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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 646

Biblical archaeology

Shas party leader Aryeh Deri and spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visit the scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue on June 8, 2025. (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 9, 2025, 3:12 pm
Daily Briefing June 9: Day 612 – Will Shas bring down the coalition?
Political correspondent Sam Sokol on Haredi parties’ bids for draft exemptions threatening the government; archaeology reporter Rossella Tercatin on new studies on the Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls
By Jessica Steinberg, Sam Sokol and Rossella Tercatin
Rembrandt's Moses with the Ten Commandments,1659, Germaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin (photo credit: Google Art Poject / Wikipedia Commons)
June 6, 2025, 8:10 am
Who wrote the Bible? A pioneering new algorithm may shatter scholarly certitude
Breakthrough method analyzes word distribution to clarify origins of biblical passages — including disputed stories in Genesis, Samuel and Esther
By Rossella Tercatin
The 'Natan-Melech/Eved Hamelech' bulla found in the City of David. (Eliyahu Yanai, City of David)
May 13, 2025, 10:15 am
Ancient Israelites were more worldly than their insular Judean cousins, study shows
Using statistical methods from field of ecological biodiversity, Israeli scholars analyze 1,000 First Temple period names and find that the northern state was likely more ‘cosmopolitan’
By Rossella Tercatin
Israelis visit the site of Sebastia near the West Bank city of Nablus, on April 22, 2019. (Hillel Maeir/ Flash90/ File)
May 12, 2025, 9:44 pm
Archaeologists launch new excavation in West Bank at capital of ancient Israel
Sebastia archaeological site features remains from biblical to modern times; Palestinian Authority denounces dig, accusing Israel of ‘colonial and Judaization practices’
By Rossella Tercatin
Protesters rail against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government demonstration on Tel Aviv's Habima Square, as a sign reading 'Save the country from yourself' is hoisted in the background, April 21, 2025 (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni//Flash90)
April 22, 2025, 2:55 pm
Daily Briefing Apr. 22: Day 564 – Politics heat up over Shin Bet chief statement
Political correspondent Sam Sokol discusses the political uproar over Ronen Bar’s affidavit; archaeology reporter Rossella Tercatin reviews the Vatican’s relationship with Roman Jews
By Rossella Tercatin, Sam Sokol and Jessica Steinberg
Dates harvested from 'Hannah,' the first female palm tree germinated from 2,000 year-old seeds discovered in the Judean desert, are displayed in Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel, on September 27, 2021. (Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)
April 18, 2025, 10:11 am
Friday Focus with Sue Surkes: Israel’s biblical flora resurrected
In honor of this week’s spring holidays, ToI’s environment reporter describes a date palm that was brought back from the dead, a Rose of Jericho plant that resurrects itself and more
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Sue Surkes
Screen capture from video of a murex mollusk. (YouTube)
April 17, 2025, 9:37 pm
Made from snails and fit for kings: First biblical-era dye factory found on Israel’s coast
Ancient Tel Shiqmona site yields first evidence of large-scale purple dye production centuries before Roman times, possibly supplying First Temple in Jerusalem
By Rossella Tercatin
People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
April 1, 2025, 2:31 pm
Daily Briefing Apr. 1: Day 543 – PM questioned on Qatargate; proof of biblical Armageddon?
Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon reports back from ransacked Jinba; reporter Rossella Tercatin delves into a recent Pew survey and archaeological findings from Megiddo
By Amanda Borschel-Dan, Jeremy Sharon and Rossella Tercatin
From right to left – Tel Aviv University Prof. Oded Lipschits, Noga, Ziv and Omer Nitzan, and Antiquities Authority archaeologist Semyon Gendler. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
April 1, 2025, 12:21 pm
Three-year-old girl finds Canaanite seal where Bible says David battled Goliath
Ziv Nitzan was hiking with her family near Tel Azeka when she picked up a small stone that her sisters later realized was shaped like a scarab, revealing 3,800-year-old finding
By Rossella Tercatin
The ritual structure discovered in the City of David. (Kobi Harati/City of David)
January 14, 2025, 8:15 pm
In first, researchers find where Jerusalemites prayed before Temple became only game in town
Archaeologists say unique City of David structure, which contains a standing stone, altar and other facilities, was abandoned in the 8th century BCE during a religious reform
By Gavriel Fiske
Taking samples at copper production sites in the Timna Valley, in an image released on December 23, 2024. (courtesy TAU)
December 25, 2024, 1:20 am
Ancient copper smelting at ‘King Solomon’s mines’ was less toxic than today’s industry
Soil samples from Timna show that previous studies have exaggerated the environmental impact of the mining industry in antiquity, Tel Aviv University research team finds
By Gavriel Fiske
The Tel Dan Stele on display at the Jewish Museum in New York. (Courtesy of the Jewish Museum. Photo by Christine Butler via JTA)
December 14, 2024, 3:13 pm
Tel Dan Stele, oldest archaeological evidence of King David, comes to NY’s Jewish Museum
The ancient artifact, which dates to the 9th century BCE, is on view through January 5
By Jackie Hajdenberg
An ancient tablet with an inscription of the Ten Commandments, to be auctioned in December 2024 by Sotheby's. (Screen capture via YouTube, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
November 13, 2024, 9:03 pm
Oldest inscribed Ten Commandments to be auctioned in December
Two-foot tall, 115 pound marble tablet is inscribed in Paleo-Hebrew, with Samaritan variant of Ten Commandments, including an injunction to worship on Mount Gerizim
By ToI Staff
A jug handle stamp impression showing that the contects beloged to the Kingdom of Judah administration, found at an 8th century BCE site in Jerusalem. (courtesy IAA)
October 10, 2024, 4:12 pm
The taxman cometh: Jerusalem dig shows tribute system after biblical revolt against Assyria
Remains of buildings and a collection of stamped jar handles for the first time offer clues to how agricultural produce in the Jerusalem area was distributed to the empire
By Gavriel Fiske
Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, with 'Sheba' in 2010. (Guy Eisner)
September 18, 2024, 4:29 pm
Tree grown from ancient mystery seed found in cave could be source of biblical balm
Identified as species of Commiphora, part of the frankincense and myrrh family, plant lacks fragrance but medical compound suggests possible link with Bible’s ‘tsori’
By Sue Surkes
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