Canaanites

Ahmed Nassar Yassin with 4,500-year-old artifacts he discovered in a burial cave near Araba in northern Israel. (Nir Distelfeld/Israel Antiquities Authority)

September 11, 2019, 11:58 am

4,500-year-old burial artifacts chanced upon by electrician on his way to work

Ahmad Nassar Yassin, a resident of the northern Israel village of Araba, discovers remains of a previously unknown Canaanite-era settlement

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaking at an event hall in the Jalazone refugee camp on August 10, 2019. (Wafa)

August 13, 2019, 4:00 pm

Abbas: Settlements will be swept away, Palestinians came from ancient Canaanites

PA president says despite US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the city belongs to the Palestinians; charges Hamas’s leaders are working for Israel

By Adam Rasgon

Stunning 8th century BCE staircase and paved entrance hall at Tel Hazor. (The Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin)

July 24, 2019, 5:17 am

Large 3,500-year-old staircase hints at conquered Canaanite kingdom’s grandeur

The largest biblical-era site in Israel with an estimated population of 20,000, Hazor was razed by the Israelites, according to the Book of Joshua

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

An orthophoto created from a 3D model of an adult male (center) and adult female (bottom) during excavation of the 3,600-year-old burial cave at Megiddo. (Adam Prins and Robert S. Homsher)

March 21, 2018, 11:30 pm

Untouched for 3,600 years, ‘royal’ tomb may change what we know about Canaanites

Located at the crossroads of civilization, a Tel Megiddo burial chamber includes a diadem-bedecked male skeleton, and hints that bones did not always rest in peace

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

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

Burial of individual analyzed in the Canaanite study, from about 1600 BC. (Dr. Claude Doumet-Serhal/Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute)

July 28, 2017, 4:30 am

The Canaanites weren’t annihilated, they just ‘moved’ to Lebanon

A UK-based study of ancient genomes finds Canaanites form over 90% of modern Lebanese ancestry, a trait they share with ancient Israelites

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Medallion made up of a silver disc with an engraving of an eight pointed star that was discovered in Tel Gezer in November 2016. (CLARA AMIT/IAA)

November 14, 2016, 5:59 pm

Rare Canaanite-era trove of gold and silver unearthed in central Israel

Pendant, scarab and rare fabric discovered in clay vessel in 3,600-year-old room undergoing excavation at Tel Gezer National Park

By Sue Surkes

An Egyptian-made statue of Ramses III, using finer materials and tools than those made by the Canaanites (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

March 10, 2016, 11:33 am

The Canaanites who loved Pharaoh, on display at the Israel Museum

Jerusalem’s latest grand-scale exhibit reveals an unlikely, world-changing exchange of rituals and objects in ancient times

By Jessica Steinberg

The opening to two of the tombs at the Khalet al-Jam'a necropolis near the town of Bethlehem.
Credit: ®ROSAPAJ - Sapienza University Rome

March 7, 2016, 9:48 am

Huge Canaanite burial ground found near Bethlehem, shows city thrived 4,200 years ago

Finds at cemetery, which was abandoned after the Assyrians conquered area from the Hebrew kings, cast new light on ancient burial practices

By Sue Surkes

An ancient figurine discovered at Tel Rehov, in the Beit She'an Vally (Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

February 25, 2016, 5:08 pm

Boy finds ancient figurine during Beit She’an outing

3,400 year-old-statue given to Israel Antiquities Authority, which awards 7-year-old Uri Grinhot with a certificate and visit at school

By TOI staff

An aerial view of the fortress found in Nahariya. (Guy Fittousi, Israel Antiquities Authority)

January 6, 2016, 7:33 pm

Remains of 3,400-year-old fortress found in Nahariya

Israel Antiquities Authority and contractor agree to incorporate new find in housing project, to protect ancient discovery

By TOI staff

Damascus Museum employees wrap archaeological artifacts into boxes to protect them from being damaged on March 24, 2015, in the Syrian capital (photo credit: AFP PHOTO / JOSEPH EID)

March 26, 2015, 11:25 am

In Syria, race to save antiquities from looting, damage

Officials in war-torn country hide thousands of ancient artifacts and manuscripts in order to protect them from jihadists

By AFP

Nurith Goshen, area supervisor of Area D-West, and Dr. Andrew Koh, associate director of the Tel Kabri Archaeological Project, articulating a vessel in the Tel Kabri wine cellar. (photo credit: CC BY-SA Flinders Petrie, Wikimedia Commons)

August 28, 2014, 3:23 pm

Canaanite wine stash found in Galilee unearths ancient flavors

Excavators at Tel Kabri find hard evidence of viniculture, seek to recreate Bronze Age beverage

By Ilan Ben Zion

Peace negotiators Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erekat at the State Department in Washington, July 30, 2013 (photo credit: AP/Charles Dharapak)

February 12, 2014, 7:42 pm

About that 10,000-year history in Jericho, Mr. Erekat

Assessing the credibility — and the impact — of the Palestinian chief negotiator’s claims to pre-Jewish family lineage in the Holy Land

By Elhanan Miller

Standing stones (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)

October 5, 2013, 6:23 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