Amanda Borschel-Dan

Amanda Borschel-Dan is The Times of Israel's Jewish World and Archaeology editor.

A 17th century BCE inscription in early Canaanite script from Lachish, incised on an ivory lice comb. (Daniel Vanstub)

November 9, 2022, 6:09 am

Ivory lice comb – a dating head-scratcher – may hold earliest Canaanite sentence

With a paucity of contemporary Bronze Age examples for comparison, scholars believe relatable 7-word inscription is first recorded complete proto-Canaanite sentence in Holy Land

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

October 25, 2022, 10:58 am

Israeli researchers say magnetic fields provide way to securely date biblical events

Team discovers that from layers of historical destruction springs a new hope of accurate chronological dating, plus deeper understanding of a powerful cosmic force

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

TOI senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur (courtesy)

October 6, 2022, 5:00 pm

Journey into Paralyzed Nation with our new ToI limited series podcast

ToI’s team of political experts — David Horovitz, Haviv Rettig Gur, Tal Schneider, Carrie Keller-Lynn and Jeremy Sharon — weigh in on your burning issues

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

September 23, 2022, 11:08 am

Podcast: Secret Holocaust poems set to haunting music by survivor’s granddaughter

Czech-born musician Lenka Lichtenberg speaks about her new album, ‘Thieves of Dreams,’ based on poetry written in Theresienstadt and hidden in Prague. NEW: Full transcript included

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

An employee at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) holds one of the vessels that are believed to have contained opium in the 14th century BC, found at the Tel Yehud burial site and on display at the IAA offices in Jerusalem on September 20, 2022.(AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

September 20, 2022, 3:02 pm

Israeli archaeologists uncover earliest known use of opium in the ancient world

Traces of psychoactive drug found in pottery from Tel Yehud; with new forensic scientific protocols at sites in Israel, discovery may herald many exciting new ‘firsts’

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Preliminary IAA inspection of the 3,300-year-old cave at Palmachim National Park, September 13, 2022. (Emil Eljam/IAA)

September 18, 2022, 11:37 am

Frozen in time: 3,300-year-old burial cave from Ramses II era found at popular beach

During construction work at Palmachim National Park near Tel Aviv, a fallen rock reveals an ancient treasure trove from the era of the biblically notorious pharoah

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Novelist Elyssa Friedland with her new book, 'The Most Likely Club.' (Courtesy)

September 9, 2022, 12:04 pm

Podcast: After writing the great Jewy-American novel, author Elyssa Friedland’s back

This week, the ‘Last Summer at the Golden Hotel’ and ‘Floating Feldmans’ author releases her newest work and tells us all about it. NEW: Full transcript included

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

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

Reli Avisar from Tel Aviv University with a 8th-7th century BCE ivory plaque adorned with a lotus flower from the City of David. (Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority)

September 5, 2022, 4:07 pm

Were First Temple Jerusalemites living in lap of luxury? Rare ivory finds offer clue

Considered one of the most precious materials in antiquity, 1,500 ivory fragments discovered in ongoing City of David excavations open debate about a more globalized Holy City

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Kfir Arbiv, Israel Antiquities Authority excavation director, cleans a 2000-year-old ballista stone at the Russian Compound excavation site in Jerusalem. (Yoli Schwartz/srael Antiquities Authority)

August 7, 2022, 11:26 am

Proving Josephus: Research on Roman ballistics confirms Second Temple battle account

Computer calculations of 70 CE Roman arsenal uncovered in excavations in Jerusalem demonstrate veracity of Jewish historian Josephus’s report of intense fighting near Third Wall

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors examine finds taken during the search of a home in Afula, July 7, 2022. (Yoli Schwartz/IAA)

July 12, 2022, 4:20 pm

Busted: Thousands of ancient coins and arrowheads seized from northern Israel home

Israel Antiquities Authority theft prevention unit says Afula man illegally dug up and traded in ancient finds, likely also smuggled items abroad to public auctions

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Prof. David Weiss Halivni in Israel, ca. 2016 (Meir Meiersdorf, via wikipedia, CC-BY-SA)

June 29, 2022, 2:57 pm

David Weiss Halivni, pillar of Talmudic scholarship, Holocaust survivor, dies age 94

A prodigy, Halivni received rabbinic ordination at 15, won the Israel Prize and molded generations of scholars in US and Israel, teaching well into his 90s

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Lod mosaic. (Nicki Davidov, Israel Antiquities Authority)

June 27, 2022, 4:04 pm

Stunning Roman-era Lod seafaring mosaic finally drops anchor in a home of its own

Five years – and a pandemic – after breaking ground at Lod, the Shelby White & Leon Levy Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center is inaugurated to house the massive sea-themed floor

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Aerial photographs of the 7th century mosque near today's Rahat. (Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)

June 22, 2022, 10:51 am

One of the oldest known mosques in the world uncovered in Negev Bedouin city Rahat

New discovery joins a second very early mosque dated to the 7th century, when Islam was just beginning to spread in the Holy Land

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

An ancient gameboard from Tell es-Safi/Gath. (Maria Eniukhina/Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project)

June 8, 2022, 11:32 pm

At Goliath’s Gath, board games give relatable insight into daily lives of Canaanites

New research into the proliferation of senet, an Egyptian game, shows osmosis of dominant culture and local adaptation; game still played today in Sinai

By Amanda Borschel-Dan