Archaeology
News and features about archaeological finds linking stories from the Torah and Prophets, or other historical events to the State of Israel
Grown from ancient seeds found at Masada and Qumran, the dates symbolize the remarkable resilience of nature.
According to excavation director Yaakov Billig, this is the first time scaled-down versions of the giant Proto-Aeolian capitals found in the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel have been discovered.
The tunnel, which is described in a number of Israeli memoirs about the War of Independence, caved in before it could be used to annihilate the city’s Jewish population.
Hundreds of Bedouin youths were involved in the Israel Antiquities Authority dig, whose purpose was to reestablish the connection between the community and the history of the area.
His grave is in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the master Chassidic scholar had been exiled by the Soviet regime.
Dimona youths find evidence in the Negev Desert of an advanced flint-knapping technique exclusively associated with biologically modern humans.
A special discovery was the small reliquary, a stone box used to preserve sacred relics.
Excavations reveal an unusually large structure with 120 jar handles bearing seal impressions in one of the most important archeological collections uncovered in Israel.
The researchers said “discovering these artifacts in an archaeological context which can be dated with a high probability is very rare.”
“Since late antiquity, there has been almost complete uniformity of the biblical text. A Torah scroll in a synagogue in Kiev would be virtually identical to one in Sydney. By contrast, in Qumran, we find in the very same cave different versions of the same book,” said Professor Noam Mizrahi.
The 1.1-inch-square clay impression was probably a badge or medal of honor made to commemorate a Canaanite battle victory some time in the Late Bronze Age between the 12th and 15th centuries BCE.
The discovery of the coin, said to be the only one from the era bearing the name “Jerusalem” to have been discovered in the ancient city, was announced in honor of the upcoming Lag B’Omer holiday.
