An archaeologist crouches in the dust of Jerusalem’s Old City, carefully brushing soil from a small, fragile object. This is a piece of jewelry that is more than 2,000 years old. In moments like these, archaeology feels timeless; earth, stone, and human hands uncover traces of the past. But, from then on, technology will come into play.
From the immediate response, where the excavator takes out his mobile phone, snaps a photo, and sends the item itself to the site management team for identification, to the point where details about the item is uploaded into a database, everything is guided by today’s technology.
Over the years, archaeology in Israel in general, and in Jerusalem in particular, has provided answers to key questions that have preoccupied and continue to preoccupy the global academic and public discourse on religion, history, identity, and politics.
Sometimes groundbreaking information has emerged from the discovery of a single, highly significant artifact, such as the silver amulet found in the Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem, dating back 2,600 years and bearing the “Priestly Blessing,” the oldest biblical text discovered.
At other times, a single exposure in the field has led to broad conclusions, such as the uncovering of Hezekiah’s Wall in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter, which helped determine the boundaries of the city during the First Temple period.
New trends in archaeological research, which include the integration of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, multispectral imaging, and the deepening of cooperation between archaeologists and other scientists, are raising hopes that Israel will become a global powerhouse in archaeology. Thus, in the 21st century, renewed insights may emerge from Israel, offering solid and surprising answers based on local discoveries.
Technology in the service of archaeology
In recent years, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has established the National Archaeology Database of the Land of Israel, an impressive website that compiles all the information ever collected from archaeological excavations throughout the country.
Every excavated site and every uncovered find is documented, mapped, and made accessible to the public, in both Hebrew and English. This is a vast database containing more than five million documents, photographs, maps, and three-dimensional models.
Beyond serving as an essential working tool for archaeologists and researchers, the database is also intended to open a window into the country’s cultural and historical wealth.
However, the website is only the first stage in a much broader program led by the IAA’s director-general, Eli Escusido, which aims, within three years, to position Israel at the forefront of global archaeological knowledge.
“We have an enormous data repository of over a petabyte [a massive unit of data storage, which is one million gigabytes. This is the scale of giant companies]. It is one of the largest databases in the world. Such a quantity gives incredible value to the user,” explained Alby Malka, head of the Technologies Division at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The information Malka refers to has been collected over decades, from tens of thousands of archaeological excavations carried out in Israel since the establishment of the state. Each excavation is meticulously documented in the field. Every wall at a site is drawn according to the position of each individual stone.
Finds are sorted and recorded according to precise classifications. They range from pottery, metal, glass vessels, mosaics, and roof tiles, to coins, ivory, bones, and organic remains such as charcoal and seeds. These documentation methods have long been familiar in archaeology, but today they are carried out directly in the field via immediate data entry on laptops and tablets. The data are stored in the cloud and are added to the database as soon as the excavation is completed and its findings are published.
The first stage, then, was the creation of an open and accessible database. The second stage, currently underway, is transforming the database into an advanced scientific repository. To this end, thousands of archives, laboratory data, and additional information that the IAA collected are being fed into it, and in the future it will include research articles from around the world.
“In the second stage, which we are in right now,” said Malka, “the Israel Antiquities Authority is using Google’s artificial intelligence tools. A pilot project has already scanned 5,000 archaeological research articles relevant to finds discovered in Israel.”
The third and most ambitious stage will enable the AI system not only to retrieve information but also make connections, suggest new perspectives, and answer complex questions. The system will integrate archaeological finds, scientific articles, and general knowledge, performing a synthesis that can serve as a research tool. Completing this stage will undoubtedly constitute a significant breakthrough in combining new technology with the findings of the past.
“AI is a disruptor [innovator] in archaeology, just as it is in many other fields. It has the potential to change how we research and understand everything, by providing capabilities that did not exist before,” Malka explained. “An archaeologist who once had to go to a library, search for information, and consult colleagues can now simply turn to the database. Soon, we could ask the database complex research questions and receive AI-generated answers, which should be used with caution,” he stressed.
Could artificial intelligence replace archaeologists themselves? Malka is quick to reassure: “I am certain it will not. We are providing an important additional tool for archaeologists, but they are the ones who ultimately excavate, decide what is valuable, identify materials, upload the data, tell the story, and give it scholarly validation. There is no substitute for fieldwork and no alternative to an expert who understands the meanings, makes cultural and social connections, and interprets what requires clarification. But there is no doubt that the system can offer refreshing research directions, propose exciting hypotheses, and refute others.”
But even when the system is completed, it is doubtful that artificial intelligence alone will be able to solve historical mysteries or settle disputes among colleagues and in the public sphere. The next stage in archaeological research emerges from the deepening collaboration with additional scientific fields.
Science in the service of archaeology
“An archaeological excavation is an act of destruction,” British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, one of the leading figures in the study of the Land of Israel in the 20th century, used to say. She headed the Albright Institute in Jerusalem and uncovered the ancient remains of Jericho. Science, by definition, is a field that can be proven through repeated experiments.
Kenyon emphasized that, unlike scientific experiments, which can be repeated, an archaeological excavation takes place only once. Once the ground is exposed, it cannot be restored to its original state. Nevertheless, she regarded archaeology as a science in every sense, if it is based on systematic, meticulous, and transparent documentation. Kenyon’s observations were made 75 years ago. Yet, in today’s technological era, they seem more relevant than ever.
Modern archaeology relies heavily on collaboration with numerous scientific fields, from life sciences and chemistry to physics, geology, and computer science. The excavation itself is only the starting point; further research is completed by scientists in laboratories, sometimes far from the site where the finds were uncovered. This cooperation has yielded significant insights in Israel for decades.
One of the most well-known examples of the connection between archaeology and science is the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea and considered the most important archaeological discovery in Israel. These scrolls confirm biblical traditions and early Jewish spirituality. Since the scrolls are made of parchment animal skin, they could be dated using the carbon-14 method.
In the early 1950s, the Dead Sea Scrolls were sent to the laboratory of American chemist Prof. Willard Libby, who developed the carbon-14 method and later received the Nobel Prize for it. Libby determined that the scrolls were more than 2,000 years old. Since then, carbon-14 dating has been significantly refined and is now a central tool in archaeology, despite its results being within a range of years rather than a precise date.
Research on the Dead Sea Scrolls continues to evolve. Over the past 15 years, they have been scanned using advanced medical equipment and uploaded online in high resolution. Now artificial intelligence has joined the effort. A few months ago, Dutch researchers published a study combining AI tools with the analysis of writing styles and recurring patterns in the scrolls, alongside existing knowledge. Their findings suggested that some of the scrolls may be even older than the 2nd century BCE.
In the past decade, cooperation among archaeologists and scientists from various disciplines has expanded. Palynologists study pollen to reconstruct ancient landscapes; dendrochronologists analyze tree rings; and archaeobotanists examine seeds and charcoal to learn about past agriculture and diet.
Another field is archaeozoology, the study of animal bones. For example, excavations in Jerusalem’s City of David from the First Temple period uncovered bones of cattle and sheep, but not pigs, unlike [those found in] Philistine sites from the same era. This finding strengthened the hypothesis that the kosher dietary laws were already known and observed in biblical Jerusalem.
Other bone finds reveal trade connections and food culture. In an ancient pool near the Gihon Spring, dated to the 8th century BCE, more than 10,600 fish bones from 14 different species were found. Analysis showed that most were Denis (sea bream), originating from the Bardawil Lagoon in northern Sinai. The fish had been dried, salted, and smoked before being transported to Jerusalem, indicating advanced trade links and a surprisingly rich diet for the period.
Elsewhere in the city, at the site of St. Stephen’s Church north of Damascus Gate, the remains of about 200 Byzantine-era monks were found. Bioarchaeological and taphonomic analyses revealed that many of the monks suffered from severe joint wear, likely caused by repeated kneeling during prayer.
Another scientific method frequently used in archaeology is petrography, a tool originating in geology that examines rocks and pottery under a polarizing microscope. This method identifies raw material composition and determines provenance. For example, it was discovered that clay lamps from the early Roman period found in the Galilee were produced in Jerusalem. Researchers concluded that this was not coincidental but reflected Jerusalem’s centrality to Jewish inhabitants throughout the country during the Second Temple period.
New processes such as multispectral imaging, which uses different wavelengths of light such as ultraviolet and infrared rays, are also being deployed to decipher faded writing on ancient manuscripts, giving historians even more clues into our past.
None of these insights would have been possible without close collaboration with researchers and scientists from other fields. It remains to be seen how artificial intelligence will integrate here as well. Beyond streamlining work, saving time, and assisting in analyzing massive amounts of data, will it also suggest new ways of thinking and perhaps open another chapter in understanding the past?
Not every historical mystery will be solved. But the combination of technology, science, and archaeology promises one thing: The future of studying the past in Israel will be deeper, more precise, and more thought-provoking than ever before. As tools become more sophisticated and knowledge accumulates, it seems that the remains from the past, which were hidden in the soil and excavated for generations, have not yet spoken their final word.
To the archaeology of Jerusalem, in which each layer tells a story, another layer has recently been added: that of technology.■
Shlomo Cesana is a journalist, archaeologist, and author of books about Jerusalem.