Israel
This Man Underwent Brain Surgery 3,500 Years Ago
Researchers discovered a punctured skull below the floor of a home in what is now Israel
For the First Time, U.S. Repatriates an Artifact to the Palestinian Authority
The item, an ivory cosmetic spoon, dates back to between 800 and 700 B.C.E.
You Can Retrace the Footsteps Jewish Refugees Took on a Hike Through the Alps
After World War II, Holocaust survivors fled Europe’s lingering anti-Semitism on a series of clandestine missions
What's Within the Burial Cave Dedicated to Jesus' Midwife?
Archaeologists in Israel are excavating the site that was popular among pilgrims more than a millennium ago
What Fingerprints Tell Us About Jerusalem's Ancient Artisans
In an unusual collaboration, archaeologists in Israel are working with police to analyze prints left on fifth- or sixth-century pottery shards
Is Judaism a Younger Religion Than Previously Thought?
A new book by an Israeli archaeologist makes the stunning claim that common Jewish practices emerged only a century or so before Jesus
The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date
Throughout the Middle East, the versatile fruit has been revered since antiquity. How will it fare in a changing world?
These Gold Coins Were Stashed in a Stone Wall Nearly 1,400 Years Ago
Archaeologists found the 44 Byzantine-era coins during excavations in the Golan Heights
Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Earliest Known Opium Use
At a burial site in Israel, pottery from the 14th century B.C.E. contained traces of the drug
Palestinian Farmer Unearths Byzantine-Era Mosaic While Planting Olive Trees
The stunning, colorful flooring depicts 17 iconographies of birds and animals
Ancient Coin Made in Defiance of Roman Rule Returns to Israel
U.S. officials found the stolen coin at a Denver auction in 2017
Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Ancient Dice Used for Divination—and Gaming
Made from animal bones, the artifacts are more than 2,000 years old
Did Archaeologists Find Saint Peter's Birthplace?
An inscription uncovered at the site of an ancient church offers new evidence
Roman Coin Depicting Zodiac Symbol Discovered off Israel’s Coast
The rare bronze coin was minted during the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius
When Did Early Humans Start Using Fire? To Find Answers, Scientists Enlist Artificial Intelligence
By analyzing flint tools, researchers find new evidence of an 800,000-year-old fire in northern Israel
In Israeli Desert, Archaeologists Find One of the Oldest Known Mosques
The seventh-century structure provides clues about a region in transition
Holocaust Survivors Ask Israel Museum to Return One-of-a-Kind Haggadah
Their lawsuit claims the Passover book was stolen, then purchased under dubious circumstances
Imported Lead Ingots Offer Evidence of Complex Bronze Age Trade Networks
A new analysis of shipwrecked metals inscribed with Cypro-Minoan markings suggests the objects originated in Sardinia, some 1,550 miles away from Cyprus
1,500-Year-Old 'Magic Bowls' Seized in Jerusalem Raid
Ancient Mesopotamians used the vessels, which were inscribed with incantations, to ward off demons, disease and other misfortune
The Women Rulers Whose Reigns Reshaped the Medieval Middle East
A new book details the lives of Melisende of Jerusalem, Zumurrud of Damascus and their powerful peers
