Israel

Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of UNESCO, announcing the United States' request to return to the organization

The United States Is Rejoining UNESCO

The country's tumultuous relationship with the organization stretches back 40 years

Natufian artworks, such as this figurine, became common around 15,000 years ago. Few artworks predating that period have been found in the Levant.

When Did Humans Start Settling Down?

In Israel, new discoveries at one of the world's oldest villages are upending the debate about when we stopped wandering

Researcher Laurent Davin plays a replica of one of the 12,000-year-old bird bone flutes recently discovered in northern Israel.

These 12,000-Year-Old Flutes Mimic the Sound of Prehistoric Birds

The remnants of seven small bird bone instruments were discovered in northern Israel

The toilet discovered at the House of Ahiel

Iron Age Residents of Jerusalem Suffered From Dysentery

A new analysis of 2,500-year-old toilets has found early evidence of a harmful parasite

One of the marble capitals found by swimmer Gideon Harris

Swimmer Stumbles Upon 1,800-Year-Old Marble Columns From Shipwreck Off Israel’s Coast

The artifacts help settle an unanswered question about ancient architectural materials

The heist seemed like a mystery that would never be solved—until a deathbed confession by a career criminal led to the recovery of almost all of the missing timepieces.

The Time Thief Who Stole 106 Rare Clocks in a Daring Heist

Authorities eventually recovered 96 of the lost timepieces, including a $30 million watch commissioned for Marie Antoinette

Two brothers’ remains were found buried together under the floorboards of their home. One had a hole in his skull consistent with surgery.

This Man Underwent Brain Surgery 3,500 Years Ago

Researchers discovered a punctured skull below the floor of a home in what is now Israel

The icory cosmetic spoon was used to pour incense onto fires as an offering to the gods or the dead.

For the First Time, U.S. Repatriates an Artifact to the Palestinian Authority

The item, an ivory cosmetic spoon, dates back to between 800 and 700 B.C.E.

Hikers set off on the annual Alpine Peace Crossing. The Austrian side of the trail is rocky and exposed; in 1947, Jewish refugees had to make the journey in the dark.

You Can Retrace the Footsteps Jewish Refugees Took on a Hike Through the Alps

After World War II, Holocaust survivors fled Europe’s lingering anti-Semitism on a series of clandestine missions

The cave once belonged to a wealthy Jewish family before becoming a Christian pilgrimage site

What's Within the Burial Cave Dedicated to Jesus' Midwife?

Archaeologists in Israel are excavating the site that was popular among pilgrims more than a millennium ago

Israel isn’t the first country where fingerprints found during archaeological research have elicited curiosity and spurred questions about who left them behind.

What Fingerprints Tell Us About Jerusalem's Ancient Artisans

In an unusual collaboration, archaeologists in Israel are working with police to analyze prints left on fifth- or sixth-century pottery shards

If Yonatan Adler's theory proves correct, then Judaism is, at best, Christianity’s elder sibling and a younger cousin to the religions of ancient Greece and Rome.

Is Judaism a Younger Religion Than Previously Thought?

A new book by an Israeli archaeologist makes the stunning claim that common Jewish practices emerged only a century or so before Jesus

Dried medjool dates at a market in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.

The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date

Throughout the Middle East, the versatile fruit has been revered since antiquity. How will it fare in a changing world?

The 44 solid gold coins dating back to the Byzantine era were discovered at the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve.

These Gold Coins Were Stashed in a Stone Wall Nearly 1,400 Years Ago

Archaeologists found the 44 Byzantine-era coins during excavations in the Golan Heights

Some of the 14th-century B.C.E. vessels found at the Tel Yehud burial site

Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Earliest Known Opium Use

At a burial site in Israel, pottery from the 14th century B.C.E. contained traces of the drug

Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin cleans the mosaic he uncovered in Gaza.

Palestinian Farmer Unearths Byzantine-Era Mosaic While Planting Olive Trees

The stunning, colorful flooring depicts 17 iconographies of birds and animals

Earlier this week, American investigators returned a looted rare quarter shekel silver coin to Israel.

Ancient Coin Made in Defiance of Roman Rule Returns to Israel

U.S. officials found the stolen coin at a Denver auction in 2017

Some of the artifacts discovered in Israel

Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Ancient Dice Used for Divination—and Gaming

Made from animal bones, the artifacts are more than 2,000 years old

Archaeologists pose near the inscription found on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee

Did Archaeologists Find Saint Peter's Birthplace?

An inscription uncovered at the site of an ancient church offers new evidence

The coin depicts Luna, the goddess of the moon, and the zodiac sign for Cancer.

Roman Coin Depicting Zodiac Symbol Discovered off Israel’s Coast

The rare bronze coin was minted during the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius

Page 2 of 7