Biblical archaeology

Tasting the biblical-style beer produced from ancient yeast strains dormant for thousands of years. (Yaniv Berman/ Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)

May 26, 2023, 3:08 pm

Brew your own ancient beer: Yeast from 3,000-year-old Philistine beer jug now on sale

Israeli multi-disciplinary research team’s first yeast strain available on preorder for December shipping; Israel Museum and Shikma Brewery launch limited edition commercial batch

By Melanie Lidman

Closeup of the outside of the arguably Late Bronze Age lead curse tablet discovered on Mount Ebal in 2019. (Michael C. Luddeni/Associates for Biblical Research)

May 14, 2023, 5:23 pm

Academic article on controversial 3,200-year-old ‘curse tablet’ fails to sway experts

Year after team hails bombshell discovery of oldest Hebrew writing in Israel, details of the find hit a peer-reviewed journal. But some academics don’t see any inscription at all

By Melanie Lidman

Ariel University's Dr. Yonatan Adler. (courtesy)

April 5, 2023, 7:39 am

What Matters Now to archaeologist Prof. Yonatan Adler: The origins of Judaism

Ariel University prof discusses his ‘excavation’ into the evidence for the practice of the Jewish religion – and points to when we know with certainty that Passover was observed

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

The seven-letter 10th-century BCE inscription in Ancient South Arabian script on a pithos from the Ophel. (photo: Daniel Vainstub; all rights reserved © Dr. Eilat Mazar; after Mazar 2015)

April 3, 2023, 4:02 pm

Newly deciphered inscription gives clue to biblical Queen of Sheba’s Jerusalem visit

Discovered at the Ophel adjacent to the Temple Mount, seven letters on clay jar sherd are written in dialect and script stemming from the Arabian Peninsula, epigrapher suggests

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

Dr. Elyashiv Drori harvests grapes at a research vineyard near Ariel University in 2020. (courtesy Ariel University)

March 25, 2023, 2:09 pm

It’s in the DNA: Israeli grapes are the mother of all European wines

Massive DNA study of over 3,500 wild and domesticated grapevines overturns what historians thought they knew about the first cultivation of grapes and wine

By Melanie Lidman

A potsherd discovered in Tel Lachish with an Aramaic inscription 'Year 24 of Darius.' It was announced by the IAA as the first written evidence of Persian king Darius the Great discovered in Israel, but on March 3, 2023 was declared to not be authentic. (Yoli Schwartz/IAA)

March 20, 2023, 11:46 am

Too-good-to-be-true Darius ostracon mix-up teaches a public lesson etched in pottery

While archaeologists worry about forgeries, the IAA vows to implement more rigorous testing after a highly touted potsherd thought to be from 498 BCE was found to be inauthentic

By Melanie Lidman

An ancient coin from around 40 BCE with the oldest known depiction of a Temple Menorah will be displayed at the newly renovated Davidson Center in Jerusalem, which will open to the public on March 13, 2023. (courtesy Emil Algam/Israel Antiquities Authority)

March 13, 2023, 4:33 am

Coin with oldest depiction of Temple menorah displayed for first time

New renovation of the Davidson Center in Jerusalem utilizes interactive tech and augmented reality to highlight history and archaeology of Temple-era Jerusalem

By Melanie Lidman

Students from the Kinneret Academic college help bring the 62-pound lioness carving from Ein Nashut to their bus on March 1, 2023, in the Golan Heights. (courtesy Mordechai Aviam)

March 8, 2023, 10:32 am

Students on northern Israel field trip stumble onto 1,500-year-old lioness carving

Lucky group from the Kinneret Academic College led by Prof. Mordechai Aviam discovers basalt sculpture that likely adorned synagogue, and a rare 1,800-year-old coin, on same day

By Melanie Lidman

March 3, 2023, 1:13 pm

Unfounded: Ancient Darius inscription shard isn’t authentic – Antiquities Authority

Officials backtrack on claim of find linked to Purim king’s father, say fragment was created by an expert showing inscription techniques to students, accidentally left at dig site

By ToI Staff

March 1, 2023, 9:40 am

Hiker discovers 2,500-year-old ancient receipt from reign of Purim king’s father

Eylon Levy, international media adviser to President Isaac Herzog, finds ostracon at Tel Lachish with the first-ever reference in Israel to the name of Persian king Darius I

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

A collection of hacksilber from Tel el-Ajjul in Gaza. (Courtesy IAA)

January 8, 2023, 4:24 pm

Newly analyzed 3,600-year-old silver pieces are 1st currency in Levant, study shows

Silver pieces from Anatolia reveal robust trade routes and the use of currency 500 years earlier than previously thought, University of Haifa and Hebrew University research finds

By Melanie Lidman

Young boys from Taiwan play in the water of the Siloam Pool after walking through Hezekiah's Tunnel during their visit to the City of David National Park, on July 28, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

December 27, 2022, 8:00 pm

Israel, right-wing group to fully excavate biblical Siloam Pool in East Jerusalem

2,700-year-old water reservoir thought built by King Hezekiah to be opened to public; critics say move is part of plan to expand Jewish presence in Palestinian neighborhood

By Ash Obel

Panoramic view of Tel Gezer national park. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

November 12, 2022, 6:38 am

Tour the well-fortified Tel Gezer, the biblical Canaanite holdout that wouldn’t fall

One of the rare sites with written evidence matching it to its Bible location, the massive 32-acre park is free for all and boasts layers of history down to King Solomon’s time

By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am

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