Fresco of Helen and Paris from the newly excavated dining room. Image courtesy of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Ongoing excavations at the Italian site of Pompeii recently revealed a spectacular dining hall with elegant black walls, decorated with beautiful frescoes featuring mythological scenes inspired by the Trojan War. Measuring about 50 feet long and 20 feet wide, the hall also had an exquisite mosaic floor. One fresco features two of the central characters to the Trojan War saga—Paris and Helen, whose love ultimately resulted in the war itself. Helen is flanked by an attendant while ..read more

Painstakingly reconstructed, the ivory jar from 6,000 years ago is a testimony to fine artisanship and long-distance trade. Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority. It was the last day of the 2020 excavation season for the archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovering the site of Horbat Raqiq near Be’er Sheva. As they were taking final measurements, an edge of a basalt vessel protruding from the ground caught their attention. As many could attest, fascinating discoveries tend to happen at the very last moment. This time was no different, as the IAA detailed in media ..read more

In 2011, archaeologists excavating Avaris (modern Tell el-Dab‘a), in the eastern Nile Delta, made a gruesome discovery. In three pits just outside an ancient palace of the Hyksos kings of Egypt, they uncovered a dozen human hands. This being the only such find so far made in Egypt, its meaning is a matter of scholarly debate. A relief from the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu depicting severed hands of defeated enemies. Asta, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Writing for the Spring 2024 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Daniele Candelora presents her view in an article ..read more

Aerial view of ‘Ubeidiya National Park. Emil Aladjem, IAA Just a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee in the Jordan Valley, a special ceremony marked the official opening of the new ‘Ubeidiya National Park. In addition to evidence of megafauna such as mammoths, sabretooth tigers, hippopotami, and giraffes, the site has also yielded remains belonging to the species Homo erectus, an early relative of modern humans, as well as a variety of stone tools. ‘Ubeidiya’s Pleistocene remains date back approximately 1.6 million years, making this one of the earliest known sites of its kind ever discove ..read more

Iron Age Jerusalem’s administrative district just south of the ancient Temple Mount, located in the area of the ongoing Givati Parking Lot excavations, included a magnificent elite residence (see arrow). Yaeir Z, Courtesy of the City of David Archive. The magnificent structure recently excavated in the City of David was unique in Jerusalem’s ancient landscape during the closing centuries of the Iron Age. Destroyed most likely during the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem in 586 BCE that marked the end of the First Temple period, this large public building reflects the daily life of Jerusalem’s ..read more

Stacks of building materials found in the atrium of the Pompeii town house, including stone blocks, tuff, and orderly rows of roof tiles. Image courtesy of Italian Ministry of Culture Researchers recently uncovered the remains of a construction site at Pompeii that remained undisturbed and preserved for nearly 2,000 years. This exciting discovery opens new windows into the past to help us understand the ancient building techniques that the Romans employed across the empire. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, cities in close proximity, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum, were buried in volcanic ..read more

Kuttamuwa Stele (eighth century BCE), a funerary stela with Aramaic inscription from Samʾal (modern Zincirli) in southern Turkey. CC by-SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons. The Aramaic language constitutes the eastern branch of the Northwest Semitic language family. Its closest relatives are the Canaanite dialects in the western branch of the family, such as Hebrew, Phoenician, and Moabite. Its place of origin is the expansive region known in antiquity as Aram, which extends from southwestern Syria all the way to Upper Mesopotamia in southern Turkey and northern Iraq. The Origins of ..read more

Ancient seals come in a variety of materials and colors, posing challenges to photographic documentation. Photograph by Klaus Wagensonner. Seals are some of the most compelling and ubiquitous objects we have from the ancient Near East. Small enough to grasp in the palm of your hand or to wear as an item of jewelry, seals are either cylinder or stamp shaped. Seals were used to transmit engraved figures, symbols, and patterns onto softer materials like clay by pressing or rolling. They predate the earliest cities and lasted until late antiquity. Both seals and their ancient impressions survive ..read more

The sunken courtyard outside the entrance to the cave of Salome. A small monastery was built here to welcome pilgrims. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority. At the site of Horvat Qasra in the Judean foothills, between the fifth and the eighth centuries, Byzantine Christians frequented a small tomb chapel cut into the limestone hillside. Repurposing what was originally a multi-chambered Judean burial complex, these visitors converted the space into a memorial shrine dedicated to Saint Salome, a figure mentioned in the Gospels as one of Jesus’ disciples. On the interior walls, t ..read more

  The stone veil that held the world’s oldest Lipstick. Courtesy Eskandari et al. A small stone vessel from the southeastern Jirof region of Iran may be the oldest lipstick ever discovered. Publishing in the journal Scientific Reports, archaeologists carried out a wide range of tests on the stone vial and the powdery substance found inside, which dates to the early second millennium BCE. While makeup was widespread across the ancient Near East and Asia, the archaeologists believe this may be the earliest evidence of lip coloring. FREE ebook: Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Tr ..read more