Archaeology

Oldest copy of Homer’s Odyssey in book form joins Christopher Nolan's film press tour

The Manchester Odyssey dates back to the third century BCE  in Egypt, around the time scrolls went out of fashion and “bound” books became more popular. 

The earliest surviving example of Homer’s Odyssey, July 21, 2026.
 Israelis visit the site of the ancient village of Sebastia near the West Bank city of Nablus, on April 22, 2019

‘Weaponization of cultural heritage’: Israel accuses PA of exploiting UNESCO in bid for Sebastia

The burnt wooden beams discovered in the City of David, July 20, 2026.

Days before Tisha B'Av: Charred wooden beams from First Temple’s destruction unearthed in Jerusalem

 A microscopic view of buried basalt from Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov. This image shows olivine basalt recovered from the Eshel Ya‘aqov borehole, examined as a thin section under polarized light to reveal its minerals and texture. Image taken under cross-polarized light (XPL); scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Ancient humans precisely navigated northern Israel to find right stones for tools, study suggests


Central-Eastern Europe's oldest Neanderthal group identified by DNA taken from teeth - study

Notably, three of the teeth - two belonging to children and one to an adult - taken from different sediment layers within the cave, all shared identical mitochondrial DNA.

 Neanderthal communities in prehistoric Europe. How were they linked? (Illustrative)

Knesset advances in first reading bill to form Israeli antiquities authority in West Bank

Should the bill pass, it would shift responsibility currently belonging to the Defense Ministry to the Heritage Ministry.

An Israeli flag is raised on the peak of Mount Sartaba in the Jordan Valley, February 23, 2026.

Eight-year-old boy visiting Ramon Crater finds over 1,700-year-old statue fragment hidden in rocks

“I was looking for special things on the ground that I could show in class,” Wolynitz shared. “ Suddenly, I noticed an interesting stone with stripes lying on the ground, and picked it up.”

Eight-year-old Dor Wolynitz with the over 1,700-year-old statuette fragment he found in the Ramon Crater area, May 11, 2026.

Wooden platform older than Stonehenge found hidden beneath man-made island in Scotland

The analysis found that the crannog started out as a circular wooden platform, measuring at around 23 meters across, and topped with brushwood.

The crannog at Loch Bhorgastail, Scotland, May 8, 2026.

Scientists find traces of rare 'imperial' Tyrian purple dye found in Roman infant burials in York

Tyrian’s costly nature comes from the difficulty of its creation - made in a process similar to that of tekhelet, the blue dye traditionally used in Judaism to color strings of the tzizit.

"Seeing the Dead" project member studying the burial cast of a Roman infant for traces of Tyrian purple, May 8, 2026.

US repatriates over 300 artifacts to Italy, including ancient Roman funerary stone found by FBI

Among the most significant items unveiled at the ceremony were a marble head of Alexander the Great dating to the first century CE, which was stolen from a Rome museum in 1960.

Two stolen artifacts returned to Italy by the United States in a handover ceremony in Rome, April 29, 2026.

Collection of Greek, Roman, Byzantine artifacts discovered in neighborhood of Egypt’s Alexandria

Professor Ibrahim Mustafa, head of the archaeological mission and director of the Central District, stated that initial restoration work for the artifacts has already started.

Statues of ancient Greek and Roman dieties discovered in  in the Muharram Bek neighborhood of Alexandria, Egypt, May 8, 2026.

Nearly 2,000-year-old 'souvenir cup' found in Spain names Hadrian's Wall's eastern forts - study

The cup is decorated with red, green, turquoise, and blue enamel, all arranged in geometric patterns, including fish scales and tower motifs that are believed to represent the wall itself. 

3D reconstruction of the Berlanga Cup.

World's oldest plague mass grave found beneath Roman racetrack in Jordan - study

According to the study, the grave predates the Black Death burial pits from medieval Europe by approximately 800 years.

People stand before the Roman-era South Gate, was built in honour of the Roman Emperor Hadrian on the occasion of his visit circa 130 CE, is pictured at the Roman ruins of Jerash in northern Jordan on April 29, 2026.

Mummy CT scan reveal ancient Egyptian might've suffered from osteoperosis

The discovery comes as part of an ongoing study using CT scans to order to analyze the remains of six different mummies, the oldest of which dates back approximately 2,300 year.

Krisztina Scheffer (MNMKK Semmelweis Museum of Medical History) and Dr. Ibolyka Dudás (OKK) holding the mummified head of an Egyptian woman, May 4, 2026.