056 This article will examine a remarkable but little-known Punic/Phoenician funerary monument from Pozo Moro, Spain. Behind it lie complex cultural influences, including some connections with the Biblical prophet Ezekiel and his vision of the...

031 Dedicated to the memory of David Rosenfeld.a I had no idea of searching for Herod’s tomb when I began my archaeological work at Herodium. But I confess it has now become something of a minor obsession with me. Whether I will eventually...

056 Although the huge barrel-vaulted halls supporting the Nea had been discovered by Charles Warren in the late 19th century, the long-buried remains of the church itself were first revealed to modern eyes by excavations of Israeli archaeologists...

In the sixth century B.C.E., the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus inscribed imperial propaganda on a cliff at Sela, a mountain fortress in modern Jordan. Assyriologist Rocío Da Riva goes to great heights to study this hard-to-reach inscription.

041 The Tomb of Pharaoh’s Daughter is one of Jerusalem’s most neglected sites, despite being one of the most complete, distinctive and magnificent First Temple period tombs in the city. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the City...

056 I was sorry to find in the recent edition of BAR the four-page article ostensibly attempting to clarify our work in the City of David under the pretense of correcting the New York Times. (“New York Times Misrepresents Major Jerusalem...

Josephus tells us that the site of Herodium was the final resting place of the skilled builder and hated king Herod the Great, but Josephus failed to identify the exact location of the tomb. For 35 years, Herod’s tomb eluded archaeologist Ehud Netzer. Finally in 2007 a ruined mausoleum and a smashed sarcophagus were uncovered, providing the long-sought answer. But excavations at Herod’s magnificent eponymous desert retreat have now revealed much more, including a royal theater box with colorful paintings.

022 How widespread was the ability to read and Write in ancient Israel? Until recently, the answer usually was, “Quite limited.” The ability to write, it was said, was restricted to a class of professional scribes, who possessed a skill...

034 035 Legendary Bamiyan! As our car neared the valley, I had no idea what to expect. Afghanistan and its friendly people promised a magnificent climax to the 18 months I had spent in Asia in...

063 More than 40 years after re-excavating Tel Gezer’s dramatic “High Place,” archaeologist William Dever has now published his final excavation report. It is indeed welcome. The High Place consists of ten monumental standing stones, some more...

010 Every so often, when historians find incongruities in an ancient text, they err by throwing the baby out with the bathwater: They dismiss the entire document as unhistorical. This is what happened with one of the most important documents from...

002 Despite heightened tensions, an expectation that sooner or later there will be another war, and a near-universal dislike of Secretary Kissinger, archaeology continues in Israel, if anything on an even larger scale, as if the Israelis were...

028 Excavating the Philistine capital city of Ekron (Tel Miqne) last summer, archaeologists discovered this solid-gold cobra on the floor of a monumental palace. Buried beneath a yard of debris from the Babylonian destruction of the city in 603 B...

034 Controversy over the burial of James, the brother of Jesus, is nothing new. As early as the fourth century A.D., the location of James’s tomb was disputed. In the words of the church father Jerome, writing in 392 A.D.: “Some monks think James...

During the Iron Age, when Israel and Judah ruled Canaan, the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom ruled east of the Jordan River. They and their gods are featured in the Bible. Recent archaeological discoveries vastly increase our understanding of these kingdoms and their religion.

The biblical authors depict the Amorites as one of early Israel’s fiercest opponents. Although they are credited with impressive, well-fortified towns and massive monuments, the Amorites are also condemned for idolatry. Who were these legendary figures, why do they receive such pointed condemnation, and how did the landscape of Canaan influence the biblical depiction?

026 027 028 In 312 B.C. a Greek diplomat and historian named Hieronymus of Cardia visited the Dead Sea and probably the Negev and reported:a...

050 F. A. Klein was an Anglican minister, born in Alsace, who came to the Holy Land as a medical missionary in the mid-1800s. Although he lived in Jerusalem, he traveled widely on both sides of the Jordan, seeking to relieve pain and win converts...

028 This story, you may be assured, will end in Jerusalem. But only in due course. It begins in Adiabene, a small semi-independent kingdom near the border of the Parthian (Persian) empire in the days before the First Jewish Revolt against Rome...