Israel Antiquities Authority

Israel uncovers Second Temple-period mikveh beneath Western Wall

The ritual bath was found sealed beneath a layer of destruction dated to 70 CE, in which researchers found burned ash and numerous artifacts that offer a snapshot of life just before the city fell.

THE RITUAL purification bath (mikveh) from the Second Temple period.
Drone imagery of an archaeological site.

Israeli AI, drone imagery revolutionizing mapping of archaeological sites

AN ANCIENT menorah pendant from the Byzantine period, found in Jerusalem.

Ancient lead menorah pendant sheds light on Jewish presence in Byzantine Jerusalem

Archaeologist Amit Re'em and Eilat Lieber, director of the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum stand atop the recently uncovered section of the Hasmonean wall.

Hasmonean era 'first wall' section revealed at Tower of David museum excavation - interview


Rediscovering ancient luxury: A 3,800-year-old scarlet textile unveiled in the Judean desert

Scarlet, alongside royal blue (Tekhelet) and purple (Argaman), was revered in the ancient world for its rarity and expense.

 A fragment of the rare 3,800-year-old textile, dyed with the Kermes vermilio.

Phylacteries were not colored black 2,000 years ago, new study reveals

Tefillin are small leather cases containing miniscule parchment scrolls inscribed with biblical verses. They are worn even today by observant Jews as part of their morning prayers.

 Tefillin from about 2,000 years ago in the laboratories of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

When Britain’s King George V ‘met’ the founder of its most famous beer, on walls in Jerusalem

These walls continue to talk to us and reveal Jerusalem’s history."

 Shai Halevy and Michael Chernin of the Israel Antiquities Authority during the research on the coats of arms.

Volunteer discovers ancient decorated bowl at Israeli dig

Meir Elchassid, a volunteer from Rehovot, Israel, stumbled upon the ancient glazed bowl during a communal archaeological dig to uncover historical artifacts.

 The decorated bowl dating back to the Abbasid period in Khirbet Hevra.

Bone gaming die uncovered in the City of David

Dice are the oldest gaming implement known to man. Six-sided die, as the one uncovered in the City of David, dates back to about 2000 BCE

13th century era die unearthed in City of David National Park.

IAA discovers rare 6,000-year-old elephant ivory vessel near Beersheba

The discovery provides evidence of ties between this region and Egypt in the Chalcolithic period.

 The rare, recently discovered ivory vessel

Israel Police look for weapons, find trove of unregistered antiquities in North

"It deserves to be in the right hands, presented to the whole public, and not be the private property of one criminal or another," Inspector Nidal Abdelhalim said.

 Antiquities recovered from a weapons search on a suspect in Israel's North, March 28, 2024.

Roman soldiers' 1,600-year-old oil lamp found by high schooler in Israel

The lamp Yonatan found is identical to one discovered in the same place 90 years ago by the late Reform rabbi and archaeologist Dr. Nelson Glueck.

 Yonatan Frankel and the lamp that he found.

Ancient agricultural settlement unearthed in Israel sheds light on human evolution

This agricultural settlement reached its zenith in the Early Bronze Age, roughly 5,000 years ago.

 Benjamin Storchan holding findings from the escavation.

IDF reservist finds ancient Assyrian seal amulet while hiking in Israel

Erez Abrahamov found the amulet, with a dung beetle image, on a hike in the Lower Galilee.

 Erez Abrahamov with his find.