Archeology

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Byblos, the Eternal City

Paris exhibit showcases Lebanon's oldest city

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/exhibits-events/byblos-the-eternal-city/?

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From Noah’s Dove to the Holy Spirit

Cyprus reveals the sacred history of birds

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/from-noahs-dove-to-the-holy-spirit/?

The Phoenician Alphabet in Archaeology

What did the Phoenicians record with their innovative script?

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/the-phoenician-alphabet-in-archaeology/?

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Moza Rewrites History, Again

A new study from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Moza, just west of Jerusalem, argues that the site’s prehistoric residents mastered a sophisticated plaster technology nearly 9,000 years ago. The researchers claim that the people of Moza created both ordinary lime plaster as well as a harder type involving dolomite. This second type is especially significant because it bears on a long-standing puzzle in geology known as the “dolomite problem,” where dolomite is abundant in ancient rock formations, yet rarely forms today.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/moza-rewrites-history-again/?

Making Sense of Kosher Laws

The origins of Jewish dietary or kosher laws (kashrut) have long been the subject of scholarly research and debate. Regardless of their origins, however, these age-old laws continue to have a significant impact on the way many observant Jews go about their daily lives. One of the more well-known restrictions is the injunction against mixing meat with dairy products. Not only do most Jews who observe kashrut avoid eating any meat and milk products together, many also wait a certain amount of time—30 minutes to a few hours—between eating meat and dairy.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/making-sense-of-kosher-laws/?

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Were Early Christians Class Conscious?

In the New Testament, community is central to Christianity. In Acts, believers devote themselves to shared teaching, prayer, and the breaking of bread, while also pooling resources so “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34). Paul describes the church as a body in which every member depends on the others (1 Corinthians 12). Together, these texts envision a community bound not only by shared beliefs but by shared responsibility.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/were-early-christians-class-conscious/?

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Rare Shell Seal Shows Moon Imagery in Israel

Mother-of-pearl seal found at Iron Age Tel Hadid

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/rare-shell-seal-shows-moon-imagery-in-israel/?

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Was Edom Originally Nomadic?

Finding social complexity in desert archaeology

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-places/was-edom-originally-nomadic/?

Miniature Writing on Ancient Amulets

Ketef Hinnom inscriptions reveal the power of hidden writing

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/miniature-writing-ancient-amulets-ketef-hinnom/?

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The Dead Cities of Christian Syria

Early Syrian churches and the spread of Christianity

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/cultural-heritage/the-dead-cities-of-christian-syria/?

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Did the Euphrates Originally Empty into the Mediterranean?

The Euphrates River was one of the great arteries of the ancient Near East. Flowing from modern-day Turkey through Syria and Iraq before joining the Tigris and emptying into the Persian Gulf, it supported some of the world’s earliest cities and empires. Many of the cultures that emerged along its banks intersect with the historical and literary background of the Bible.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/did-the-euphrates-originally-empty-into-the-mediterranean/?

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Oldest Iron Blooms Found in Shipwreck off Israel Coast 

But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. – Deuteronomy 4:20 (ESV)

https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2026/06/11/oldest-iron-blooms-found-in-shipwreck-off-israel-coast/?

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Synagogues Jesus and Mary Magdalene Knew

In 2009, archaeologists uncovered a first-century synagogue at the town of Migdal on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Its stone benches still lined the walls and its floor still bore a carved stone table decorated with imagery perhaps linked to the Jerusalem Temple. Some believe the town was ancient Magdala, whose most famous resident needs no introduction: Mary Magdalene. She is one of the most prominent women in the Gospels, present at the crucifixion and, according to multiple gospel accounts, the first to encounter the risen Jesus. If the site is Magdala, its archaeology reveals a building she may have known, and a place where her community would have gathered to read Torah and discuss the law.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/synagogues-jesus-and-mary-magdalene-knew/?

Solomon’s Temple Destruction Gives Clues to Modern Science

Dates and places are not known definitively for much of what is described in the Hebrew Bible. However, the sacking of Jerusalem and destruction of Solomon’s Temple by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25, 8-9), is broadly accepted by scholars as having happened in 586 B.C.E. Because the date and the historicity of the event is well-established, it provides a valuable anchor for scientific inquiry.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/solomons-temple-destruction-gives-clues-to-modern-science/?

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Teasing the Temple in the Dead Sea Scrolls

When Cyrus and the Persians brought an end to the Babylonian Exile and decreed that communities exiled by the Babylonians were permitted to go back to their homelands, the Judeans living in Mesopotamia must have been filled with hope and anticipation as they prepared for the return journey to the land of Judah. Their focus surely revolved around the complex challenges of rebuilding and, in particular, the task of restoring the Jerusalem Temple.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/dead-sea-scrolls/teasing-the-temple-in-the-dead-sea-scrolls/?

Herod the Great: Friend of the Romans and Parthians?

Often we think of Herod the Great in relation to ancient Rome. We understand the king as steadfast in his loyalty to this western imperial power—and rightly so. Herod’s behavior routinely betrayed his Roman interests, and inscriptions attest to and advertise this allegiance by identifying him with such titles as “Friend of the Romans.” It is entirely appropriate then to apply the modern label “Roman client king” to Herod, as scholars have done for so long.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/herod-the-great-friend-of-the-romans-and-parthians/?

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Artifacts of Independence

An archaeological dig to uncover artifacts from a fort critical to the Battle of Bunker Hill ended yesterday, on the 251st anniversary of the fight. Archaeologists found musket balls, teacups, tobacco pipes, and even a wig curler. Watch the excavation process here. Although the Americans ultimately retreated, the Massachusetts-based battle is said to have bolstered colonists' confidence (explore battle map). The night before the battle, more than 1,000 people dug a 3-foot-deep, 6-foot-wide trench protected by a 6-foot-high wall, a structure that proved critical to slowing the British advance. The dimensions, recorded two months after the battle by cartographer Henry Pelham, were confirmed by the dig. Archaeologists did not find human remains, despite nearly 150 soldiers dying in the fort. The city of Boston carried out the dig in partnership with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, a nonprofit introducing veterans to careers in archaeology. Learn about the organization's impact here (w/video).