British archaeologists exploring the Gheralta plateau in Ethiopia’s northern highlands claim to have discovered an enormous goldmine once operated by the ancient kingdom of Saba, home to the legendary Queen Read more…
News
The worlds of archaeology and the Bible move fast. Keep abreast of the latest Bible and archaeology news from around the world. Our presentation of a news story does not constitute our endorsement of a news source, or of the source’s presentation or interpretation of events.
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Expedition Claims Evidence of Queen of Sheba Found in Ethiopia
• 02/14/2012
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Iron Age Fortress Unearthed at Ashdod
• 02/07/2012
Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered the massive, 3-foot-thick walls of an Iron Age fortress at the coastal site of Ashdod south of Tel Aviv. The walls, Read more…
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Slowly, Iraqi Antiquities Begin to Return
• 02/06/2012
Germany last week returned 45 ancient artifacts to Iraq that were stolen and looted from the country’s museums and archaeological sites following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The artifacts, including a Read more…
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Royal Garden from Israelite Palace Reveals Its Secrets
• 02/02/2012
Archaeologists excavating a garden complex from an ancient Israelite palace at the site of Ramat Rahel just south of Jerusalem have found new evidence for the plants and fruits that Read more…
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Get to Know Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavator Aren Maeir
• 02/01/2012
In a recent profile featured in the online news magazine ISRAEL21c, archaeologist and Tell es-Safi/Gath excavator Aren Maeir gives his view of why the Tell es-Safi dig, which is entering Read more…
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Effort to Recreate Herod’s Tomb Criticized
• 01/31/2012
A plan by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to create a life-size recreation of Herod’s tomb at the site of Herodium is coming under fire from some archaeologists. The Read more…
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Riddle Me This, King Nebuchadnezzar
• 01/30/2012
Assyriologists have translated a rare 3,500-year-old cuneiform tablet that asks a series of riddles about daily life and politics in ancient Mesopotamia. Working from a hand-written copy of the inscription Read more…
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Istanbul Dig Yields Evidence of City’s Ancient Harbor
• 01/25/2012
On the shores of Lake Kucukcekmece, 13 miles west of downtown Istanbul, archaeologists are uncovering evidence of one of the city’s primary—and perhaps earliest—ancient harbors. At the expansive harbor site Read more…
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New Images from Khirbet Qeiyafa Excavations
• 01/24/2012
Final aerial photos from the end of the 2011 excavation season at Khirbet Qeiyafa were posted to the project’s official Web site this week. The images give stunning views of Read more…
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Harvard Scholars Leave Nothing Half-Baked
• 01/23/2012
For the past decade, scholars at Harvard’s Semitic Museum have been re-baking thousands of clay tablets recovered from ancient Nuzi, a small town in northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) that flourished Read more…
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Female Singer’s Tomb Found in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings
• 01/18/2012
Egyptian and Swiss archaeologists announced this week that they have unearthed the intact, undisturbed tomb of an Egyptian singer named Nehmes Bastet who lived during Egypt’s XXIInd Dynasty (c. 945-712 Read more…
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Croatian Cave Reveals Oldest-Known Astrologer’s Board
• 01/17/2012
Excavations from a cave overlooking the Adriatic Sea in Croatia have revealed the remains of a 2,000-year-old astrologer’s board engraved with signs of the zodiac. Archaeologists with New York University’s Read more…
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Microarchaeology Helps Solve Ashkelon’s Puzzles
• 01/16/2012
Scientists with the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science in the Weizmann Institute in Israel are helping Ashkelon archaeologists Lawrence Stager and Daniel Master discover new secrets about their site’s archaeological Read more…
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UAE Sites Reveal First Signs of Camel Domestication
• 01/11/2012
Excavations conducted at the sites of Tell Abraq and Muweilah near Sharjah in the UAE have revealed some of the first clear signs of camel domestication ever discovered. According to Read more…
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Early Jewish Bread Stamp Found Near Akko
• 01/10/2012
Excavators with the Israel Antiquities Authority have unearthed a 1,500-year-old Jewish bread stamp from a small Byzantine settlement near the ancient port city of Akko. The sixth-century clay stamp, excavated Read more…
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Saving Dead Sea Could Harm Archaeological Sites
• 01/09/2012
According to a new report, a proposed project that would pump nearly 40 billion cubic feet of water per year from the Red Sea into the Dead Sea would likely Read more…
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Scholar Disputes Reading of New Jerusalem “Seal” Inscription
• 01/05/2012
A Hebrew University scholar has put forward a new interpretation of a tiny, inscribed clay object recovered from the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem, only a week after the discovery Read more…
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Sifting Project Reveals First Temple Bulla
• 01/04/2012
Jerusalem archaeologist Gabriel Barkay announced this week that the Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered a fragment of a seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla impressed with the ancient Hebrew inscription [g]b’n Read more…
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Medieval Jewish Manuscripts Reportedly Found in Afghanistan
• 01/03/2012
January 2013 update: 29 of the manuscripts were recently purchased by the Israel National Library. Read more in “Manuscripts Reveal Ancient Community of Afghan Jews.”
More than 150 medieval Jewish manuscripts Read more…
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Lovers’ Pipe Discovered in Jerusalem
• 01/02/2012
An Ottoman-era clay pipe inscribed in Arabic with the phrase “Love is the language for lovers” was discovered last week in ongoing archaeological excavations in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter. The pipe, Read more…
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The Biblical Archaeology Society 2011 Publication Awards Winners
• 01/01/2012
The 2011 Biblical Archaeology Society Publication Awards recognize the best books published in 2009 and 2010. The biennial BAS Publication Awards for books about archaeology and the Bible have been Read more…
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New Index Helps Unravel Talmud’s Mysteries
• 12/29/2011
The Talmud, a massive, composite work of rabbinical discourse on Jewish law and scripture dating back to the sixth century C.E., can be formidable and difficult to penetrate, often requiring Read more…
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Jerusalem Seal Gives Evidence for Temple Ritual
• 12/27/2011
Archaeologists surveying the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in the area of Robinson’s Arch have found a button-sized, first-century C.E. seal inscribed in Aramaic with the phrase “pure for Read more…
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Byzantine-era Bathhouse Unearthed Near Jerusalem
• 12/26/2011
Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered a large, well-preserved Byzantine-era bathhouse in the Judean foothills about 20 miles west of Jerusalem. The bathhouse, which the archaeologists date to Read more…
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First Christmas Gift Doomed, Study Says
• 12/22/2011
Frankincense, the fragrant and aromatic resin that was one of the three famous gifts of the magi in the traditional Christmas story, could soon be no more. According to a Read more…
