Archaeologists carrying out excavations prior to road-widening near Hamovil junction in northern Israel discovered a weapons cache including submachine guns and ammunition on Monday.
Four submachine guns, made in Egypt and stamped in Arabic “Port Said” and the number “17,” were found inside a tire, wrapped in oiled cloth. With them were 50 submachine gun 9-millimeter bullets and a khaki shirt.
At first the archaeologists thought the guns had been used by Arab soldiers in the battles of 1948. About a year ago outposts were found in digs in the area, …

The ancient footprints of the artisans who built a 1,700-year-old mosaic floor in the city of Lod was discovered recently by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The mosaic floor is one of the biggest and most remarkable mosaics to be discovered in Israel. The mosaic, spanning 180 square meters, is composed of colorful and detailed depictions of animals, plants and boats.
The impressive mosaic, discovered in 1996, is believed to have decorated the home of a wealthy man during the Roman period.
Following the discovery of the mosaic, it was covered back up …

As usual during the Jewish holidays, the Israeli public has been inundated with reports of “amazing discoveries” in excavations in Jerusalem. One might dismiss them as a combination of public relations and the need to fill the holiday newspapers, but in fact they attest to a worrying process whereby archaeological research in Jerusalem is being made shallow and subordinated to narrow interests of time and place.
After a period of official and programmatic archaeology following the unification of the city in 1967, it appeared that Israeli archaeology had found the correct …

Israeli archaeologists say they have uncovered a ritual bath in Jerusalem that was likely used by Jewish pilgrims coming to the Temple two millenia ago.
The bath is located next to the Temple Mount, the compound in Jerusalem’s Old City where two Biblical Temples stood. The second was destroyed by Roman legions in 70 A.D.
The Israel Antiquities Authority says the stone bath was likely used for ritual purification by pilgrims who came to the Temple three times a year.
Similar ritual baths are still used by Jews for purification.
The site that once …

A 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater has been fully uncovered, 19 years after it was discovered and excavation began.
The amphitheater was 15 meters below ground. Remnants poked through the sand at what Israel Antiquities Authority Archaeologist Walid Atrash called “a central meeting point.”
The initial finding in 1990 surprised the archaeologists digging near Mount Bernike, in the Tiberias hills, since nothing there is referenced in the scriptures.
The efforts to fully excavate the theater began this year.
The late Professor Izhar Hirschfeld and Yossi Stepansky, the archaeologists heading the excavation, initially stated the structure was …

A street recently uncovered in the capital’s City of David was, metaphorically, “the last seam of independent Jews in Jerusalem,” Uri Goldflam of Shalhevet Education and Consulting said on Wednesday.
The street connects the Jews who lost their Second Commonwealth independence in 70 CE, and the Jewish people today, Goldflam said.
“The symbolism… After Jews hid beneath the stairs from the Romans, and now as a free people, Jews can again walk above the street. After 2,000 years, the steps are not silent anymore.”
The one-to-two-meter wide section of a stepped street believed …

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In what was slated to be the site of a new 122-room hotel, archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world’s oldest synagogues in Northern Israel.
The site, which was unearthed as preparations were being made for construction of the hotel near the Sea of Galilee, is believed to date back some 2000 years from 50BCE to 100CE.
In the middle of the 120 square meter main hall of the synagogue archaeologists discovered an unusual stone carved with a seven branched menorah . “We are dealing with …

The largest cache of rare coins ever found in a scientific excavation from the period of the Bar-Kokhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans has been discovered in a cave by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University.
The coins were discovered in three batches in a deep cavern located in a nature reserve in the Judean hills. The treasure includes gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as some pottery and weapons.
The discovery was made in the framework of a comprehensive cave research and mapping project …

The world of biblical archaeology was stirred in 2002 by the unveiling of a limestone burial box with the Aramaic inscription Yaakov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua (“James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”). Allegedly dating to an era contemporaneous with Christ, the names were a tantalizing collation of potentially great significance: James was indeed the name of a New Testament personage known as the brother of Jesus, both ostensibly the sons of Joseph the carpenter, husband of Mary. If its dates were genuine, the burial box — or ossuary — …

Madonna wrapped up her world tour with a sightseeing trip to Jordan’s famed ruins in Petra.
The Queen of Pop was flown by helicopter into the ancient Roman-era city carved out in red stone in a trip arranged by Queen Rania, the wife of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
The pop star, in a white shirt and trousers, was escorted by Jordanian security and an armed bodyguard during her 15-minute tour.
Madonna, who has been on her Sticky And Sweet world tour, made no comment to reporters as she walked in almost total darkness. Security …