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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 432

University of Haifa Zinman Institute of Archaeology

An archaeologist explores remains of cargo from a shipwreck that likely occurred between 1000 BCE and 500 BCE at Dor Beach, during the May 2023 excavation season. (courtesy Department of Maritime Civilizations/University of Haifa)
July 15, 2023, 9:00 am
Marine excavations offer glimpse into ancient history preserved under the sea
While much of Israel’s land has already been dug up and explored, archaeological discoveries underwater are just beginning to surface
By Melanie Lidman
A close view of the trephination procedure discovered at Tel Megiddo in northern Israel and the piece of the skull that was removed. (courtesy Rachel Kalisher)
February 24, 2023, 3:05 pm
Square hole in an ancient skull: Middle East’s earliest brain surgery found in Israel
Over 3,500 years ago, two brothers from an upper-class family survived with serious illness, and one underwent the radical procedure of trephination, discovery at Megiddo reveals
By Melanie Lidman
Prof. Israel Finkelstein speaks at a seminar launching the collaboration between the University of Haifa School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures and the Technion at the Technion in Haifa on January 18, 2023. (Rami Slush/Technion). 
January 20, 2023, 3:28 am
Israel’s Technion, U of Haifa announce game-changing microarchaeology collaboration
With excavators in need of cutting-edge science and advanced lab equipment to study finds on a molecular level, academics say the partnership will benefit both institutions
By Melanie Lidman
Sharks swimming in the shark aquarium in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. October 7, 2014. (FLASH90/File)
May 25, 2021, 7:00 am
Bad Judeans? Despite biblical ban, non-kosher fish were eaten in ancient Israel
Unlike prohibition on pork, ban on scaleless, finless fish – found twice in the Torah – was apparently not observed. New project looks at origins of Judaism as a religious practice
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A stone abrasion tool, dated to be some 350,000 years old, that was found in the Tabun Cave in Mount Carmel. (University of Haifa)
December 27, 2020, 5:03 pm
Stone found in Israel is oldest known tool in world used for ‘delicate’ abrading
Archaeologists determine that 350,000-year-old cobble was used by hominids as they worked on soft materials at Mount Carmel site; exactly what they were producing remains a mystery
By Stuart Winer
Photographs of finds from the Tel Hreiz settlement. (a-b) exposure of stone-built features in shallow water. (c) wooden posts dug into the seabed. (d) bifacial flint adze. (e) in situ stone bowl made of sandstone. (f) in situ basalt grounding stone (scale = 20cm); (g) burial 1. (h) suspected stone built cist grave - view from the east (scale = 20cm). (i) in situ antler of Mesopotamian fallow deer, Dama dama mesopotamica. (All photographs by E. Galili with the exception of Fig 3G by V. Eshed)
December 18, 2019, 9:27 pm
7,000-year-old seawall, built to block rising sea levels, found off Haifa coast
With discovery of world’s oldest known breakwater, archaeological record shows how Neolithic villages tried – sometimes in vain – to protect their homes from melting glaciers
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative: Close-up of a 12,000-year-old human burial embedded in the white material found in the Ein Gev cave. (courtesy)
December 6, 2019, 9:33 am
12,000-year-old Galilee artifacts reset plaster production clock by 2 millennia
Scientific study of plaster used in cemetery near Ein Gev indicates community must have worked together to bury their deceased, shedding new light on ritual and mass production
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Remains of a 3rd century CE mosaic from a synagogue found in the ancient town of Majdulia, in the Golan. (courtesy)
December 2, 2019, 3:54 pm
Rare 3rd century Golan synagogue mosaics show shift in Jewish life post-Temple
Colorful decorations in Roman-era synagogue record transition from study hall to public ‘mini-Temple’ prayer hall
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Conservation manager Yana Vitkalov cleans a mosaic at the 'Burnt Church' at the Hippos-Sussita Excavation Project at the Susita National Park, summer 2019. (courtesy)
July 25, 2019, 6:27 am
6th-century inscriptions near Galilee may show Christians’ fading Greek literacy
So far, ‘Burnt Church’ site at ongoing Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project has revealed three texts — all of which were misspelled and had grammar errors, say archaeologists
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Haifa University researchers inspect the Roman milestone at Moshav Ramot bearing the name of Emperor Maximinus Thrax. (Susita Excavation/Haifa University)
April 24, 2019, 7:47 pm
Cryptic Golan milestone found to be monument to low-born Roman emperor’s reign
Discovered in a Moshav Ramot garden, once-indecipherable 1,800-year-old road marker near Sea of Galilee offers proof of the brief 3rd-century rule of Maximinus Thrax
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
An unusual Chalcolithic period bowl example in which the entire surface is covered with triangles. (University of Haifa excavation team)
January 31, 2019, 4:42 pm
Haifa archaeologists look to crack mysterious 6,500-year-old ‘Triangle Code’
A study of basalt vessels shows the ancient bowls found across the Levant were centrally produced, but the discovery of a series of strange markings may point to a deeper meaning
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
The Byzantine-period flax wick and copper casing, used to light lamps some 1,500 years ago, was discovered in the 1930s American Colt expedition to the Negev site of Shivta. (Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority)
December 10, 2018, 12:40 pm
Tiny 1,500-year-old flax lamp wick illuminates ancient Jewish law
Discovered in hitherto unpublished 1930s excavations in the Negev desert town of Shivta, the wick sheds light on how people banished darkness in the Byzantine era — and before
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Dr. Emma Maayan-Fanar's reconstruction on top of the face of Jesus found in a Byzantine-era North Church at Shivta in the Negev. (Dror Maayan)
November 15, 2018, 11:17 am
Jesus image, hidden in plain sight at Negev church, is one of earliest in Israel
Youth with ‘short curly hair, a prolonged face, large eyes and an elongated nose’ depicted in faint painting found in circa 6th century Byzantine church in ancient village Shivta
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Microscopic traces of ancient starches extracted from the Raqefet Cave (left) are compared to the references Stanford University Prof. Li Liu and her research replicated in their beer brewing experiments. (Credit: Li Liu)
September 12, 2018, 7:18 pm
13,000-year-old brewery discovered in Israel, the oldest in the world
Ancient Natufians tamed seven species of wild grains for ancient ale, according to new Stanford University study
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Excavation of a 7,200-year-old level at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, July 2018. (courtesy)
July 30, 2018, 5:47 am
Dig in: Mediterranean diet first appeared in the Jordan Valley, 7,500 years ago
New research based on archaeological evidence from Tel Tsaf prehistoric site shows humans in the region ate a lot like your doctor’s heart-healthy recommendations
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
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