Archeology

Archeology

5th century Greek inscription found at site of ancient Samaritan rebellion

A salvage excavation ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood in the central Israel village of Tzur Natan has unearthed rare written evidence of much earlier occupation — 1,600 years earlier — when the agriculturally fertile area was racked by turmoil and rebellion.

Just outside an ancient wine press in the small southern Sharon Plain…

Archeology

Kid on school trip unearths Second Temple-era coin in West Bank stream

A boy found a 2,000-year-old coin from the Second Temple-era rule of Herod Agrippa, the last king of Judea, during a hike last week in the northern West Bank.

The rare piece was uncovered in the Shilo stream during a school trip, according to a Sunday statement from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli…

Archeology

0:32 / 4:55 The Watchman’s Top Biblical Archaeology / History Segments of 2018

Archeology

Biblical site tied to Ark of the Covenant unearthed at convent in central Israel

A massive 8th century BCE man-made platform discovered at a Catholic convent in central Israel may have served as an ancient shrine to the Ark of the Covenant, said leading Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Unearthed at Kiriath-Jearim, the shrine gives potential new insight into the political machinations of the sibling…

Archeology

Israel’s Jesus Trail blends religion, history and stunning views

Imagine going on a hike and being able to step back in time, visiting places you’d only read about. It’s an itinerary ripped not from a history book – but from the Bible. The “Jesus Trail,” a hiking trail in Israel, attracts thousands of tourists from around the world every year, especially during the holiday season. CBS News correspondent Seth…

Archeology

Earliest known stone carving of Hebrew word ‘Jerusalem’ found near city entrance

The earliest stone inscription bearing the full spelling of the modern Hebrew word for Jerusalem was unveiled on Tuesday at the Israel Museum, in the capital.

While any inscription dating from the Second Temple period is of note, the 2,000-year-old three-line inscription on a waist-high column — reading “Hananiah son of Dodalos of Jerusalem” — is…

Archeology

Clay seal of prophet Isaiah to be unveiled at joint Israel-U.S. event

Clay seals believed to have been used by the biblical prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah are set to be unveiled at a June event, which will be held simultaneously in Jerusalem and Oklahoma via a live stream.

While the seals and nearly three dozen other pieces loaned by the Antiquities Authority will be on display in Oklahoma, the archeologist who…

Archeology

King David’s city discovered? Ancient site linked to biblical kingdom, archaeologists say

A stunning discovery in Israel. Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient site that may offer fresh insight into the ancient Biblical kingdom of David and Solomon.

Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered an ancient site that may offer fresh insight into the ancient biblical kingdom of David and Solomon.

Researchers from Bar-Ilan University…

Archeology

Dead Sea Scrolls discovery: Tech reveals hidden script

Hidden script has been discovered in the Dead Sea scrolls. Using advanced imaging equipment researchers found letters invisible to the naked eye on the famous manuscripts.

Experts in Israel have harnessed sophisticated imaging technology to reveal hidden script in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The technology, which was originally developed for NASA,…

Archeology

Two Dead Sea Scrolls to go on display for the first time in new Denver exhibit

Two Dead Sea Scrolls will be shown for the first time in an unprecedentedly large-scale Israel Antiquities Authority exhibition in Denver, Colorado. The two scrolls will be presented along with a three-ton stone from the Western Wall, some 600 artifacts from the biblical to Bar Kochba periods, and 18 other Dead Sea Scrolls in an exhibit set to run…

Archeology

Reflections from the field – NFL stars visit Israel

Seven current and former National Football League stars recently visited Israel in a six-day whistle-stop tour, which included Jewish and Christian sites and meetings with Syrian wounded treated in Israel’s hospitals and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is not often that one gets the opportunity to speak to top-level athletes at all,…

Archeology

Eighth-Century Clay Seal With ‘Signature of Prophet Isaiah’ Found in Jerusalem

A historic archaeological discovery near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount may be proof of the life of the biblical prophet Isaiah, according to an article in the Biblical Archaeology Review.  A broken 8th-century BCE clay seal impression, or bulla, appears to be inscribed with the words “Belonging to Isaiah,” as well as a partial word containing letters…

Archeology

First Temple-era relics of possible royal estate found in Jerusalem hills

Israeli authorities inaugurated a nature park on Wednesday near Jerusalem after five years of archaeological excavations at Ein Hanya, the second-largest spring in the Judean Hills and a key site in the history of Christianity. Along with an announcement that the park will open to the public free of charge within months, the Israel Antiquities…

Archeology Issues

Massive section of Western Wall and Roman theater uncovered after 1,700 years

Archaeologists are one step closer to solving the riddle of what took place in Jerusalem following the destruction of the city by Romans in 70 CE.

Israel Antiquity Authority archaeologists announced Monday that for the past two years they have been excavating and exposing a massive eight-meter deep section of Jerusalem’s Western Wall, unseen for…

Archeology Issues

Israeli PM Netanyahu Hosts Bible Study at His Official Jerusalem Residence

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hosted a Bible study session at his official residence in Jerusalem.

The event was named in honor of Shmuel Ben-Artzi, the late father of the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu.

The annual Bible study event is a tradition dating back to the country’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Former…

Archeology Issues

“No civilized person in the world can claim Temple denial or lack of a Jewish link to Jerusalem.

When Wakf bulldozers illegally ascended the Temple Mount in 1999 to surreptitiously remove thousands of tons of ancient soil to make way for a subterranean mosque, two archeologists found hope in recovering some of the Jewish heritage that crime destroyed.
As countless invaluable artifacts dating from the First Temple period at Judaism’s holiest…

Archeology

In unsubtle critique, Israel gifts UNESCO Arch of Titus replica

Israel handed a replica of a frieze from the Arch of Titus to the head of UNESCO, using the monument commemorating Rome’s victory over Jerusalem for a not-so-subtle critique of the organization’s resolutions that ignore Jewish links to the holy city.

The idea originally came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the United Nations…

Archeology

Jerusalem welcomed Jewish refugees 2,300 years ago, new finds show

Millennia ago, Jerusalem may have opened its doors to thousands of refugees from the north of the country. A new cache of First Temple bullae (sealings) discovered in an excavation at Jerusalem’s City of David shows a mixture of names from the Kingdom of Israel and Judah used on official bureaucratic correspondence dating from after the fall of…