Ariel David is an editor at Haaretz English, and a Tel Aviv-based foreign correspondent for Italian and English-language publications. He worked for five years as AP's correspondent in Rome, covering Italy and the Vatican.
Nearly 3,000 years ago, King Ahab of Israel and other oft-squabbling nations of the Levant came together to face the Assyrian Empire in an alliance whose importance echoes to this very day
Neolithic farmers built one of the earliest stone circles in Britain in the mountains of Wales. When they moved, they apparently brought their ancestral monuments along for the ride
Olive pits in stone circles found at now-submerged Chalcolithic site suggest people started pickling this fruit earlier than previously thought – but only after they learned to make oil
3,000-year-old textiles unearthed in the copper mines of Timna were dyed with purple extracted from seashells, said to have been used by biblical kings and priests
More than 2,000 years ago, miniaturized trees decorated King Herod’s palace in Jericho, in what could have been a display of the ruler’s power over nature – and his fealty to Rome
Israeli archaeologist identifies massive siege ramp erected by Muslim or Christian warriors to conquer Ashkelon – which has been shielding the city from encroaching sand dunes ever since
Rejecting idolatry is one of the main pillars of Judaism, but it wasn’t always so. How did a people who once worshipped idols come to abhor religious imagery?
Archaeologists discover sand and seashells kilometers inland, deduce that a wave up to 12 stories high wiped out coastal settlements and apparently left the area barren for centuries
Analysis of teeth from the Bronze and Iron Ages indicates very early globalization: More than 3,500 years ago, people in today’s Israel ate goods from the Far East
A Bronze Age baby buried in a jar, a Greek call to accept death as part of life and an Islamic headache remedy are just some of the recent discoveries in one of the world’s oldest port towns
In First Temple-period Judah, statuettes of women holding up their breasts were apparently a must-have item, but were they images of Yahweh’s wife, fertility figurines, or something else?
The agonized remains of the two men were so well preserved in an underground corridor that we can even see what they wore: winter gear
Industrial zone pollution is nothing new: Analysis of teeth shows 25 times the baseline level of lead in some Iron Age city dwellers in the Levant
The Bible claims the Kingdom of Geshur which built the fort was an ally of King David – but there is little or no archaeological proof of a link to ancient Jerusalem
The Bible describes King Manasseh as the wickedest monarch to ever rule in Jerusalem, but new discoveries show his reign brought peace and prosperity to First Temple period Judah
DNA analysis has shown that the closest relatives of ancient Egyptians are today’s Levantines, so Israeli Gal Gadot as Cleopatra is a pretty good match
The inscribed two-shekel weight was likely used more than 2,600 years ago in a market at the foot of the Temple where pilgrims bought animals for sacrifices and other goods
Archaeological analysis of 300,000-year-old stone tools from Qesem Cave shows hominins treated food and animal hides with wood ash from their fires in order to preserve them for a rainy day
Study of two 2000-year-old nails found in Jerusalem revives claim linking them to the burial of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest involved in Jesus’ crucifixion
The method has a substantial ick factor, but human and animal waste incorporated in mud bricks over centuries can reliably indicate the age of structures, archaeologists say
Forensic analysis of texts found at Tel Arad shows at least 12 different authors, giving clues about literacy in ancient Judah and when the oldest books in the Bible were first written
The palace was likely built in the early seventh century B.C.E. in King Hezekiah's time, after Jerusalem had survived a siege by the Assyrians – capitals uncovered show palm tree motif typical of Kingdom of Judah
Israeli archaeologist says he found 3,000-year-old clay head depicting the biblical God of Israel. Colleagues respond the image doesn’t represent Yahweh, a deity and maybe not even a man
How did Sennacherib’s forces breach the Judahite defenses at Azekah in 701 B.C.E? It seems they repurposed the remains of a 1,000-year-old city wall, fashioning it into an attack ramp
Why did the ancient Judahites pile up huge heaps of stones and soil near their capital? The recent dig at one of these mounds has only deepened the enigma surrounding these structures
Floor tiles from house burnt down by the Babylonians 2,600 years ago yield data that could help better understand the erratic behavior of the planetary shield protecting us from cosmic radiation
Little remained of the 12th century site of war after centuries of construction. Now an archaeologist has deduced where the Arsuf battle should have taken place
Byzantine settlers in the Negev were making good coin by growing grapes and exporting booze around the world 1,500 years ago. Then came eruptions and the Justinian Plague
Study of human remains found in Hyksos capital Avaris suggests that century of their rule over Nile Delta was not the result of conquest but rise to power of longtime immigrants from the Levant
Crudely shaped flints found in Kharaysin could be figurines used in Neolithic ceremonies in which bones were buried and exhumed, study suggests