel asserts small male figurines discovered at digs near Jerusalem are an image of the biblical God; other experts angrily dismiss theory
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Archaeologist Joe Uziel cleans the newly uncovered Western Wall courses, located under Wilson's Arch in the Jerusalem Old City, October 2017. (Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 28, 2020, 1:49 pm
For Tisha B’Av, learn about the archaeological proof of Jerusalem’s destructions
Access Wednesday’s Behind the Headlines webinar by becoming a ToI Community member today
By TOI staff
Trash mounds on the outskirts of Elusa (Guy Bar-Oz/University of Haifa)
July 27, 2020, 10:01 pm
Seeds from 1,500-year-old Negev trash pits show a world on the brink of collapse
Study of 10,000 seeds from Negev viticulture settlements illustrates how plague, climate change and socioeconomic depression in booming empire’s periphery point to its decline
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Hannaton kibbutz members Haviva Ner-David (left), Anat Harrel, and Steve Gray with archaeologists at the Roman-era mikveh discovered in the Jezreel Valley in July 2020. (courtesy, Jessica Steinberg)
July 23, 2020, 1:37 pm
Discovery of ancient ritual bath spurs nearby kibbutz to try to save it
Kibbutz Hannaton is spearheading a fundraising effort to move a Roman-era mikveh to its land, where it would join the pluralistic ritual bath
By Jessica Steinberg
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