Archaeology Of Israel
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The archaeology of Israel is the study of the
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
of the present-day
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, stretching from
prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins   million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
through three millennia of documented history. The ancient
Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...
was a geographical bridge between the political and cultural centers of
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. Despite the importance of the country to three major religions, serious archaeological research only began in the 15th century.''Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel'', edited by Raphael Patai, Herzl Press and McGraw-Hill, New York, 1971, vol. I, pp. 66–71 Although he never travelled to the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
, or even left the Netherlands, the first major work on the antiquities of Israel is considered to be
Adriaan Reland Adriaan Reland (also known as ''Adriaen Reeland/Reelant'', ''Hadrianus Relandus''; 17 July 1676 – 5 February 1718)John Gorton, ''A General Biographical Dictionary'', 1838, Whittaker & Co. was a Dutch Orientalist scholar, cartographer and philo ...
's ''Antiquitates Sacrae veterum Hebraeorum,'' published in 1708. Edward Robinson, an American theologian who visited the country in 1838, published its first topographical studies. Lady Hester Stanhope performed the first modern excavation at
Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...
in 1815. A Frenchman,
Louis Felicien de Saucy Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...
, embarked on early "modern" excavations in 1850. Today, in Israel, there are some 30,000 sites of antiquity, the vast majority of which have never been excavated. In discussing the state of archaeology in Israel in his time,
David Ussishkin David Ussishkin (; born 1935, aged ) is an Israeli archaeologist and professor emeritus of archaeology. Biography David Ussishkin was born in Jerusalem. Ussishkin is the son of the lawyer Samuel Ussishkin and the grandson of the Zionist leader M ...
commented in the 1980s that the designation "Israeli archaeology" no longer represents a single uniform methodological approach; rather, its scope covers numerous different archaeological schools, disciplines, concepts, and methods currently in existence in Israel.


Archaeological time periods


Paleolithic period


Lower Paleolithic

The beginning of the
Lower Paleolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...
in Israel is defined by the earliest archaeological finds available. Occasionally, when new, more ancient sites are discovered, the boundaries of this period are redefined. Currently the most ancient site in Israel, and one of the earliest outside of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, is Ubeidiya, in the
Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ( ''Bīqʿāt haYardēn'', Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), is an elongated endorheic basin located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Palestine. This geographic region includes the entire length o ...
. Its age is estimated to be between 1.55 and 1.2 million years BP. Many
stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s of the
Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...
culture have been discovered there. Among the other sites from this period is the site at
Daughters of Jacob Bridge The Daughters of Jacob Bridge (, ) is a bridge that spans the last natural ford of the Jordan River between the Korazim Plateau in northern Israel and the Golan Heights. The area has been used as a crossing point for thousands of years; it wa ...
, which has been dated to 790,000 BP, using
paleomagnetism Paleomagnetism (occasionally palaeomagnetism) is the study of prehistoric Earth's magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Geophysicists who specialize in paleomagnetism are called ''paleomagnetists.'' Certain ...
. Some of the earliest evidence of the use of fire and wooden tools has been discovered on this site. It is estimated that the people who left the remains discovered on the two sites mentioned belonged to the species ''
Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
,'' although the
human fossils The following tables give an overview of notable finds of Hominini, hominin fossils and Skeleton, remains relating to human evolution, beginning with the formation of the tribe Hominini (the divergence of the Chimpanzee–human last common ancest ...
found were too few and incomplete to make a positive identification possible. An additional site from the early Lower Paleolithic is the Ruhama Swamp in the northern
Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...
, which contains remains from the Oldowan culture. Most of the sites from this period belong to the
Acheulean culture Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...
, and on many of them remains of elephant bones have been found, together with tools made of
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
and
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
. Additional important sites are
Revadim Revadim (, lit. "terraces") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah (Judean foothills) region, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Revadim was founded on 14 ...
,
Tabun Cave The Tabun Cave is an excavated site located at Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, Israel and is one of the Human Evolution sites at Mount Carmel, which were proclaimed as having universal value by UNESCO in 2012. History Together with the nearby ...
in
Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve The Caves of Nahal Me’arot / Wadi el-Mughara ("Caves Creek"), named here by the Hebrew and Arabic name of the valley where they are located, are a UNESCO Site of Human Evolution in the Carmel mountain range near Haifa in northern Israel.
, a site near the city of
Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...
, and a site located near
kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Evron. At the end of the Lower Paleolithic, between 400,000 and 250,000 BP, the
Acheulo-Yabrudian complex The Acheulo-Yabrudian complex is a complex of archaeological cultures in the Levant at the end of the Lower Palaeolithic. It follows the Acheulian and precedes the Mousterian. It is also called the Mugharan Tradition or the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultur ...
emerged. The site near
Lake Ram Lake Ram ( and Birkat el-Ram. ) is a crater lake (maar) in the northeastern Golan Heights near the village of Mas'ade and Mount Hermon. History Josephus referred to it as Lake Phiala. The sources of the lake are rain water and an underground sp ...
, in the
Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
, where the
Venus of Berekhat Ram The Venus of Berekhat Ram (280,000–250,000 BP) is a pebble found at Berekhat Ram on the Golan Heights. The pebble has been modified by early humans and is suggested to represent a female human figure. Description The object was excavated and ...
was discovered, probably belongs to this cultural horizon. This statue is considered, by some, to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form. One of the human fossils from this period is the Galilee Skull, part of a skull discovered by
Francis Turville-Petre Francis Adrian Joseph Turville-Petre (4 March 1901 – 16 August 1942) was a British archaeologist, famous for the discovery of the ''Homo heidelbergensis'' fossil Galilee Man in 1926, and for his work at Mount Carmel, in what was then the Brit ...
in
Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh ("Cave of the Robbers"), also called as the "Skull Cave", is a prehistoric archaeological site in Upper Galilee, Israel. It is situated from the Nahal Amud outlet, approximately above the wadi bed ( below sea level). It was ...
, in
Nahal Amud Nahal Amud (), also known as the Wadi al-Amud, is a stream in the Upper Galilee region of Israel that flows into the Sea of Galilee. History The source of the stream, Ramat Dalton, is located 800 meters above sea level. Its drainage basin inclu ...
, which is considered today to be the skull of a ''
Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
'' or of an '' early Homo sapiens''. Notable Acheulo-Yabrudian sites are
Tabun Cave The Tabun Cave is an excavated site located at Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, Israel and is one of the Human Evolution sites at Mount Carmel, which were proclaimed as having universal value by UNESCO in 2012. History Together with the nearby ...
and
Qesem Cave Qesem cave is a Lower Paleolithic archaeological site near the city of Kafr Qasim in Israel. Early humans were occupying the site by 400,000 until c. 200,000 years ago. The karstic cave attracted considerable attention in December 2010, when ...
. In December 2020, archaeologists from the
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
announced the discovery at the
Tabun Cave The Tabun Cave is an excavated site located at Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, Israel and is one of the Human Evolution sites at Mount Carmel, which were proclaimed as having universal value by UNESCO in 2012. History Together with the nearby ...
at the Mount Carmel site of the oldest known tool used for grinding or scraping, dating back about 350,000 years. According to researchers, this cobble belongs to the
Acheulo-Yabrudian complex The Acheulo-Yabrudian complex is a complex of archaeological cultures in the Levant at the end of the Lower Palaeolithic. It follows the Acheulian and precedes the Mousterian. It is also called the Mugharan Tradition or the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultur ...
from the late Lower
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
and was used by
hominids The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...
for abrading surfaces. In February 2022, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
, led by Professor Ella Been, announced the discovery of a 1.5-million-year-old complete
Hominini The Hominini (hominins) form a Tribe (biology), taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the gen ...
vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...
. According to the researchers, the fossilized bone belonging to a juvenile between the ages of 6–12 is the oldest evidence of ancient Hominini in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. This latest discovery has shed new light on the story of prehistoric migration. The lower
lumbar vertebra The lumbar vertebrae are located between the thoracic vertebrae and pelvis. They form the lower part of the back in humans, and the tail end of the back in quadrupeds. In humans, there are five lumbar vertebrae. The term is used to describe the ...
, dated to the
Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...
, differs in size and shape from a 1.8-million-year-old skull unearthed at
Dmanisi Dmanisi ( ka, დმანისი, tr, , ) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia (country), Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. Abandoned i ...
in the
Republic of Georgia A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...
. After this discovery, co-author Dr Omry Barzilai concluded that different human species produced the two artifacts.


Middle Paleolithic

This period has been dated to the years 250,000–45,000 BP. Fossils of
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
s and of
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
from this period have been discovered in Israel. The Homo sapiens remains found in Israel are the oldest
anatomically modern human Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science ...
remains discovered in this region of the continent of Africa. It is yet unclear whether Neanderthals and Homo sapiens populations coexisted side by side, in this area, or replaced each other as the
global climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and Statistical dispersion, variability of Meteorology, meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to milli ...
shifted, as was common during the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
. Both used the same style of
stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s, identified as the
Mousterian culture The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the ...
. Remains of this culture have been discovered all over Israel, in dozens of cave sites and open sites. Judging by the size and content of these sites it seems the population living in the area of today's Israel in that period was small. Groups were small and they subsisted on
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
, consuming the carcasses of dead animals and
gathering Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology *Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods * Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...
plants. Their preferred game was the
Mountain gazelle The mountain gazelle (''Gazella gazella''), also called the true gazelle or the Palestine mountain gazelle, is a species of gazelle that is widely but unevenly distributed. Approximately 6,000 are left in the wild as of 2024. The mountain gazell ...
, the
Persian fallow deer The Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica'') is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 ...
, and the
Aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...
. In cave sites that had been used as seasonal dwellings in that period dozens of buried human skeletons have been uncovered. The most famous ancient Homo sapiens skeletons are the ones discovered in
Es Skhul Es-Skhul (es-Skhūl, Hebrew: מערת סחול; ; meaning ''kid'', ''young goat'') or the Skhul Cave is a prehistoric cave site situated about south of the city of Haifa, Israel, and about from the Mediterranean Sea. Together with the nearby ...
cave in Nahal Me'arot and in Me'arat Kedumim (
Kedumim Cave Qafzeh Cave (Hebrew: , Arabic: ) also known by other names, is a prehistoric archaeological site located at the bottom of Mount Precipice in the Jezreel Valley of Lower Galilee south of Nazareth, Israel. Important remains of prehistoric people w ...
) in Lower Galilee; the most notable Neanderthal skeletons are from
Tabun Cave The Tabun Cave is an excavated site located at Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, Israel and is one of the Human Evolution sites at Mount Carmel, which were proclaimed as having universal value by UNESCO in 2012. History Together with the nearby ...
in Nahal Me'arot, from
Kebara Cave Kebara Cave (, ) is a limestone cave locality in Wadi Kebara, situated at above sea level on the western escarpment of the Carmel Range, in the Ramat HaNadiv preserve of Zichron Yaakov. History The cave was inhabited between 60,000 and 48,0 ...
, near
Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov () often shortened to just Zikhron, is a local council (Israel), town in northern Israel, south of the city of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Mount Carmel, Carmel mountain range over ...
, and from Amud Cave in
Nahal Amud Nahal Amud (), also known as the Wadi al-Amud, is a stream in the Upper Galilee region of Israel that flows into the Sea of Galilee. History The source of the stream, Ramat Dalton, is located 800 meters above sea level. Its drainage basin inclu ...
. Other important sites are Misliyah Cave and Sephunim Cave in the Carmel and several open sites in the Golan, in the
Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...
, and in the
Coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...
. In February 2021, archaeologists from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
and
Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...
announced the discovery of six lines engraved on a 120,000-year-old
aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...
bone near the city of
Ramle Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph Su ...
in the open-air Middle Paleolithic site of Nesher Ramla. According to archaeologist Yossi Zaidner, this finding was definitely the oldest in the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
. Three-dimensional imaging and microscopic analysis were used to examine the bone. The six lines ranged in length from 38 to 42 millimeters.


Upper Paleolithic

This period in Israel has been dated to between 45,000 BCE and 20,500 BCE, and its sites are associated with two cultural horizons: the
Ahmarian The Ahmarian culture was a Paleolithic archeological industry in the Levant dated at 46,000–42,000 years before present (BP) and thought to be related to Levantine Emiran and younger European Aurignacian cultures. The word "Ahmarian" was adop ...
culture and the
Levantine Aurignacian The Levantine Aurignacian (35,000-29,000 BP, calibrated, 32,000-26,000 BP, non-calibrated) is an Upper Paleolithic culture of the Near-Eastern Levant that evolved from the Emiran culture. It was named so because of the similarity of stone tools w ...
culture. Some technological advancements were made in this period, including the introduction of new techniques for manufacturing
flint tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistory, prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or Lithic reduction, knapped stone, ...
, the invention of the
bow and arrow The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elasticity (physics), elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the ...
, and the manufacturing of
stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s intended for grinding food and preparing
dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
s. Humans began making tools from animal bones and the use of
seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...
s for decoration became widespread. Parts of skeletons were discovered in various sites, but no
cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...
from this period were ever found. It seems that during this era the
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
s disappeared from Israel, as they were going extinct throughout the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
at the time.


Epipaleolithic period

In this era, bridging between the mobile bands of hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic and the agricultural villages of the Neolithic, three different cultures existed in Israel: the
Kebaran culture The Kebaran culture, also known as the 'Early Near East Epipalaeolithic', is an archaeological culture of the Eastern Mediterranean dating to c. 23,000 to 15,000 Before Present (BP). Its type site is Kebara Cave, south of Haifa. The Kebaran was ...
, dated to 18,000–12,500 BCE, the Kebaran Geometric culture, dated to 12,500–10,500 BCE, and the
Natufian culture The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...
, dated to 12,500–9,500 BCE.


Neolithic period

The Neolithic period appears to have begun when the peoples of the
Natufian culture The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...
, which spread across present-day
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, began to practice agriculture. This
Neolithic Revolution The Neolithic Revolution, also known as the First Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period in Afro-Eurasia from a lifestyle of hunter-gatherer, hunting and gathering to one of a ...
has been linked to the cold period known as the
Younger Dryas The Younger Dryas (YD, Greenland Stadial GS-1) was a period in Earth's geologic history that occurred circa 12,900 to 11,700 years Before Present (BP). It is primarily known for the sudden or "abrupt" cooling in the Northern Hemisphere, when the ...
. This agriculture in the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
is the earliest known to have been practiced. The Neolithic period in this region is dated 8500–4300 BCE and the
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
4300–3300 BCE. The term "Natufian" was coined by
Dorothy Garrod Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod, CBE, FBA (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968) was an English archaeologist who specialised in the Palaeolithic period. She held the position of Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1 ...
in 1928, after identifying an archaeological sequence at Wadi al-Natuf which included a Late Levallois-Mousterian layer and a stratified deposit, the Mesolithic of Palestine, which contained charcoal traces and a microlithic flint tool industry. Natufian sites in Israel include Ain Mallaha, el-Wad,
Ein Gev Ein Gev () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the ruins of the Greco-Roman settlement of Hippos, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In its population was . ...
,
Hayonim cave HaYonim Cave () is a cave located in a limestone bluff about 250 meters above modern sea level, in the Upper Galilee, Israel. History The site had substantial occupation during the Middle Paleolithic Mousterian period, from 250,000 years ago to ...
,
Nahal Oren Nahal Oren may refer to: * , a wadi (ephemeral riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs) on the western slopes of Mount Carmel in northern Israel * Nahal Oren (archaeological site) Nahal Oren is an archaeological site on the northe ...
and
Kfar HaHoresh Kfar HaHoresh () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1933 by members of the Gordonia y ...
.


Archaeological remains

In July 2022, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
announced the discovery of an 8,000-year-old "Mother Goddess" figurine at Sha'ar HaGolan archaeological site. Anna Eirikh-Rose, co-director of the excavation reported that the 20-centimeter long figurine covered by a bracelet with a red bottom was found broken into 2 pieces. It was sculpted in a sitting position with big hips, a unique pointed hat, what are known as "coffee-bean" eyes, and a big nose. In June 2024, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently announced the discovery of a well-preserved shipwreck dating back 3,300 years. The wreck, found about 90 kilometers (55 miles) off Israel's
Mediterranean coast The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eu ...
at a depth of 1,800 meters (1.1 miles), contained hundreds of intact
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ite jugs used for transporting wine, food oils, fruit, and other goods across the Mediterranean. The wooden ship was discovered by Energean, a natural gas company operating several deep-sea natural gas fields in Israel's territorial waters.


Chalcolithic period


Definition

Understanding of the
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
period in Israel and in the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
is still far from perfect. It seems that Chalcolithic cultures appeared in the northern Jordan Valley around 4,800 BCE, and in the southern parts of this valley, and, particularly, in
Teleilat el-Ghassul Teleilat el-Ghassul, also spelled Tuleilat el-Ghassul and Tulaylât al-Ghassûl, is the site of several small hillocks (''tuleilat'', 'small tells') containing the remains of a number of Neolithic and Chalcolithic villages in Jordan. It is the t ...
, around 4,500 BCE. Though no direct evidence to this effect is currently available, Chalcolithic civilizations may have spread from northern Israel to the south over several centuries during the first half of the 5th millennium BCE. Judging by evidence from the material culture, there seems to be no direct link between the Late Neolithic cultures and the early Chalcolithic cultures that replaced them in this region. The Chalcolithic period ended in Israel around 3,500 BCE with the rise of the Early Bronze civilization. Chief among the Chalcolithic cultures of the Levant is the
Ghassulian Ghassulian refers to a culture and an archaeological stage dating to the Middle and Late Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant (c. 4400 – c. 3500 BC). Its type-site, Teleilat el-Ghassul, is located in the eastern Jordan Valley near ...
culture of the mid to late Chalcolithic. It might have been preceded by the Bsorian culture. The Ghassulian culture itself is made of several subcultures, one of which is the
Beersheba culture The Beersheba culture is a Late Chalcolithic archaeological culture of the late 5th millennium BC (c. 4200–4000 BC), that was discovered in several sites near Beersheba, in the Beershebal Valley, in the northern Negev, in the 1950s. It is conside ...
.


Subsistence

Hundreds of Chalcolithic sites have been discovered in Israel. Their subsistence was based on farming crops: chiefly
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
and
lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...
s, and on livestock:
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
,
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
s,
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
s and
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
. The livestock was also used for producing wool and dairy products. This is evident from the many
butter churn A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter, a process known as churning. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device in ...
s, made of clay, and also from the large number of animal figurines that have been discovered on Chalcolithic sites. People of the Chalcolithic period were also the first in Israel to grow cultivated fruit-bearing trees, such as
date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
s,
olive trees The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...
and
pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...
s.


Industry and material culture

The
Ghassulian Ghassulian refers to a culture and an archaeological stage dating to the Middle and Late Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant (c. 4400 – c. 3500 BC). Its type-site, Teleilat el-Ghassul, is located in the eastern Jordan Valley near ...
s were the first in the area to smelt and work
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
. Settlements of the
Beersheba culture The Beersheba culture is a Late Chalcolithic archaeological culture of the late 5th millennium BC (c. 4200–4000 BC), that was discovered in several sites near Beersheba, in the Beershebal Valley, in the northern Negev, in the 1950s. It is conside ...
, a late Ghassulian subculture, specialized in different types of industry. Bir Abu Matar produced copper and copper tools, artifacts and
jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
.
Copper ore Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
, imported from
Wadi Feynan Wadi Feynan or Wadi Faynan () is a major wadi (seasonal river valley) and region in southern Jordan, on the border between Tafilah Governorate and Aqaba Governorate, Aqaba and Ma'an Governorates. It originates in the southern Jordanian Highlands w ...
or from
Timna Timna ( Qatabānic: , romanized: , ; ) is an ancient city in Yemen, the capital of the Qataban kingdom. During ancient times, Timna was an important hub in the famous Incense Route, which supplied Arabian and Indian incense via camel caravan ...
, was ground and then cooked in ovens. It was then smelted in special furnaces made of compacted earth mixed with straw. The molten metal was collected in special clay bowls and cast into earthen molds that were shattered after the metal had cooled. The people of Bir Tzafad specialized in
ivory carving Ivory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, generally by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. Objects carved in ivory are often called "ivories". Humans have ornamentally carved ivory sinc ...
. People of the Chalcolithic era also produced a multitude of stone (flint) tools, chief among which were fan scrapers, used mainly for working leather.
Bone tool In archaeology, bone tools have been documented from the advent of ''Homo sapiens'' and are also known from ''Homo neanderthalensis'' contexts or even earlier. Bone has been used for making tools by virtually all hunter-gatherer societies, even w ...
s - such as picks, needles, combs and sickles - were also in use.


Ghassulian art

Elaborate, multicolored, wall paintings, done on plaster, that were probably associated with Ghassulian religious practices, were discovered in the later Chalcolithic layers of Teleilat el-Ghassul, the layers associated with the Ghassulian culture. The painters employed elaborate techniques, including the use of rulers to draw straight lines, and produced works of high accuracy. Periodically, a new layer of plaster would be applied to the wall and covered in fresh paintings. Over 20 such layers were discovered on the walls of one of the houses. The Ghassulians also produced ivory statuettes, often of naked women or bearded men, or using other motifs, for instance, birds. These statuettes had holes at the top and were probably meant to be suspended by a string. They include motifs found in artifacts from pre-dynastic
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
( Amratian and Gerzean cultures).


Trade

People of the Chalcolithic engaged in extensive trade. Copper ore for the Ghassulian copper industry was imported from
Timna Timna ( Qatabānic: , romanized: , ; ) is an ancient city in Yemen, the capital of the Qataban kingdom. During ancient times, Timna was an important hub in the famous Incense Route, which supplied Arabian and Indian incense via camel caravan ...
or from
Wadi Feynan Wadi Feynan or Wadi Faynan () is a major wadi (seasonal river valley) and region in southern Jordan, on the border between Tafilah Governorate and Aqaba Governorate, Aqaba and Ma'an Governorates. It originates in the southern Jordanian Highlands w ...
, in today's Jordan.
Basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
artifacts (sets of large, finely crafted, basalt bowls) that were probably used in religious rituals were imported from the north, from the
Golan Golan (; ) is the name of a biblical town later known from the works of Josephus (first century CE) and Eusebius (''Onomasticon'', early 4th century CE). Archaeologists localize the biblical city of Golan at Sahm el-Jaulān, a Syrian village eas ...
or from the
Houran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat a ...
. These sets of exquisite artifacts also indicate an early phase of social stratification in Chalcolithic societies, since they were only found in several of the houses, whereas in others similar sets made of clay were discovered. Ivory for making ivory statuettes was brought from Africa, marine shells - from the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
coastline, from the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
and from the
Nile Valley The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...
. The settlements also traded with each other.


Archaeological remains

In March 2021, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
announced the discovery of the partially mummified 6000-year-old remains of a child in the
Cave of Horror Cave of Horror () is the nickname given to a refuge cave that archaeologists have catalogued as Nahal Hever Cave 8 (8Hev) of the Judaean Desert, Israel, where the remains of Jewish refugees from the Bar Kokhba revolt (c. 132–136 AD) were foun ...
. The skeleton, probably a girl aged between 6 and 12 under two flat stones in a shallow pit grave was revealed with the help of CT (CAT) scan. The burial dates to the
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
period. The child had been buried in a fetal position and covered with a cloth resembling a small blanket, wrapped around its head and chest, but not its feet. The burial was found along with 1,600-year-old
Dead Sea scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
. Fragments were Greek translations of the books of Nahum and Zechariah from the Book of the 12 Minor Prophets. The only text written in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
was the name of God.


Bronze Age / Canaanite period

The Bronze Age is the period 3300–1200 BCE when objects made of
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
were in use. Many writers have linked the history of the Levant from the Bronze Age onwards to events described in the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
. The Bronze Age and Iron Age together are sometimes called the "Biblical period".Dates for Biblical Period follow Amihai Mazar, ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible'' (New York: Doubleday 1990). . The periods of the Bronze Age include the following: * Early Bronze Age I (EB I) 3330–3050 BCE * Early Bronze Age II–III (EB II–III) 3050–2300 BCE * Early Bronze Age IV/Middle Bronze Age I (EB IV/MB I) 2300–2000 BCE * Middle Bronze Age IIA (MB IIA) 2000–1750 BCE * Middle Bronze Age IIB (MB IIB) 1800–1550 BCE * Late Bronze Age I–II (LB I–II) 1550–1200 BCE The Late Bronze Age is characterized by individual city-states, which from time to time were dominated by
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
until the last invasion by
Merneptah Merneptah () or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213–2 May 1203 BCE) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten y ...
in 1207 BCE. The Amarna Letters are an example of a specific period during the Late Bronze Age when the vassal kings of the Levant corresponded with their overlords in Egypt.


Archaeological remains

In February 2023, the remains of two elite brothers buried with Cypriot pottery, food and other valuable possessions were found in a
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...
in Tel Megiddo.
Bioarchaeologists Bioarchaeology (osteoarchaeology, osteology or palaeo-osteology) in Europe describes the study of biological remains from archaeological sites. In the United States it is the scientific study of human remains from archaeological sites. The term w ...
identified the early evidence of a Bronze Age
cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Thi ...
surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
called
trepanation Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a ...
in one of the brothers. The study published in PLOS One reports that the younger brother passed away in his teens or early twenties, most likely from an infectious illness like
leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...
or
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. The older brother, who died immediately after the surgery, had angular notched trepanation and was thought to be between the ages of 20 and 40. A 30-millimeter (1.2-inch) square-shaped hole was created on the frontal bone of the skull after his scalp was cut with a sharp instrument with a bevelled-edge.


Iron Age / Israelite period

The Iron Age in the Levant begins in about 1200 BCE, following the
Late Bronze Age Collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Egypt, Anatolia, the Aegea ...
, when iron tools came into use. It is also known as the
Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
period. In this period both the archaeological evidence and the narrative evidence from the Bible become richer and much writing has attempted to make links between them. A chronology includes: * Iron Age I (IA I) 1200–1000 BCE * Iron Age IIA (IA IIA) 1000–925 BCE * Iron Age IIB-C (IA IIB-C) 925–586 BCE * Iron Age III 586–539 BCE (
Neo-Babylonian The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC ...
period) The traditional view, personified in such archaeologists as Albright and
Wright Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...
, faithfully accepted the biblical events as history, but has since been questioned by " Biblical minimalists" such as
Niels Peter Lemche Niels Peter Lemche (born 6 September 1945) is a biblical scholar at the University of Copenhagen, whose interests include early Israel and its relationship with history, the Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the ...
, Thomas L. Thompson and
Philip R. Davies Philip R. Davies (1945–2018) was a British biblical scholar. He was Professor Emeritus of biblical studies at the University of Sheffield, England. In the late 1990s, he was the Director for the Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He ...
.
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...
suggests that the empire of David and Solomon (United Monarchy) never existed and Judah was not in a position to support an extended state until the start of the 8th century. Finkelstein accepts the existence of King David and Solomon but doubts their
chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...
, significance and influence as described in the Bible. Without claiming that everything in the Bible is historically accurate, some non-
supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
story elements appear to correspond with physical artifacts and other archaeological findings. Inscriptions such as the Tel Dan Stele and the
Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...
can be traced to a non-Hebrew cultural origin.


Origins of the Ancient Israelites – the Tel Aviv School

Following the collapse of many cities and civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean Basin at the end of the Bronze Age, certain local nomadic groups in eastern
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
began settling in the mountainous regions of that land (the mountain ranges on both sides of the
Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...
, of which the western part is known today as the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
). In this period the
Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Ancient Egypt, Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age. The hypothesis was proposed by the 19th-century Egyptology, Egyptologis ...
invaded the countries along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, creating the Philistine city states along the seacoast of southwestern Canaan.
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
lost its control of the land in the 12th century BCE – the exact date is currently being disputed, and this issue is closely linked to the Low Chronology / High Chronology dispute. According to
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...
, this tendency of
nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
s to settle down, or of sedentary populations to become nomadic, when circumstances make it worth their while, is typical of many Mid-Eastern populations which retain the knowledge of both ways of life and can switch between them fairly easily. This happens on a small scale, but can also happen on a large scale, when regional political and economical circumstances change dramatically. According to Finkelstein, this process of settlement on a large scale in the mountain-ranges of Canaan had already happened twice before, in the Bronze Age, during periods when the urban civilization was in decline. The numbers of settlers were smaller in those previous two instances, and the settlement-systems they created ended up dissipating instead of coalescing into more mature political entities, as was the case with the settlers of the early Iron Age. In the early stages of this process, settlements had the form of nomadic tent-camps: a ring of stone houses surrounding an inner yard where the
livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
was kept. Gradually, as the settlement evolved, that space was filled up with houses. The composition of animal bones found in successive archaeological layers also displays change over time, reflecting the change in lifestyle – nomadic societies raise many
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
s and very little
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
. As the settlement process progressed, the percentage of cattle bones found in animal bone deposits increased dramatically. Another characteristic of the early Israelite settlements is the absence of
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
bones in excavated sites, which seems to be the earliest evidence of the development of an "Israelite national identity", though it is, so far, not quite conclusive. At the height of this process, in the 10th century BCE, the population of the areas that would become the early Kingdom of Israel and the early
Kingdom of Judea Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchic state or realm ruled by a king or queen. ** A monarchic chiefdom, represented or governed by a king or queen. * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and me ...
(before these kingdoms began spreading into the surrounding lowlands) numbered around 45,000. In the 11th century BCE Shiloh probably served as a religious center and might have held some political power in the region. In the mid to late 10th century BCE an early Israelite state formation emerged (possibly the one referred to in the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
as the Kingdom of
Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...
). It has been suggested by
Finkelstein Finkelstein ( or , ) is a German language, German and Yiddish language, Yiddish surname originating from Old High German ''funko'' (spark) and ''stein'' (stone). ''Fünkelstein'' meant pyrite (George J. Adler, ''A Dictionary of the German and Engl ...
that this early Israelite state—and not David's 'unified kingdom', which he sees as a "literary construct"—had been the target of the campaign of
Shoshenq I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned )—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egy ...
to Canaan, in the middle of the second half of the 10th century BCE. There is evidence of a large scale abandonment of settlements in the heartland of the Kingdom of
Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...
, as described in the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
, around that time—in the land of the
Tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the ...
, just north of Judah, the area of
Gibeah Gibeah (; ''Gīḇəʿā''; ''Gīḇəʿaṯ'') is the name of three places mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the tribes of Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin, Tribe of Judah, Judah, and Tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim respectively. Gibeah of Benjamin, als ...
. This attack by Shoshenq I on the Israelite kingdom was, most likely, a response to this kingdom's attempts to expand into the lowlands of Canaan (as evidenced by a series of destruction events of Canaanite cities in the north of Israel around that time), and a part of this
Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
's effort to take control over Canaan. The Kingdom of Judah was relatively small—maybe 5,000 people in the 10th century BCE—and had been a
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
of Israel at least since the early 9th century, when the powerful
Omride dynasty The Omride dynasty, Omrides or House of Omri (; ) were the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Samaria founded by King Omri. The dynasty's rule ended with the murder of Jehoram of Israel by Jehu in c. 841 BC. Five Assyrian records are known to re ...
had taken over that kingdom, and until Israel's destruction by the
Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
in the late 8th century BCE. The Old Testament is mostly a Judean creation, although it incorporates many traditions (and, possibly, texts) from the Kingdom of Israel. As such, it describes the history of these two kingdoms, in the Iron Age, from a strictly Judean theological perspective and its historical account is biased, though it becomes relatively reliable from the 9th century onward.


The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah


Persian period


Hellenistic period

Many archaeological sites in Israel have yet to be excavated, but many have been surveyed by archaeologists on behalf of the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
. One such site dating back to the
Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
is Horvat Geres (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: '' Khirbet Jurish'') near
Tzur Hadassah Tzur Hadassah () is a Local council (Israel), town located in the Jerusalem Corridor, located southwest of Jerusalem, at an altitude of 755 meters above sea level, located on Route 375 west of Beitar Illit, about one kilometer west of the Green L ...
.


Roman period

The
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
period covers the dates 63 BCE to 330 CE, from
Pompey the Great Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...
's incorporation of the region into the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
until Rome's adoption of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
as the imperial religion. The Roman period had several stages: * Early Roman period (including the
Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...
period) 63 BCE to 70 CE * Middle Roman period: 70–135 CE ( Jewish-Roman wars period); 135–200 CE (
Mishnaic The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
period) * Late Roman period 200–330 CE (
Talmudic The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...
period) The end of the middle Roman period marks the end of the predominantly Jewish culture of
Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...
, but also the beginning of
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
through Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai in the city of
Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...
. Therefore, the late Roman period is also called the Yavne Period. Prominent archaeological sites from the Roman period include: *
Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...
*
Herodium Herodion (; ; ), Herodium (Latin), or Jabal al-Fureidis () is a fortified desert palace built by Herod the Great, king of Herodian kingdom, Judaea, in the first century BCE. The complex stands atop a hill in the Judaean Desert, approximately s ...
*
Caesarea Maritima Caesarea () also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Judaea (Roman province), ...
In March 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery at the
Ramat Gan Safari The Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan (commonly known as the Safari Ramat Gan) in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, is the largest collection of wildlife in human care in the Middle East. The 250-acre site consists of both a dri ...
Park in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
of two 1,800-year-old
sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ ...
, ancient stone coffins dating to the
Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. Researchers assumed that the sarcophagi belonged to high-status people buried near Safari Park. The 6.5-foot-long coffins were crafted with
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
mined and designed with Greco-Roman symbolic discs and flower garlands. In May 2021, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
led by Dr. Rachel Bar Nathan announced the discovery in the
Ashkelon National Park Ashkelon National Park (, ) is an Israeli national park consisting of the ruins of ancient Ascalon and Palestinian village Al-Jura, situated along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea southwest of the city of Ashkelon. The national park encompass ...
of the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
complex dated to the reign of Herod the Great. The building had 3 sections, a central hall and two side parts. According to the excavators, big
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
columns and capitals surrounded the main hall imported from
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
in merchant ships. Remains of column capitals with plant motifs, some bearing an eagle were the symbol of the Roman Empire. In August 2021, marine archeologists headed by Yaakov Sharvit from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
announced the discovery of 1,700-year-old coins weighing a total of 6 kg., dated back to the 4th century AD in
Atlit Atlit or Athlit may refer to: Places * Atlit, an historical fortified town in Israel, also known as Château Pèlerin * Atlit (modern town), a nearby town in Israel Media *Athlit (album), ''Athlit'' (album), an ambient music album by Oöphoi *Atli ...
. According to Sharvit, coins demonstrated that they were assembled and agglutinated because of
oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...
of the metals. In July 2022, marine archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
(IAA) discovered a 1,850-year-old bronze
Roman-era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdo ...
coin off the coast of
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
. The coin, belonging to the reign of Emperor
Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...
, depicted the Roman Moon goddess
Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...
(Greek
Selene In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon")''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene (), she is traditionally the daughter ...
) and below her an astrological sign of cancer. In 2025, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
(IAA) and the Caesarea Development Corporation discovered a Roman‑period
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...
in
Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...
dating to approximately 1,700 years ago. The sarcophagus is depicting a drinking contest between the gods
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
and
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
. In the relief,
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
is depicted reclining and visibly intoxicated, while
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
appears triumphant, accompanied by
Maenads In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the ''thiasus''. Their name, which comes from :wikt:μαίνομαι#Ancient Greek, μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to ...
,
satyrs In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Early artistic represen ...
, and panthers.


Byzantine period

The
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
period is dated 330–638 CE, from Rome's adoption of Christianity to the Muslim conquest of Palestine. The transition from the Roman to Byzantine period coincided with the growth of extensive imperial funding to construct Christian religious institutions in the area, often by transforming the older pagan buildings. A third of the 40,000 objects recovered annually from archaeological digs in Israel attest to the ancient Christian presence in the area. In November 2017, archaeologists discovered a 1,500-year-old Greek dedication to a church, or possibly a monastery. The inscription was discovered between two modern houses, about a mile from the coast. According to a medieval Christian
Georgian calendar The Georgian calendar ( ka, ქართული კალენდარი) is the ancient or modern calendar of Georgia. Though Georgia now uses the modern Gregorian calendar, the old names corresponding to the months are still used. Old mo ...
, a four-line Greek mosaic inscription dated back to "the 3rd indiction, year 292", which corresponds to the 6th century AD on the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
. Archaeologists thought they could have found remains from Azotos Paralios of the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. In 2020, archaeologists from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at
Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...
uncovered the 25-meter-long ship dating back to the seventh-century. The ship was built using the "shell-first" method, containing the largest collection of
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
and early Islamic ceramics discovered in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. A team of archaeologists led by Nurit Feig of the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
discovered the 6th-century church remains belonged to the
Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...
. The excavators also revealed painted floor
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s showing geometric shapes, blue, black, and red floral patterns. The main parameters of the discovered church are 12×36 meter. In December 2020, archaeologists revealed the remains of 1,500 year-old Byzantine church (known as the
Church of All Nations The Church of All Nations (; ), also known as the Church of Gethsemane or the Basilica of the Agony (), is a Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, next to the Garden of Gethsemane. It enshrines a section of bedrock ...
) and the foundations of a Second Temple-era ritual bath (also known as a
mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
). According to Dr. Leah and Dr. Rosario, Greek inscriptions were written on the church's floor as : "for the memory and repose of the lovers of Christ… accept the offering of your servants and give them remission of sins". In January 2021, archaeologists from
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
announced the discovery of tombstone dating back 1,400 years with Greek inscription by an employee of the Parks and Nature Authority at Nitzana National Park in the
Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...
desert. On the Christian woman's stone named Maria these words were written: 'Blessed Maria who lived immaculate life'. In 2021, archaeologist from
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
(IAA) led by researchers Tzachi Lang and Kojan Haku found in the village of Et Taiyiba an engraved stone from the late
5th century The 5th century is the time period from AD 401 (represented by the Roman numerals CDI) through AD 500 (D) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. ...
from the frame of an entrance door of a church, with a mosaic
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
inscription. The inscription reads "''
Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
born of
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
. This work of the most God-fearing and pious bishop heodoius and the miserable Th
mas Mas, Más or MAS may refer to: Film and TV * Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series * "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad'' Music Albums * ''Más'' (album), ...
was built from the foundation. Whoever enters should pray for them.''" According to archaeologist Dr. Walid Atrash, Theodosius was one of the first Christian bishops and this church was the first evidence of the Byzantine church's existence in the village of Taiyiba. In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 1,600-year-old multicolored
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
dated back to the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
in an industrial area. According to IAA archaeologist Elie Haddad, it was the first time that excavators revealed a colored mosaic floor in
Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...
. In August 2021, Israeli archaeologists led by Yoav Arbel, have announced the discovery of Byzantine-era wine press paved with a
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
along with an old coin minted by Emperor
Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...
. According to coin expert Robert Kool, one side of the gold depicted the emperor and his two sons, while the other side depicted the hill of
Golgotha Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. A Greek or Arabic
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
was engraved on the surface of the coins, probably with the name of the coin owner. According to Yoel Arbel, stone
mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
and
millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...
s were used to grind barley and wheat and very likely also to crush herbs and healing plants. Findings from the Byzantine period include: * Byzantine-period church in Jerusalem hills * Byzantine-period street in Jerusalem * 1,400-year-old wine press In March 2023,
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
announced the discovery of the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
with a series of floral patterns in
Shoham Shoham () is a town in the Central District of Israel. The name relates to one of the 12 stones on the Hoshen, the sacred breastplate worn by a Jewish high priest (Exodus 28:20), similar to other nearby towns: Nofekh, Bareket, Leshem and Ahlam ...
. In May 2025, a 1,600-year-old
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
from a Christian monastery near Kibbutz Urim in southern
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
was unveiled to the public for the first time. Known as the Be'er Shema
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
, it features 55 intricately designed medallions depicting mythological figures, exotic animals, hunting scenes, and aspects of daily life, crafted from colored stones, glass, and pottery. After its discovery in 1990, the mosaic was reburied to protect it from erosion but was later conserved and relocated by the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
to a secure location within the Merhavim Regional Council's complex.


Notable sites


Jerusalem


Ashkelon

Archaeological excavation in
Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...
began in 1985, led by
Lawrence Stager Lawrence E. "Larry" Stager (January 5, 1943 – December 29, 2017) was an American archaeologist and academic, specialising in Syro-Palestinian archaeology and Biblical archaeology. He was the Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel in t ...
. The site contains of accumulated rubble from successive
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ite,
Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...
, Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader occupation. Major findings include shaft graves of pre-Phoenician Canaanites, a Bronze Age
vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...
and ramparts, and a silvered bronze statuette of a bull calf, assumed to be of the Canaanite period.


Beit Alfa

One of the earliest digs by Israeli archaeologists, the
Beit Alfa Synagogue Beth Alpha (; ''Bet Alpha'', ''Bet Alfa'') is an ancient former Jewish synagogue, located at the foot of the northern slopes of the Gilboa mountains near Beit She'an, in the Northern District of Israel.Avigad, "Beth Alpha", ''Encyclopaedia Ju ...
is an ancient
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
-era synagogue, constructed in the 5th century CE, which features a three-paneled mosaic floor. An
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
inscription states that the mosaic dates to the time of Justin (thought to be
Justin I Justin I (; ; 450 – 1 August 527), also called Justin the Thracian (; ), was List of Roman emperors#Later eastern emperors (457–1453), Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become ...
; ruled 518–527 CE). Each of the mosaic's three panels depicts a scene: the
Holy Ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Ko ...
, the
zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...
, and the
sacrifice of Isaac The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from Book of Genesis#Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50), chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God in Abrahamic religions, God orders A ...
. The twelve names of the zodiac are included in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
. In the center is
Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...
, the sun god, being conveyed in his
chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...
by four horses. The women in the four corners of the mosaic represent the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
s.


Carmel Caves

Misliya cave Misliya Cave (), also known as the "Brotzen Cave" after Fritz Brotzen, who first described it in 1927, is a collapsed cave at Mount Carmel, Israel, containing archaeological layers from the Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic periods. The s ...
, southwest of
Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...
, has been excavated by teams of anthropologists and archaeologists from the Archaeology Department of the
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
and
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
since 2001. In 2007, they unearthed artifacts indicative of what could be the earliest known prehistoric man. The teams uncovered handheld stone tools and blades as well as animal bones, dating to 250,000 years ago, at the time of the
Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an Industry (archaeology), archaeological industry of Lithic technology, stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and We ...
culture of
Neanderthals Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
in Europe. In January 2018 it was announced that a fragment of an early modern human jawbone with eight teeth found at Misliya cave, Israel, have been dated to around 185,000 (between 177,000 and 194,000 years ago CI">Confidence_interval.html" ;"title="5% Confidence interval">CI. This could make it the second oldest dated early modern human remain found outside of Africa, possibly after Dali Man from China dated at around 260,000 years ago. Layers dating from between 250,000 and 140,000 years ago in the same cave contained tools of the Levallois technique, Levallois type which could put the date of the first migration even earlier if the tools can be associated with the modern human jawbone finds.


Mamshit

Mamshit Mampsis (Medieval Greek: Μάμψις) or Memphis (Ancient Greek: Μέμφις), today Mamshit (), Kurnub (Arabic: كرنب), is a former Nabataean caravan stop and Byzantine city. In the Nabataean period, Mampsis was an important station on the ...
, the
Nabatean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra ...
city of Memphis (also known as Kurnub in Arabic), was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in June 2005. The archaeological excavation at Mamshit uncovered the largest hoard of coins ever found in Israel: 10,500 silver coins in a bronze jar, dating to the 3rd century CE. Among the Nabatean cities found in the Negev (
Avdat Avdat or Ovdat (), and Abdah or Abde (), are the modern names of an archaeological site corresponding to the ancient Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine settlement of Oboda (''tabula Peutingeriana''; Stephanus Byzantinus) or Eboda (Ptolemaeus 5:16, 4 ...
,
Haluza Haluza may refer to: * Elusa (Haluza) The ancient city of Halasa or Chellous (), Elusa () in the Byzantine period, was a city in the Negev near present-day Kibbutz Mash'abei Sadeh that was once part of the Nabataean Incense Route. It lay on the ...
,
Shivta Shivta (), originally Sobata () or Subeita (), is an ancient city in the Negev Desert of Israel located 43 kilometers southwest of Beersheba. Shivta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2005, as part of the Incense Route and the De ...
) Mamshit is the smallest (10 acres), but the best preserved and restored. Entire streets have survived intact, and numerous Nabatean buildings with open rooms, courtyards, and terraces have been restored. Most of the buildings were built in the late Nabatean period, in the 2nd century CE, after the Nabatean kingdom was annexed to Rome in 106 CE.


Old Acre

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001,
Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
's Old City has been the site of extensive archaeological excavation since the 1990s. The major find has been an underground passageway leading to a 13th-century fortress of the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
. The excavated remains of the Crusader town, dating from 1104 to 1291 CE, are well preserved, and are on display above and below the current street level.


Tel Rehov

Tel Rehov Tel Rehov () or Tell es-Sarem (), is an archaeological site in the Bet She'an Valley, a segment of the Jordan Valley, Israel, approximately south of Beit She'an and west of the Jordan River. It was occupied in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The s ...
is an important Bronze and Iron Age archaeological site approximately five kilometers south of
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
and three kilometers west of the Jordan River. The site represents one of the largest ancient city mounds in Israel, its surface area comprising 120,000 m2 in size, divided into an "Upper City" (40,000 m2) and a "Lower City" (80,000 m2). Archaeological excavations have been conducted at Rehov since 1997, under the directorship of Amihai Mazar. The first eight seasons of excavations revealed successive occupational layers from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I (12th – 11th centuries BCE). The Iron Age II levels of the site have emerged as a vitally important component in the current debate regarding the chronology of the
United Monarchy The Kingdom of Israel (Hebrew: מַמְלֶכֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, ''Mamleḵeṯ Yīśrāʾēl'') was an Israelite kingdom that may have existed in the Southern Levant. According to the Deuteronomistic history in the Hebrew Bible ...
of Israel. In September 2007, 30 intact
beehives A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...
dated to the mid-10th to early 9th century BCE were found. The beehives are evidence of an advanced honey-producing beekeeping (
apiculture Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (bee), Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless be ...
) industry 3,000 years ago in the city, then thought to have a population of about 2,000. The beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, were found in orderly rows of 100 hives. Organic material (wheat found next to the beehives) was dated using carbon-14 radiocarbon dating at the
University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...
in the Netherlands. Also found alongside the hives was an altar decorated with fertility figurines.


Tel Be'er Sheva

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005,
Tel Be'er Sheva Tel Sheva () or Tel Be'er Sheva (), also known as Tell es-Seba (), is an archaeological site in the Southern District of Israel, believed to be the site of the ancient biblical town of Beer-sheba. The site lies east of modern Beersheba and wes ...
is an archaeological site in southern Israel, believed to be the remains of the biblical town of
Be'er Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...
. Archaeological finds indicate that the site was inhabited from the Chalcolithic period, around 4000 BCE,Be'er Sheva
/ref>The Holy Land, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, p. 438 Oxford University Press, 1998 to the 16th century CE. This was probably due to the abundance of
underground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
, as evidenced by the numerous wells in the area. Excavated by Yohanan Aharoni and Ze'ev Herzog of Tel Aviv University, the settlement itself is dated to the early Israelite period. Probably populated in the 12th century BCE, the first fortified settlement dates to 1000 BCE. The city was likely destroyed by
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
in 700 BCE, and after a habitation hiatus of three hundred years, there is evidence of remains from the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Early Arab periods.Freedman, 2000, p. 161. Major finds include an elaborate water system and a huge
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
carved out of the rock beneath the town, and a large horned
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
which was reconstructed using several well-dressed stones found in secondary use in the walls of a later building. The altar attests to the existence of a temple or
cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
center in the city which was probably dismantled during the reforms of
King Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible. Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "Glossary", pp. 367–432 In the Bi ...
.Murphy-O'Connor, 1998, p. 438.


Tel Megiddo

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005,
Tel Megiddo Tel Megiddo (from ) is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo (; ), the remains of which form a tell or archaeological mound, situated in northern Israel at the western edge of the Jezreel Valley about southeast of Haifa near the depopulate ...
comprises twenty-six stratified layers of the ruins of ancient cities in a strategic location at the head of a pass through the
Carmel Ridge Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...
, which overlooks the
Valley of Jezreel The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands of the Lower Galilee region, ...
from the west. Megiddo has been excavated three times. The first excavations were carried out between 1903 and 1905 and a second expedition was carried out in 1925. During these excavation it was discovered that there were twenty levels of habitation, and many of the remains uncovered are preserved at the
Rockefeller Museum The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), is an archaeology museum located in East Jerusalem, next to Herod's Gate, that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the exca ...
in Jerusalem and the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. Yigael Yadin conducted a few small excavations in the 1960s. Since 1994, Megiddo been the subject of biannual excavation campaigns conducted by The Megiddo Expedition of Tel Aviv University, directed by Israel Finkelstein and
David Ussishkin David Ussishkin (; born 1935, aged ) is an Israeli archaeologist and professor emeritus of archaeology. Biography David Ussishkin was born in Jerusalem. Ussishkin is the son of the lawyer Samuel Ussishkin and the grandson of the Zionist leader M ...
, together with a consortium of international universities. A major find from digs conducted between 1927 and 1934 were the Megiddo Stables – two tripartite structures measuring 21 meters by 11 meters, believed to have been ancient stables capable of housing nearly 500 horses.


Beit She'arim

Beit She'arim is an archaeological site of a Jewish town and
necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
, near the town of
Kiryat Tiv'on Kiryat Tiv'on (, also Qiryat Tiv'on) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel, in the hills between the Zvulun (Zebulon) and Jezreel valleys. Kiryat Tiv'on is located southeast of Haifa, on the main road to Nazareth. Kiryat Tiv'on is the resul ...
, 20 km east of
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
in the southern foothills of the
Lower Galilee The Lower Galilee (; ) is a region within the Northern District of Israel. The Lower Galilee is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the south; the Upper Galilee to the north, from which it is separated by the Beit HaKerem Valley; the Jordan Rift ...
. Beth She'arim was excavated by
Benjamin Mazar Benjamin Mazar (; born Binyamin Zeev Maisler, June 28, 1906 – September 9, 1995) was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists. He shared the national passion for the archaeology of Israel that also at ...
and
Nahman Avigad Nahman Avigad (; September 25, 1905 – January 28, 1992), born in Zawalow, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary, now Zavaliv, Ukraine), was an Israeli archaeologist. Biography Avigad studied architecture in what is now the town of Brno, Czech Rep ...
in the 1930s and 1950s. Most of the remains date from the 2nd to 4th century CE and include the remains of a large number of individuals buried in the more than twenty catacombs of the necropolis. Together with the images on walls and
sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ ...
, the inscriptions show that this was a Jewish necropolis.Levine, 1998, p. 7.


Gath

Tell es-Safi Tell es-Safi (, "White hill"; , ''Tel Tzafit'') was an Arab Palestinian village, located in the Shephelah region on the southern banks of Wadi 'Ajjur, northwest of Hebron, which had its Arab population expelled during the 1948 Arab–Israeli w ...
/
Gath Gath can refer to: * Gath (surname) * Gath (city), the biblical city and home of Goliath. Main site is Gath of the Philistines, but there are also other locations Gath Gittaim and Gath Carmel *Gath-hepher, a border town in ancient Israel * ''Gath'' ...
is one of the largest pre- Classical sites in Israel, situated approximately halfway between
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and
Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...
, on the border between coastal plain and the Judean foothills (
Shephelah The Shephelah () or Shfela (), or the Judaean Foothills (), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel stretching over between the Judaean Mountains and the Coastal Plain. The different use of the term "Jud ...
). The site was settled from prehistoric to modern times, and was of particular importance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and during the Crusader period. The site is identified as Canaanite and
Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...
Gath Gath can refer to: * Gath (surname) * Gath (city), the biblical city and home of Goliath. Main site is Gath of the Philistines, but there are also other locations Gath Gittaim and Gath Carmel *Gath-hepher, a border town in ancient Israel * ''Gath'' ...
, and during the Iron Age was one of the five main cities (the
Pentapolis A pentapolis (from Ancient Greek, Greek ''penta-'', 'five' and ''polis'', 'city') is a geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities. Cities in the ancient world probably formed such groups for political, commercial and military rea ...
) of the Philistines. The site was excavated briefly in 1899 by the British archaeologists
Frederick Jones Bliss Frederick Jones Bliss (22 January 1859-–3 June 1937) was an American archaeologist. Biography He was born in Mount Lebanon, Syria, on 22 January 1859. His father, Daniel Bliss, was first a Congregational missionary and later president of ...
and
Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister (8 July 1870 – 26 April 1950) was an Irish archaeologist. Biography Macalister was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Alexander Macalister, then Professor of Zoology, University of Dublin. His father w ...
, and since 1996, by a team from
Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
directed by
Aren Maeir Aren Maeir (; born 1958) is an American-born Israeli archaeologist and professor in the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University. He is director of the Tell es-Safi/ Gath Archaeological Project. Biography Aren ...
. Among the noteworthy finds from the ongoing excavations are the impressive late 9th-century BCE destruction level (Stratum A3), apparently evidence of the destruction of Gath by
Hazael Hazael (; ; Old Aramaic 𐤇𐤆𐤀𐤋 ''Ḥzʔl'') was a king of Aram-Damascus mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of contemporary Syria and Israel-Samaria. While he was likely ...
of
Aram Aram may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama * Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri'' * Aram Quartet, an Italian music group * ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...
(see
II Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including t ...
12:18), a unique
siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
system relating to this event that surrounds the site (the earliest known siege system in the world), a 10th/9th-century BCE inscription written in archaic
alphabetic An alphabet is a standard set of letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from another in a given ...
script, mentioning two names of
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
nature, somewhat reminiscent of the etymological origins of the name
Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...
, and a large stone altar with two "horns" from the 9th-century BCE destruction level – which while very similar to the biblical description of the altar in the
Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...
(in
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
30), has only two horns (as opposed to four in other known examples), perhaps indicating a unique type of Philistine altar, perhaps influenced from Cypriot, and perhaps
Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...
, culture.


Gezer

Tel Gezer is an archaeological site which sits on the western flank of the
Shephelah The Shephelah () or Shfela (), or the Judaean Foothills (), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel stretching over between the Judaean Mountains and the Coastal Plain. The different use of the term "Jud ...
, overlooking the coastal plain of Israel, near the junction between Via Maris and the trunk road leading to Jerusalem. The Tell (archaeology), tel consists of two mounds with a saddle between them, spanning roughly . A dozen inscribed boundary stones found in the vicinity verify the identification of the mound as Gezer, making it the first positively identified biblical city. Gezer is mentioned in several ancient sources, including the Hebrew Bible and the Amarna letters. The biblical references describe it as one of King Solomon, Solomon's royal store cities. R.A.S. Macalister excavated Gezer from 1902 to 1909 with a one-year hiatus in 1906. Major findings include a soft
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
tablet, named the Gezer calendar, which describes the agricultural chores associated with each month of the year. The calendar is written in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, paleo-Hebrew script, and is one of the oldest known examples of Hebrew writing, dating to the 10th century BCE. Also found was a six-chambered gate similar to those found at Hazor and Megiddo, and ten monumental megaliths.


Masada

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001,
Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...
is the site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the Southern District (Israel) on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. According to Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish-Roman historian, Herod the Great fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt. Josephus also writes that in 66 CE, at the beginning of the First Jewish-Roman War against the Roman Empire, a group of Judaic extremist rebels called the Sicarii took Masada from the Roman garrison stationed there. The site of Masada was identified in 1842 and extensively excavated between 1963 and 1965 by an expedition led by Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin. Due to the remoteness from human habitation and the arid environment, the site has remained largely untouched by humans or nature during the past two millennia. Many of the ancient buildings have been restored, as have the wall-paintings of Herod's two main palaces, and the Roman-style bathhouses that he built. A synagogue thought to have been used by the Jewish rebels has also been identified and restored.Ferguson, 2003, p. 574. Inside the synagogue, an ostracon bearing the inscription ''me'aser kohen'' ("tithe for the priest") was found, as were fragments of two scrolls. Also found were eleven small ostraca, each bearing a single name. One reads "ben Yair" and could be short for Eleazar ben Yair, the commander of the fortress.Ego et al., 1999, p. 230 Excavations also uncovered the remains of 28 skeletons. Carbon dating of textiles found in the cave indicate they are contemporaneous with the period of the revolt. The remnants of a Byzantine church dating from the 5th and 6th centuries CE, have also been excavated on the top of Masada.


Tel Arad

Tel Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about ten kilometers west of modern Arad, Israel, Arad. Excavations at the site conducted by Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni in 1962 have unearthed an extensive early Bronze Age settlement that was completely deserted and destroyed by 2700 BCE. The site was then apparently deserted until a new settlement was founded on the southeastern ridge of the ancient city during the Iron Age II.Negev and Gibson, 2001, p. 43. The major find was a garrison-town known as 'The Citadel', constructed in the time of King David and Solomon.Bromiley, 1995, p. 229. A Judean temple, the earliest ever to be discovered in an excavation, dates back to the mid-10th century BCE. An inscription found on the site by Aharoni mentions a 'House of YHWH', which William G. Dever suggests may have referred to the temple at Arad or the temple at Jerusalem. The Arad temple was probably demolished around 700 CE, which is before the date of the inscription.


Tel Dan

Tel Dan, previously named Tell el-Qadi, is a mound where a city once stood, located at the northern tip of modern-day Israel. Finds at the site date back to the Neolithic era circa 4500 BCE, and include 0.8 meter wide walls and pottery shards. The most important find is the Tel Dan Stele, a black basalt stele, whose fragments were discovered in 1993 and 1994. The stele was erected by an Aramaean king and contains an Aramaic inscription to commemorate his victory over the ancient Hebrews. It has generated much excitement because the inscription includes the letters 'ביתדוד', Hebrew for "Davidic line, house of David". Proponents of that reading argue that it is the first time that the name "David" has been recognized at any archaeological site, lending evidence for the Bible account of David's kingdom. Others read the Hebrew letters 'דוד' as "beloved", "uncle" "kettle", or "a god named Dod", (all of which are possible readings of vowel-less Hebrew), and argue this is not a reference to Biblical David.


Tel Hazor

A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005, Tel Hazor has been excavated repeatedly since 1955. Other findings include an ancient Canaanite city, which experienced a catastrophic fire in the sometime in the 13th century BCE. The date and causes of the violent destruction of Canaanite Hazor have been an important issue ever since the first excavations of the site. One school of thought, represented by Yigael Yadin, Yohanan Aharoni and Amnon Ben-Tor, dates the destruction to the later half of the 13th century, tying it to biblical descriptions in Joshua which hold the Israelites responsible for the event. The second school of thought, represented by Olga Tufnell, Kathleen Kenyon, P. Beck, Moshe Kochavi and
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...
, tends to support an earlier date in the first half of the 13th century, in which case there is no necessary connection between the destruction of Hazor and the process of settlement by Israelite Tribes in Cannan. Other findings at the site include a distinctive six chambered gate dating to the Early Iron Age, as well as pottery and administrative buildings dating to either the 10th century and King Solomon or, on a lowered chronology, to the Omrides of the 9th century.


Sepphoris

Excavations in Sepphoris, in the central Galilee region, six kilometers north-northwest of Nazareth, have uncovered a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Assyrian, Hellenistic, Judean, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences. The site is especially rich in mosaics belonging to different periods. Major findings include the remains of a 6th-century synagogue, evidence of an interesting fusion of Jewish and pagan beliefs. A Roman villa, considered the centerpiece of the discoveries, which dates to the year 200 CE, was destroyed in the Galilee earthquake of 363 CE. The mosaic floor was discovered in August 1987 during an expedition led by Eric M. Meyers, Eric and Carol Meyers, of Duke University digging with Ehud Netzer, a locally trained archaeologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It depicts
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
, the god of wine, socializing with Pan (mythology), Pan and
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
in several of the 15 panels. In its center is a lifelike image of a young lady, possibly Venus (mythology), Venus, which has been named "The Mona Lisa of the Galilee". Additional finds include a Roman theater on the northern slope of the hill, and the remains of a 5th-century public building, with a large and intricate mosaic floor.


Gesher Bnot Ya'akov

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge is a 780,000-year-old site on the banks of the
Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...
in northern Israel currently excavated by Naama Goren-Inbar of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. First discovered in the 1930s, Bnot Ya'akov had been the site of several excavations that provided archaeologists with crucial information about how and when
Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
moved out of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, most likely through the Levantine corridor that includes Israel. "One of the rarest prehistoric sites in the world," it featured a remarkable level of organic preservation that archaeologists had not encountered at any other contemporary site in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
or Asia. In 2000, the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
(IAA) charged the Sea of Galilee Drainage Authority (KDA) with causing "serious and irreversible damage" to the site. While the KDA had procured permission from the IAA to work in a limited area to alleviate the regular flooding of farmland in the adjacent Hula Valley under the supervision of an IAA inspector, bulldozers entered the site at night, damaging fossil remains, manmade stone Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, and organic material.


Ain Mallaha

Ain Mallaha, a Natufian village, colonized in three phases 12,000 to 9600 BCE, contains the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication: the burial of a human being with a dog.


Qesem cave

In Qesem cave, 400,000 years old teeth very similar to modern human teeth were found.


Archaeological institutions

During the last hundred years of Ottoman rule in Palestine, European archaeologists active in the region tended to be Christian, backed by the dominant European powers of the time and the Churches. With the transition from Ottoman to British rule over the land, the pursuit of archaeology became less political and religious in nature and instead took on a more purely historical and scientific character. After World War I (1914–1918) and the establishment of the British Mandate, archaeological institutions tended increasingly to be concentrated in the city of Jerusalem. In 1913–1914 the Society for the Reclamation of Antiquities was established by the Yishuv's intellectual elite. Among its founder were Avraham Yaakov Brawer, David Yellin and Aharon Meir Mazie. The Society changed its name to the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society in 1920 and later to the Israel Exploration Society. The British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem began operating in 1921, after R. A. Stewart Macalister and Duncan Mackenzie of the Palestine Exploration Fund appealed to the British government for the establishment of a local antiquities authority. Macalister and Mackenzie expressed concern over the dangers posed to archaeological sites on account of the battles being fought throughout the land. Mackenzie was also wary of fellahin raiding archaeological sites and stealing artifacts. The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
Institute of Archaeology was founded in 1926. In 1934 Hebrew University opened its Department of Archaeology, which it considers "the birthplace of Israeli archaeology". The Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology was established in 1969. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Department of Antiquities (Mandatory Palestine), British Mandatory Department of Antiquities, housed at the
Rockefeller Museum The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), is an archaeology museum located in East Jerusalem, next to Herod's Gate, that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the exca ...
, became the Department of Antiquities of the State of Israel. In 1990 the Department of Antiquities became the
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
, an autonomous government authority charged with responsibility for all the country's antiquities and authorized to excavate, preserve, conserve and administrate antiquities as necessary.


Notable Israeli archaeologists

* Eleazar Sukenik (1889–1953) *
Benjamin Mazar Benjamin Mazar (; born Binyamin Zeev Maisler, June 28, 1906 – September 9, 1995) was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists. He shared the national passion for the archaeology of Israel that also at ...
(1906–1995), a founding father of Israeli archaeology * Yigael Yadin (1917–1984) * Amir Drori (1937–2005), founder of the Israel Antiquities Authority in 1990 *
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein (; born March 29, 1949) is an Israelis, Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the a ...
(1949–present), known for his rejection of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy as fact, proposed a later date for Iron Age Israelite archaeology under the Low Chronology *Amnon Ben-Tor (1935–present), author of ''Archaeology of Ancient Israel,'' noted critic of Finkelstein's Low Chronology *Amihai Mazar (1942–present) Nephew of Benjamin Mazar, noted for his Modified Conventional Chronology, a counter to Finkelstein's Low Chronology *Eilat Mazar (1956–2021) Granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, proponent of the Modified Conventional Chronology, and discoverer of the Large Stone Structure, thought by Conventional Chronology proponents to be the palace of David


New technologies

Israeli archaeologists have developed a method of detecting objects buried dozens of meters underground using a combination of seven technologies, among them echomagnetic soundings, radio transmissions and temperature measurements, able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant objects such as pipes in the ground.


Politicisation of archaeology

Archaeological research and preservation efforts have been exploited by both Palestinians and Israelis for partisan ends. Rather than attempting to understand "the natural process of demolition, eradication, rebuilding, evasion, and ideological reinterpretation that has permitted ancient rulers and modern groups to claim exclusive possession," archaeologists have instead become active participants in the battle over partisan memory, with the result that archaeology, a seemingly objective science, has exacerbated the ongoing nationalism, nationalist dispute. Silberman concludes: "The digging continues. Claims and counterclaims about exclusive historical 'ownership' weave together the random acts of violence of bifurcated collective memory." Adam and Moodley conclude their investigation into this issue by writing that, "Both sides remain prisoners of their mythologized past." As an example of this process, an archaeological tunnel running the length of the western side of the Temple Mount, as it is known to Jews, or the Haram al-Sharif, as it is known to Islam, Muslims, became a serious point of contestation in 1996. The tunnel had been in place for about a dozen years, but open conflict broke out after the government of Benjamin Netanyahu decided to open a new entrance to the tunnel from the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim quarter of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City. Palestinians and the Islamic Waqf authorities were outraged that the decision was taken without prior consultation. They claimed that the work threatened the foundations of the compound and those of houses in the Muslim quarter and that it was actually aimed at tunnelling under the holy compound complex to find remains of Solomon's Temple, similar to previous accusations in the 1980s. As a result of the rumor, Arabs rioted in Jerusalem and then spread to the West Bank, leading to the deaths of 86 Palestinians and 15 Israeli soldiers.Ross, 2007, pp. 156–157.


Damage to sites

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Arab historic sites newly under Israel's control received little research and were neglected. Anti-Muslim sentiment in Israel led to Muslim cemeteries being damaged, continuing into the 1960s. From 1948 to 1967, the Jordanian authorities and military forces engaged in what was described as "calculated destruction" in the Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. In a letter to the United Nations, Yosef Tekoa, Israel's representative to the UN, protested Jordan's "policy of wanton vandalism, desecration and violation," in which all the synagogues in the Old City apart from one were blown up or used as stables.Gold, 2007, p. 157 A road was cut through the ancient historic Jewish graveyard on the Mount of Olives, and tens of thousands of tombstones, some dating from as early as 1 BCE, were torn out, broken or used as flagstones, steps and building materials in Jordanian military installations. On 10 June 1967, the Israeli army razed the Mughrabi Quarter in Jerusalem. As well demolishing more than a hundred homes of Muslim families and leaving hundreds of people homeless, this involved the destruction of historic sites. The Old City of Jerusalem and its walls were added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1982, after it was nominated for inclusion by Jordan. Noting the "severe destruction followed by a rapid urbanization," UNESCO determined that the site met "the criteria proposed for the inscription of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger as they apply to both 'ascertained danger' and 'potential danger'." Work carried out by the Islamic Waqf since the late 1990s to convert two ancient underground structures into a new mosque on the Temple Mount damaged archaeological artifacts in the area of Solomon's Stables and the Huldah Gates. From October 1999 to January 2000, the Waqf authorities in Jerusalem opened an emergency exit to the newly renovated underground mosque, in the process digging a pit measuring and deep. The
Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...
(IAA) expressed concern over the damage sustained to Muslim-period structures within the compound. Jon Seligman, a Jerusalem District archaeologist told ''Archaeology'' magazine that, "It was clear to the IAA that an emergency exit [at the Marwani Mosque] was necessary, but in the best situation, salvage archaeology would have been performed first." Seligman said that the lack of archaeological supervision "has meant a great loss to all of humanity. It was an archaeological crime." Artifacts from the First Temple Period (c. 960–586 BCE) were destroyed when the thousands of tons of ancient fill from the site were dumped in the Kidron Valley and Jerusalem's municipal garbage dump, making it impossible to conduct archaeological examination. The 2011 annual report of the Israeli State Comptroller criticized Waqf renovations on the Temple Mount, which were carried out without permits and employed mechanical tools that caused damage to archaeological relics. In 2012, Bedouin gold-diggers irreversibly damaged the walls of a 2,000-year-old well located under a Crusader structure at Be'er Limon, near Beit Shemesh."Gold diggers ravage archeological site"
''Ynetnews''


See also

* List of archaeological sites in Israel and Palestine * Archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple * Biblical archaeology * Excavations at the Temple Mount * History of Israel * History of Palestine * Levantine archaeology * List of artifacts in biblical archaeology * Near Eastern archaeology * Southern Levant * Temple Mount Sifting Project


References


External links


Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) (English homepage)

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Canaan & Ancient Israel Exhibit)

Israel Exploration Society

Israel archaeological sites photos




* [http://individual.utoronto.ca/mfkolarcik/jesuit/richardhess.htm Early Israel in Canaan]
In the Roman Period Galilee, the vast majority of inhabitants were Jews. They got along sometimes and also fought
* Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archaeology Of Israel Archaeology of Israel, History of the Levant