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Amanda Borschel-Dan
Amanda Borschel-Dan
Amanda Borschel-Dan is The Times of Israel's Jewish World and Archaeology editor.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the West Bank town of Hebron, June 22, 2017. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
September 16, 2020, 2:33 pm
LISTEN: Purloined pottery from Tomb of Patriarchs gets 1st scientific study
Prof. David Ben-Shlomo speaks about new ceramics study, history of Judaism’s second holiest site where Abraham buried Sarah, and findings from his recent excavations at Tel Hebron
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Clockwise from top left: Former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky, ToI Jewish World editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, and historian Gil Troy, discuss the new book, 'Never Alone.' (screenshot)
September 10, 2020, 11:58 pm
WATCH: Sharansky on UAE peace treaty, rise of doublethink in US and Jewish unity
In video interview, ‘Never Alone’ co-authors Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy weigh in on troubling trend of cancel-Israel culture on campuses and how we can overcome it
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Examples of Hebrew ostraca from Arad. (Michael Cordonsky, Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority)
September 9, 2020, 9:07 pm
Police forensics join AI algorithms to track down who wrote the Bible, and when
An unprecedented Tel Aviv University study combines human handwriting know-how with cutting-edge computer science to analyze literacy of Judahites in 7th century BCE Arad
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)
August 19, 2020, 4:35 am
1st complete strontium isotope map of Israel tracks ancient human migration
New study of rock and soil samples taken from entire span of Israel provides first comprehensive database for archaeologists to perform ‘forensics’ on movements of people, animals
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
High school student Jenny Vasiutin holding the 'Windmill' game board, found during IAA excavations in Rahat, a Beduin city in the Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 16, 2020, 1:54 pm
Earliest soap factory in Israel, discovered in Negev, shows seeds of early Islam
In accord with Muslim roots, 1,200-year-old industrial soap factory uses olive oil as its base, as opposed to lard found in soaps of Europe of the same era
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Detail of the north-east quarter of the cremation pit during excavation. A fragment of collapsed wall inside the pit is visible (star). (Bocquentin et al, 2020/PLOS ONE, CC BY)
August 13, 2020, 4:23 pm
Neolithic cremains in Israel are Mideast’s oldest funerary pyre, claims scholar
Levant’s first deliberate cremation occurred between 7013-6700 BCE, according to new analysis of remains of young adult discovered in northern Israel’s Beisamoun site in 2013
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Givati Parking Lot excavations in the City of David Park in Jerusalem, a site where remnants of the 586 BCE destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians were discovered. (Shai Halevi/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 9, 2020, 1:24 am
Burnt remains from 586 BCE Jerusalem may hold key to protecting planet
A new analysis of 1st Temple-era artifacts, magnetized when Babylonians torched the city, provides a way to chart the geomagnetic field – physics’ Holy Grail – and maybe save Earth
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Baby-faced 'corn mummy' does not contain any human or animal remains, rather corn and mud. (Screenshot)
August 6, 2020, 11:29 am
Mystery of Haifa mummies finally unraveled
Hi-tech CT scans of bird-shaped and baby-faced mummies at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus solve one riddle, but create a whole new conundrum
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
100,000-year-old tools uncovered at a flint-knapping site outside Dimona in Israel's Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 4, 2020, 2:19 pm
Paleolithic flint tools are 1st ‘breadcrumbs’ of modern man’s trail to Israel
Migration route from Africa given new clarity by 100,000-year-old tools discovered outside Dimona in the Negev Desert made by unusual flint-knapping technique
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
The face of Yahweh? A clay head dated to the 10th century BC, found at Khirbet Qeiyafa, some 20 miles from Jerusalem (Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 31, 2020, 4:42 pm
Face of God? Archaeologist claims to find 10th cent. BCE graven images of Yahweh
Hebrew U Prof. Yosef Garfinkel asserts small male figurines discovered at digs near Jerusalem are an image of the biblical God; other experts angrily dismiss theory
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Aerial view of 1,300-year-old church in the village of Kfar Kama, near Mount Tabor. (Alex Wiegmann, Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 28, 2020, 3:12 pm
Large 6th century church compound uncovered near site of Jesus’ transfiguration
Israel Antiquities Authority salvage excavations ahead of construction of playground in Galilee village of Kfar Kama reveals hitherto unknown possible monastery
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Trash mounds on the outskirts of Elusa (Guy Bar-Oz/University of Haifa)
July 27, 2020, 10:01 pm
Seeds from 1,500-year-old Negev trash pits show a world on the brink of collapse
Study of 10,000 seeds from Negev viticulture settlements illustrates how plague, climate change and socioeconomic depression in booming empire’s periphery point to its decline
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
An Israel Antiquities Authority excavation on the slopes of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona uncovered an administrative complex from 2,700 years ago. (Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 22, 2020, 12:03 pm
Huge Kingdom of Judah government complex found near US Embassy in Jerusalem
Among the 2,700-year-old finds: 120 inscribed seal impressions on jars at storage facility holding food collected as taxes for kings Hezekiah, Menashe in First Temple times
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
IAA archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre in an underground system of rooms under ancient Nazareth. (Screenshot)
July 22, 2020, 11:48 am
LISTEN: What do we know about Nazareth in Jesus’ time? An archaeologist explains
From tax evasion to hidey-holes, IAA excavation director Yardenna Alexandre discusses Jewish life in the small village where Jesus grew up
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Rabbi Sandra Lawson (courtesy)
July 14, 2020, 4:16 pm
LISTEN: Talking race and US reparations with a Black, gay, female rabbi
Rabbi Sandra Lawson defines terms and speaks frankly about the challenge of not conforming to stereotypes in her role as a Hillel campus educator at Elon University
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
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