On Mount Zion, a crossroads of faith and fable
From the supposed tomb of King David to the site of the Last Supper, one of the world’s holiest hilltops remains a multi-tiered enigma
View ArticleGamla, the camel-backed mountain
Founded by King Janneus around 80 B.C.E., Gamla was a Jewish town of 5,000 farmers. Excavations have revealed fascinating finds, including one of the world’s oldest synagogues
View ArticleBerko Park, aka ancient Tiberias
King Herod Antipas unwittingly built Tiberias directly over a Jewish cemetery. Luckily, some 130 years later, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai decided to purify the place
View Article1,500-year-old church, elaborate mosaic found
Archaeologists announce the uncovering of an impressive Byzantine structure in the south; site open to public for two days
View ArticleStorm uncovers massive Byzantine pot on beach
Archaeologists brave weather to save dolium dating back 1,500 years, estimate more items will be uncovered
View ArticleFemale jihadis train, misfire in new video
Clip features niqab-clad women chanting extremist slogans, firing assault rifles at site of ancient church
View Article2,700-year-old farmhouse unearthed outside Tel Aviv
Byzantine monastery with colorful mosaic, ancient silver coins also found nearby at site next to Rosh Ha’ayin
View ArticleThe kibbutz outside Jerusalem built atop an ancient palace
Ramat Rachel's Archaeological Gardens tell the story of the Roman legionnaires, Judean kings and Assyrian conquerors, and others who lived and built there
View ArticleInside the Samaritan high priest’s fruity sukkah, literally
While Jews use holiday to spend time outdoors, this ancient Israeli community, now numbering just 750, builds its festive huts indoors, and not out of wood, but fruit
View ArticleHoard of coins from 1,400-year-old Byzantine site tells story of Persian...
As Jewish and Sassanid troops marched on Jerusalem in 614 CE, Christian residents of village on main pilgrimage route hid their valuables; now, nine copper coins hidden in a niche have been recovered
View ArticlePolice recover stolen ancient coins, lamps, other antiquities near Hebron
Some items dated to Hellenistic period over two millennia ago; trove said valued at tens of thousands of dollars
View ArticleHands-on education as Israeli teens excavate 1,500-year-old Byzantine church
Ahead of Ramat Beit Shemesh expansion, discovery of wonderfully preserved compound that was 'swept under the carpet' by later Islamic-period agriculture
View ArticleUnique Byzantine-era winepresses unearthed in roofed water cistern in Tzippori
The only examples of their kind discovered to date, they are a testament to a flourishing wine trade in the interfaith city
View ArticleJesus image, hidden in plain sight at Negev church, is one of earliest in Israel
Youth with 'short curly hair, a prolonged face, large eyes and an elongated nose' depicted in faint painting found in circa 6th century Byzantine church in ancient village Shivta
View ArticleTiny 1,500-year-old flax lamp wick illuminates ancient Jewish law
Discovered in hitherto unpublished 1930s excavations in the Negev desert town of Shivta, the wick sheds light on how people banished darkness in the Byzantine era -- and before
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First artistic depiction of little known Exodus story uncovered in Galilee
Two biblical scenes recently uncovered at a fifth-century synagogue point to a preoccupation with the end of days, and perhaps a rebellious spirit
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6th-century inscriptions near Galilee may show Christians’ fading Greek literacy
So far, 'Burnt Church' site at ongoing Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project has revealed three texts -- all of which were misspelled and had grammar errors, say archaeologists
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Opulent 1,500-year-old church to mystery ‘glorious martyr’ found at Beit Shemesh
Site yields rare intact crypt of anonymous martyr immortalized by Greek inscription; Jerusalem museum exhibit of findings showcases massive collection of delicate glass artifacts
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Seeds from 1,500-year-old Negev trash pits show a world on the brink of collapse
Study of 10,000 seeds from Negev viticulture settlements illustrates how plague, climate change and socioeconomic depression in booming empire's periphery point to its decline
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Why the US far-right is obsessed — but very wrong — about the Byzantine Empire
White supremacists and QAnon enthusiasts often display medievalist imagery in rallies and riots; what is behind their adoption of the archaic Eastern Roman Empire?
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