History

Parashat Vayigash: Sharp emotional transitions

The Torah describes the emotional upheaval, the sharp transition from deep sorrow to astonishment and joy, when Jacob discovers that Joseph is alive and even holds a senior position in Egypt.

'The Recognition of Joseph by his Brothers,’ by Peter von Cornelius, 1817.
Rare Byzantine-era gold coins discovered at the Hyrcania archaeological site in the northern Judean Desert.

Byzantine-era coins, ring discovered in Judean Desert point to Christian presence in region

eople look at the artifacts found during the construction of the new metro line at the Colosseum metro station which promise to dazzle locals and tourists with museum-like displays of archaeological discoveries, in Rome, Italy December 16, 2025.

New Rome metro stations showcase ancient treasures after years of delays

India archeologist. Ilustrative.

Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old labyrinth that reveals India’s role in ancient global trade


Archaeologists find Switzerland’s oldest gold coins dating back 2,200 years

Two rare Celtic gold coins dating to the 3rd Century BCE were uncovered near Arisdorf, marking the oldest gold coins ever found in Switzerland, shedding light on ancient trade and ritual practices.

Ancient Celtic gold coins found in Switzerland.

From Antiochus to Mitsotakis: Israel's Mediterranean ties defy historical precedent - editorial

King Antiochus IV Epiphanes must be turning in his grave as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Israel to discuss regional security, energy, and technological advancement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides hold a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025.

Oldest evidence of transport technology uncovered in White Sands, New Mexico

Archaeologists working at White Sands National Park have uncovered traces of a pre-wheeled vehicle alongside human and mammoth footprints preserved in late Pleistocene sediments.

The White Sands National Monument Visitor Center is seen at the White Sands National Park, New Mexico, U.S. June 24, 2025

Hanukkah 2025: From Hellenism to today’s culture wars

Still reeling from the horrors of violent fascism and extreme nationalism, humanity has grown enamored of a universal self-conception that denies meaningful differences of race, religion, or culture.

Heroes from the Israel-Hamas War light candles on the sixth night of Hanukkah with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana in December 2024

Sacrificing the Jews will not save Western civilization - opinion

The massacres, the pogroms and the terror, are focused on Israel’s eradication: to be achieved by crushing Jews and the Jewish spirit.

 A PRO-PALESTINIAN protest takes place in Chicago on October 8, 2023.

How Israel's amateur radio operators used quiet diplomacy, saved lives on Oct. 7 - opinion

In a world where trust has become a scarce resource, amateur radio operators offer something different: human communication that connects people around the world who share the same passion.

An illustrative image of an amateur radio.

Hanukkah 2025: The power of the invisible

Ancient Greek culture, based on Aristotle’s philosophy, believed only in what is 'before the eyes' – what can be seen, touched, measured, and proven.

Today, in the technological era, it is clear that the most influential forces in the world are often the invisible ones.

High-tech cleaning brings back brutal detail of Rome’s Danube wars

The hand-held lasers concentrate flickering beams of light onto the stone, with the heat they generate lifting away black deposits of pollution to reveal the white Carrara marble beneath.

A worker uses a laser to clean a section of the Column of Marcus Aurelius during restoration work, in Rome, Italy, December 18, 2025.

Hanukkah: It’s not all about light, it's about uncomfortable questions, too - opinion

Hanukkah is not sentimental spirituality: It is political theology. It proclaims that Jewish existence is not justified by how pleasing it is to others, nor how dissolves into general humanity.

Candles do not confront us with the fact that Jewish continuity has often depended not on persuasion but on resistance, says the writer. Artwork by Rena Mednick

Hanukkah discovery: Rare Hasmonean lamp, Second Temple stylus found near Jerusalem

The Civil Administration said the artifacts add to a growing corpus of Second Temple–era material recovered in recent years across the West Bank.

An archaeologist of Israel Antiquities Authority displays an oil lamp and coins dating back to the Sanhedrin era which have been uncovered at the Tel Yavne excavation site in central Israel, on November 29, 2021.

Jack the Ripper identified as Jewish barber Aaron Kosminski, historian claims

A historian says new DNA analysis confirms longtime suspect Aaron Kosminski - but experts warn the evidence remains far from definitive.

Jack the Ripper