Mar 17
By: James Tabor
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 2nd Temple period. This discovery is one of the many fascinating, but less publicized finds of the 1st century “Tomb of the Shroud,” discovered in the summer of 2000 just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. The secrets this tomb continues to yield are many, including recent correlations with the DNA test results from the Talpiot Jesus tomb.
Mar 15
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
Tyrian purple, tekhelet, royal purple: All names for an incredibly expensive, ancient dye. While this dye is often associated with the Phoenician city-state of […]
Mar 13
By: BAS Staff
Nestled in the heart of the Shephelah with a commanding view over the Elah Valley, the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE) Canaanite city of […]
Mar 12
By: BAS Staff
A newly published inscription from Tel Lachish in southern Israel is the earliest alphabetic writing discovered in the southern Levant. The fragmentary inscription features a mere handful of letters inscribed on a tiny pottery sherd, measuring just 4 by 3.5 cm. The sherd is dated by radiocarbon to the 15th century B.C.E., or the first part of the Late Bronze Age.
Mar 8
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
During archaeological survey work in a Judean Desert cave, members of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and the […]
Mar 1
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
Although the Philistines are well known from ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible, and their cities have been extensively excavated, many questions remain about their […]
Feb 26
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
Chalk vessels were a common feature of Judean life during the late Second Temple period (c. 200 BCE–70 CE), but what could have been the […]
Feb 25
By: BAS Staff
While some scholars suggest that temple prostitution was practiced in ancient Israel, Edward Lipiński argues that neither the Bible nor archaeology provides any clear evidence that Israelite religion incorporated the sexual rites of Canaanite goddesses.
Feb 23
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
One of the most difficult ancient sites to excavate, Jerusalem is rife with archaeological mysteries. With excavation limited to specific and often narrow parts of […]
Feb 16
By: Nathan Steinmeyer
During excavations at the site of Legio, at the foot of Tel Megiddo in northern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovered the main road […]