Go on a journey of the senses through history and discover the significance of ritual feasts and meals in antiquity. Read more…
Ancient Israel
The land, culture and people of Israel during the Biblical period, especially from the Iron Age to the Persian period. The FREE eBook Israel: An Archaeological Journey allows readers to sift through the archaeology and history of this ancient land and get a view of Biblically-significant sites through an archaeologist’s lens.
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A Feast for the Senses … and the Soul
• 03/21/2013
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Daily Life in Ancient Israel
• 03/01/2013
What was life like for the tribes of Israel in the time of the Biblical Judges, the period archaeologists call Iron Age I (1200–1000 B.C.E.)? Read more…
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Ancient Worship in Israel—Before the Israelites
• 03/01/2013
A new exhibit of a large treasure trove at Haifa’s National Maritime Museum is offering a glimpse of Canaanite cultic practices that existed when the Israelites arrived in the Holy Read more…
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What’s a Greek God Doing in an Ancient Synagogue?
• 02/25/2013
Join Steven Fine, Jodi Magness and Hershel Shanks in New York City on March 3rd, 2013. Read more…
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Archaeologists Reveal a Desecrated Iron Age Temple at Beth-Shemesh
• 11/13/2012
On Monday, November 12, 2012, Tel Aviv University archaeologists announced the discovery of an 11th-century B.C.E. sacred compound at Tel Beth-Shemesh. Read more…
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Philistine and Israelite Religion at Tell es-Safi/Gath
• 10/31/2012
Over the past few years, excavations at Tell es-Safi have exposed some remarkable cultic discoveries, including a horned altar, featured as the Prize Find in BAR’s 2012 Dig Issue.* Read more…
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The Only Ancient Jewish Male Hair Ever Found
• 09/27/2012
The braided hair of a Jewish woman was found at Masada but until recently no example of preserved hair from a Jewish male had ever been found from the late Read more…
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Ein Zippori Discoveries Expose Wadi Rabah Culture
• 09/26/2012
The Israel Antiquities Authority recently announced the discovery of intricately detailed Neolithic and Chalcolithic artifacts at Ein Zippori in Israel. The artifacts, created between 8,000 B.C.E. and 3,000 B.C.E., include Read more…
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Jewish City Discovered Near Be’er Sheva
• 09/05/2012
The Israel Aniquities Authority announced the discovery of a mid-first-millennium C.E. Byzantine-era Jewish city near modern Be’er Sheva. The site, which includes mikva’ot (ritual pools) and a synagogue, was discovered Read more…
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Neolithic Figurines Discovered near Jerusalem
• 08/30/2012
The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of two zoomorphic Neolithic figurines at the archaeological site Tel Motza. The stone figurines, depicting a ram and an abstract bovine, are over Read more…
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Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols
• 08/24/2012
Ein Harod is a spring that rises in the valley of Jezreel at the foot of Mt. Gilboa. Gideon gathered his men there to sort out the good soldiers from Read more…
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Excavations at Ancient Galilean Synagogue Expose Samson Mosaic
• 07/02/2012
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday that recent excavations at Huqoq, Israel, have exposed a monumental 4th-5th century C.E. synagogue with detailed mosaic floors. Read more…
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Viewing Petroglyphs as More than Scribbles
• 06/21/2012
When archaeologists examine artistic evidence to learn about the past, crude rock drawings are rarely given as much attention as aesthetically complex pieces of art in ancient Israel. In a Read more…
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Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel
• 06/14/2012
Did ancient Israelites write? Is there evidence apart from the Hebrew Bible? If so, what did they write? And who could write? Inscriptions on stone, notes and scribbles on pots Read more…
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Mikva’ot in Galilean Caves Suggest Lives of Refuge and Religion
• 04/27/2012
Recent investigations have identified five mikva’ot (singular: mikveh), or Jewish ritual baths, in caves on the Galilean cliffs of Arbel, revealing the highly religious orientation of the inhabitants. Read more…
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How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh
• 04/09/2012
Discovered during the Temple Mount Sifting Project, this seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script with the phrase “Gibeon, for the king” provides new evidence for how ancient taxes Read more…
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A History of Horses in the Divided Kingdom of Israel and Judah
• 02/21/2012
Examine the history of horses in Ziony Zevit’s review of Deborah O’Daniel Cantrell’s The Horsemen of Israel: Horses and Charioty in Monarchic Israel. Read more…
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A New Document Dated to Four Years After the Second Jewish Revolt
• 02/08/2012
During the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–70 C.E.), which ended with the destruction of the Temple, Jews minted their own coins dated to the first, second, third, fourth and, Read more…
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Does the Merneptah Stele Contain the First Mention of Israel?
• 01/17/2012
Does this fragmentary hieroglyphic inscription contain the first mention of Israel? According to a recently published article by Manfred Görg, Peter van der Veen and Christoffer Theis, the name-ring on Read more…
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The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder
• 11/03/2011
Hillel Geva reviews “The Architecture of Herod: the Great Builder” by Ehud Netzer Read more…
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Studying the Ancient Israelites
• 11/02/2011
Robin Gallaher Branch reviews “Studying the Ancient Israelites” by Victor H. Matthews Read more…
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Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Israel
• 10/25/2011
What are the origins of animal sacrifice? We know that many ancient cultures practiced ritual sacrifice, and ancient sacrifice in Israel was a part of religious worship at the Jerusalem Read more…
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Does Radiocarbon Dating Accuracy Help Us Determine Bible Chronology?
• 07/17/2011
There’s been a lot of debate around the issue of Bible chronology, which more specifically relates to the era of the reigns of David and Solomon. Did they live in Read more…
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The Importance of Bible Artifacts Found Outside the Trench: House Shrines
• 07/15/2011
Continuing our series on unprovenanced Biblical artifacts, that is, Bible artifacts found outside of a professional excavation, another example of these Biblical artifacts found in the Middle East are house Read more…
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Dating of Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim
• 03/06/2011
In “Bells, Pendants, Snakes and Stones” (BAR, November/December 2010), archaeologist Yitzhak Magen revealed evidence of a Samaritan temple at Mt. Gerizim that he dated to the time of Nehemiah, the Read more…
