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First Temple

Dr. Ayala Zilberstein, excavation director at the Davidson Archaeological Park in Jerusalem on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, holds a 2,700-year-old pottery fragment bearing the first-ever Assyrian inscription found in the city. The discovery was announced on October 22, 2025. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
October 22, 2025, 3:16 pm
Biblical tax notice: 1st-ever Assyrian inscription found near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
2,700-year-old fragment of pottery suggests Judeans delayed paying their tributes to the empire, echoing the events described in the book of II Kings
By Rossella Tercatin
New technologies are offering an important contribution to underwater archaeology, according to Prof. Thomas Levy from UC San Diego, an author of a paper announcing the discovery of three shipwrecks from biblical times (11th to 7th centuries BCE) off the coast of northern Israel, published in Antiquity in August 2025. In the picture, a three-camera photogrammetry rig. (Amir Yurman/ University of Haifa)
October 8, 2025, 11:45 am
In first, three shipwrecks from biblical times uncovered off the coast of Israel
Only 11 ships from the Iron Age previously found in the Mediterranean; discovery provides evidence of maritime trade under the Kingdom of Israel
By Rossella Tercatin
Temple Mount Sifting Project archaeologist Mordechai Ehrlich holds a First Temple period clay sealing reading “Yed[a‛]yah (son of) Asayahu” found in July 2025. (Temple Mount Sifting Project)
July 30, 2025, 5:04 pm
Tiny 2,600-year-old clay sealing inscribed with biblical name found in Temple Mount soil
Minuscule artifact discovered at the Jerusalem-based Temple Mount Sifting Project may reference an official who worked for King Josiah and who appears in II Kings and II Chronicles
By Rossella Tercatin
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
Archaeologist Saar Ganor stands by a pillar that held up the second story of a house in the Mirsham Farmhouse archaeological site. (Shmuel Bar-Am)
December 28, 2024, 7:53 am
Come see the archaeological treasures of the Mirsham Farmhouse, buried for 2,600 years
A little to the north of Beersheba lies a First Temple-era site whose artifacts have only recently begun to be excavated
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
Rare First Temple-era seal found in Jerusalem, in an image released on August 29, 2023. (Emil Aladjem/IAA)
August 29, 2024, 11:43 am
‘Extremely rare, beautiful’ First Temple-era ‘genie’ seal discovered in Jerusalem
2,700-year-old stone seal is inscribed with the words ‘Yehoʼezer son of Hoshʼayahu’; its image of a protective winged demon or genie betrays Assyrian influence
By Gavriel Fiske
Adam Hajaj speaks during a rally for hostages in Gaza in Tel Aviv on August 10, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
August 12, 2024, 3:54 pm
October 7 trauma reconnects Israelis with a 2,000-year-old Jewish day of mourning
Thousands of synagogues prepare to feature lamentations about the Hamas atrocities, on Tisha B’Av, a fast day that commemorates historical – and now contemporary – tragedies
By Canaan Lidor
Tiny, 3,000-year-old gold pendant found in the Ophel area in Jerusalem, thought to be of Phoenician origin. (courtesy AIBA/Reese Zoellner)
February 27, 2024, 3:11 pm
Tiny First Temple-era Phoenician pendant is ‘earliest gold artifact’ found in Jerusalem
Just 4 millimeters on a side, the item could provide evidence that Phoenicians were in Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, archaeologist says
By Gavriel Fiske
Excavations of a unique ancient installation at the Givati Parking Lot dig in the City of David, Jerusalem, August 2023. (Kobi Harathi/City of David)
August 30, 2023, 2:14 pm
Researchers baffled by unique, mysterious Jerusalem structure from First Temple era
Channels unearthed in City of David site, last in use around 9th century BCE, likely formed part of city’s economy due to location near temple and palace
By Michael Horovitz
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts, 1850. (Wikipedia/ Creative Commons)
July 27, 2023, 1:40 am
Judicial overhaul opponents see parallel to Tisha B’Av, saddest day in Hebrew year
Image reading ‘Shisha B’Av’ circulates online to mark Hebrew date Knesset passed overhaul bill, drawing link to destruction of Temples
By PHILISSA CRAMER
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July 17, 2023, 8:37 am
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People gather to hear a reading of the Book of Lamentations at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall on August 6, 2022. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
March 27, 2023, 2:19 pm
Authors, poets to read Book of Lamentations in protest of overhaul
‘We are currently on the brink of destruction of the Third House,’ says writer Ilan Sheinfeld
By Jessica Steinberg
The 'Ishmael Papyrus,' a rare document from the First Temple period. (Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority)
September 7, 2022, 1:45 pm
Ingathering of the exiles? Extremely rare First Temple-era papyrus repatriated
2,700-year-old inscribed papyrus, a letter to ‘Ishmael’ written in early Hebrew script, joins only two others from biblical times. But that’s just the beginning of the story
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Religious Jews are escorted by Israeli police as they tour the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot on September 24, 2018. (Sliman Khader/Flash90)
June 2, 2022, 8:20 pm
Fighting rabbinic ban, Jewish activists push Temple Mount prayer toward mainstream
How a group of determined activists has been reinterpreting Jewish law, shifting public discourse and challenging the status quo at one of the most contentious places on Earth
By Judah Ari Gross
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July 15, 2021, 2:54 pm
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By ToI Staff
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