Archaeology of Israel

Despite the importance of the country to three major religions, serious study of the country history only began in the 15th century. Although he never travelled to the Levant, or even left the Netherlands, the first major work on the antiquities of Israel is considered to be Adriaan Reland's Antiquitates Sacrae veterum Hebraeorum, published in 1708. Edward Robinson, an American theologian who visited the country in 1838, published its first topographical studies. Lady Hester Stanhope performed the first modern excavation at Ashkelon in 1815. A Frenchman, Louis Felicien de Saucy, embarked on early "modern" excavations in 1850.

Today, in Israel, there are some 30,000 sites of antiquity, the vast majority of which have never been excavated.

In discussing the state of archaeology in Israel in his time, David Ussishkin commented in the 1980s that the designation "Israeli archaeology" no longer represents a single uniform methodological approach; rather, its scope covers numerous different archaeological schools, disciplines, concepts, and methods currently in existence in Israel.

Archaeological time periods

Paleolithic period

Lower Paleolithic

The beginning of the Lower Paleolithic in Israel is defined by the earliest archaeological finds available. Occasionally, when new, more ancient sites are discovered, the boundaries of this period are redefined. Currently the most ancient site in Israel, and one of the earliest outside of Africa, is Ubeidiya, in the Jordan Rift Valley. Its age is estimated to be between 1.55 and 1.2 million years BP. Many stone tools of the Acheulean culture have been discovered there. Among the other sites from this period is the site at Daughters of Jacob Bridge, which has been dated to 790,000 BP, using paleomagnetism. Some of the earliest evidence of the use of fire and wooden tools has been discovered on this site.

It is estimated that the people who left the remains discovered on the two sites mentioned belonged to the species Homo erectus, although the human fossils found were too few and incomplete to make a positive identification possible. An additional site from the early Lower Paleolithic is the Ruhama Swamp in the northern Negev, which contains remains from the Oldowan culture.

Most of the sites from this period belong to the Acheulean culture, and on many of them remains of elephant bones have been found, together with tools made of flint and basalt. Additional important sites are Revadim, Tabun Cave in Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, a site near the city of Holon, and a site located near kibbutz Evron.

At the end of the Lower Paleolithic, between 400,000 and 250,000 BP, the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex emerged. The site near Lake Ram, in the Golan Heights, where the Venus of Berekhat Ram was discovered, probably belongs to this cultural horizon. This statue is considered, by some, to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form. One of the human fossils from this period is the Galilee Skull, part of a skull discovered by Francis Turville-Petre in Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh, in Nahal Amud, which is considered today to be the skull of a Homo heidelbergensis or of an early Homo sapiens. Notable Acheulo-Yabrudian sites are Tabun Cave and Qesem Cave.

In December 2020, archaeologists from the University of Haifa announced the discovery at the Tabun Cave at the Mount Carmel site of the oldest known tool used for grinding or scraping, dating back about 350,000 years. According to researchers, this cobble belongs to the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex from the late Lower Paleolithic and was used by hominids for abrading surfaces.

In February 2022, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority, led by Professor Ella Been, announced the discovery of a 1.5-million-year-old complete Hominini vertebra. According to the researchers, the fossilized bone belonging to a juvenile between the ages of 6–12 is the oldest evidence of ancient Hominini in the Middle East. This latest discovery has shed new light on the story of prehistoric migration. The lower lumbar vertebra, dated to the Early Pleistocene, differs in size and shape from a 1.8-million-year-old skull unearthed at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. After this discovery, co-author Dr Omry Barzilai concluded that different human species produced the two artifacts.

Middle Paleolithic

This period has been dated to the years 250,000–45,000 BP. Fossils of Neanderthals and of Homo sapiens from this period have been discovered in Israel. The Homo sapiens remains found in Israel are the oldest anatomically modern human remains discovered in this region of the continent of Africa. It is yet unclear whether Neanderthals and Homo sapiens populations coexisted side by side, in this area, or replaced each other as the global climate shifted, as was common during the Pleistocene. Both used the same style of stone tools, identified as the Mousterian culture. Remains of this culture have been discovered all over Israel, in dozens of cave sites and open sites.

Judging by the size and content of these sites it seems the population living in the area of today's Israel in that period was small. Groups were small and they subsisted on hunting, consuming the carcasses of dead animals and gathering plants.

Their preferred game was the Mountain gazelle, the Persian fallow deer, and the Aurochs. In cave sites that had been used as seasonal dwellings in that period dozens of buried human skeletons have been uncovered. The most famous ancient Homo sapiens skeletons are the ones discovered in Es Skhul cave in Nahal Me'arot and in Me'arat Kedumim (Kedumim Cave) in Lower Galilee; the most notable Neanderthal skeletons are from Tabun Cave in Nahal Me'arot, from Kebara Cave, near Zikhron Ya'akov, and from Amud Cave in Nahal Amud. Other important sites are Misliyah Cave and Sephunim Cave in the Carmel and several open sites in the Golan, in the Negev, and in the Coastal plain.

In February 2021, archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Haifa University announced the discovery of six lines engraved on a 120,000-year-old aurochs bone near the city of Ramle in the open-air Middle Paleolithic site of Nesher Ramla. According to archaeologist Yossi Zaidner, this finding was definitely the oldest in the Levant. Three-dimensional imaging and microscopic analysis were used to examine the bone. The six lines ranged in length from 38 to 42 millimeters.

Upper Paleolithic

This period in Israel has been dated to between 45,000 BCE and 20,500 BCE, and its sites are associated with two cultural horizons: the Ahmarian culture and the Levantine Aurignacian culture. Some technological advancements were made in this period, including the introduction of new techniques for manufacturing flint tools, the invention of the bow and arrow, and the manufacturing of stone tools intended for grinding food and preparing dyes. Humans began making tools from animal bones and the use of seashells for decoration became widespread.

Parts of skeletons were discovered in various sites, but no cemeteries from this period were ever found. It seems that during this era the Neanderthals disappeared from Israel, as they were going extinct throughout the Middle East and Europe at the time.

Epipaleolithic period

In this era, bridging between the mobile bands of hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic and the agricultural villages of the Neolithic, three different cultures existed in Israel: the Kebaran culture, dated to 18,000–12,500 BCE, the Kebaran Geometric culture, dated to 12,500–10,500 BCE, and the Natufian culture, dated to 12,500–9,500 BCE.

In March 2026, a study published in Science Advances revealed that children and adults were shaping clay ornaments in the Levant as early as 15,000 years ago. Researchers analyzed 142 beads and pendants found at four Natufian sites in modern-day Israel: el-Wad, Nahal Oren, Hayonim, and Eynan-Mallaha. These objects were hand-formed from unbaked clay into various shapes, including cylinders and discs. Many of the beads were coated in red ochre using a technique called engobe (applying a thin layer of liquid clay).

Neolithic period

The Neolithic period appears to have begun when the peoples of the Natufian culture, which spread across present-day Syria, Israel and Lebanon, began to practice agriculture. This Neolithic Revolution has been linked to the cold period known as the Younger Dryas. This agriculture in the Levant is the earliest known to have been practiced. The Neolithic period in this region is dated 8500–4300 BCE and the Chalcolithic 4300–3300 BCE. The term "Natufian" was coined by Dorothy Garrod in 1928, after identifying an archaeological sequence at Wadi al-Natuf which included a Late Levallois-Mousterian layer and a stratified deposit, the Mesolithic of Palestine, which contained charcoal traces and a microlithic flint tool industry. Natufian sites in Israel include Ain Mallaha, el-Wad, Ein Gev, Hayonim cave, Nahal Oren and Kfar HaHoresh.

Archaeological remains

In July 2022, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of an 8,000-year-old "Mother Goddess" figurine at Sha'ar HaGolan archaeological site. Anna Eirikh-Rose, co-director of the excavation reported that the 20-centimeter long figurine covered by a bracelet with a red bottom was found broken into 2 pieces. It was sculpted in a sitting position with big hips, a unique pointed hat, what are known as "coffee-bean" eyes, and a big nose.

In June 2024, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) recently announced the discovery of a well-preserved shipwreck dating back 3,300 years. The wreck, found about 90 kilometers (55 miles) off Israel's Mediterranean coast at a depth of 1,800 meters (1.1 miles), contained hundreds of intact Canaanite jugs used for transporting wine, food oils, fruit, and other goods across the Mediterranean. The wooden ship was discovered by Energean, a natural gas company operating several deep-sea natural gas fields in Israel's territorial waters.

Chalcolithic period

Definition

Understanding of the Chalcolithic period in Israel and in the Levant is still far from perfect. It seems that Chalcolithic cultures appeared in the northern Jordan Valley around 4,800 BCE, and in the southern parts of this valley, and, particularly, in Teleilat el-Ghassul, around 4,500 BCE. Though no direct evidence to this effect is currently available, Chalcolithic civilizations may have spread from northern Israel to the south over several centuries during the first half of the 5th millennium BCE. Judging by evidence from the material culture, there seems to be no direct link between the Late Neolithic cultures and the early Chalcolithic cultures that replaced them in this region. The Chalcolithic period ended in Israel around 3,500 BCE with the rise of the Early Bronze civilization.

Chief among the Chalcolithic cultures of the Levant is the Ghassulian culture of the mid to late Chalcolithic. It might have been preceded by the Bsorian culture. The Ghassulian culture itself is made of several subcultures, one of which is the Beersheba culture.

Subsistence

Hundreds of Chalcolithic sites have been discovered in Israel. Their subsistence was based on farming crops: chiefly wheat, barley and lentils, and on livestock: sheep, goats, pigs and cattle. The livestock was also used for producing wool and dairy products. This is evident from the many butter churns, made of clay, and also from the large number of animal figurines that have been discovered on Chalcolithic sites. People of the Chalcolithic period were also the first in Israel to grow cultivated fruit-bearing trees, such as date palms, olive trees and pomegranates.

Industry and material culture

The Ghassulians were the first in the area to smelt and work copper. Settlements of the Beersheba culture, a late Ghassulian subculture, specialized in different types of industry. Bir Abu Matar produced copper and copper tools, artifacts and jewelry. Copper ore, imported from Wadi Feynan or from Timna, was ground and then cooked in ovens. It was then smelted in special furnaces made of compacted earth mixed with straw. The molten metal was collected in special clay bowls and cast into earthen molds that were shattered after the metal had cooled. The people of Bir Tzafad specialized in ivory carving.

People of the Chalcolithic era also produced a multitude of stone (flint) tools, chief among which were fan scrapers, used mainly for working leather. Bone tools - such as picks, needles, combs and sickles - were also in use.

Ghassulian art

Elaborate, multicolored, wall paintings, done on plaster, that were probably associated with Ghassulian religious practices, were discovered in the later Chalcolithic layers of Teleilat el-Ghassul, the layers associated with the Ghassulian culture. The painters employed elaborate techniques, including the use of rulers to draw straight lines, and produced works of high accuracy. Periodically, a new layer of plaster would be applied to the wall and covered in fresh paintings. Over 20 such layers were discovered on the walls of one of the houses.

The Ghassulians also produced ivory statuettes, often of naked women or bearded men, or using other motifs, for instance, birds. These statuettes had holes at the top and were probably meant to be suspended by a string. They include motifs found in artifacts from pre-dynastic Upper Egypt (Amratian and Gerzean cultures).

Trade

People of the Chalcolithic engaged in extensive trade. Copper ore for the Ghassulian copper industry was imported from Timna or from Wadi Feynan, in today's Jordan. Basalt artifacts (sets of large, finely crafted, basalt bowls) that were probably used in religious rituals were imported from the north, from the Golan or from the Houran. These sets of exquisite artifacts also indicate an early phase of social stratification in Chalcolithic societies, since they were only found in several of the houses, whereas in others similar sets made of clay were discovered. Ivory for making ivory statuettes was brought from Africa, marine shells - from the Mediterranean coastline, from the Red Sea and from the Nile Valley. The settlements also traded with each other.

Archaeological remains

In March 2021, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of the partially mummified 6000-year-old remains of a child in the Cave of Horror. The skeleton, probably a girl aged between 6 and 12 under two flat stones in a shallow pit grave was revealed with the help of CT (CAT) scan. The burial dates to the Chalcolithic period. The child had been buried in a fetal position and covered with a cloth resembling a small blanket, wrapped around its head and chest, but not its feet. The burial was found along with 1,600-year-old Dead Sea scrolls. Fragments were Greek translations of the books of Nahum and Zechariah from the Book of the 12 Minor Prophets. The only text written in Hebrew was the name of God.

Bronze Age / Canaanite period

The Bronze Age is the period 3300–1200 BCE when objects made of bronze were in use. Many writers have linked the history of the Levant from the Bronze Age onwards to events described in the Bible. The Bronze Age and Iron Age together are sometimes called the "Biblical period". The periods of the Bronze Age include the following:

• Early Bronze Age I (EB I) 3330–3050 BCE
• Early Bronze Age II–III (EB II–III) 3050–2300 BCE
• Early Bronze Age IV/Middle Bronze Age I (EB IV/MB I) 2300–2000 BCE
• Middle Bronze Age IIA (MB IIA) 2000–1750 BCE
• Middle Bronze Age IIB (MB IIB) 1800–1550 BCE
• Late Bronze Age I–II (LB I–II) 1550–1200 BCE

The Late Bronze Age is characterized by individual city-states, which from time to time were dominated by Egypt until the last invasion by Merneptah in 1207 BCE. The Amarna Letters are an example of a specific period during the Late Bronze Age when the vassal kings of the Levant corresponded with their overlords in Egypt.

Archaeological remains

In February 2023, the remains of two elite brothers buried with Cypriot pottery, food and other valuable possessions were found in a Bronze Age tomb in Tel Megiddo. Bioarchaeologists identified the early evidence of a Bronze Age cranial surgery called trepanation in one of the brothers. The study published in PLOS One reports that the younger brother died in his teens or early twenties, most likely from an infectious illness like leprosy or tuberculosis. The older brother, who died immediately after the surgery, had angular notched trepanation and was thought to be between the ages of 20 and 40. A 30-millimeter (1.2-inch) square-shaped hole was created on the frontal bone of the skull after his scalp was cut with a sharp instrument with a bevelled-edge.

Iron Age / Israelite period

The Iron Age in the Levant begins in about 1200 BCE, following the Late Bronze Age Collapse, when iron tools came into use. It is also known as the Israelite period. In this period both the archaeological evidence and the narrative evidence from the Bible become richer and much writing has attempted to make links between them. A chronology includes:

• Iron Age I (IA I) 1200–1000 BCE
• Iron Age IIA (IA IIA) 1000–925 BCE
• Iron Age IIB-C (IA IIB-C) 925–586 BCE
• Iron Age III 586–539 BCE (Neo-Babylonian period)

The traditional view, personified in such archaeologists as Albright and Wright, faithfully accepted the biblical events as history, but has since been questioned by "Biblical minimalists" such as Niels Peter Lemche, Thomas L. Thompson and Philip R. Davies. Israel Finkelstein suggests that the empire of David and Solomon (United Monarchy) never existed and Judah was not in a position to support an extended state until the start of the 8th century. Finkelstein accepts the existence of King David and Solomon but doubts their chronology, significance and influence as described in the Bible. Without claiming that everything in the Bible is historically accurate, some non-supernatural story elements appear to correspond with physical artifacts and other archaeological findings. Inscriptions such as the Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele can be traced to a non-Hebrew cultural origin.

Origins of the Ancient Israelites – the Tel Aviv School

Following the collapse of many cities and civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean Basin at the end of the Bronze Age, certain local nomadic groups in eastern Canaan began settling in the mountainous regions of that land (the mountain ranges on both sides of the Jordan River, of which the western part is known today as the West Bank). In this period the Sea Peoples invaded the countries along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, creating the Philistine city states along the seacoast of southwestern Canaan. Egypt lost its control of the land in the 12th century BCE – the exact date is currently being disputed, and this issue is closely linked to the Low Chronology / High Chronology dispute.

According to Israel Finkelstein, this tendency of nomads to settle down, or of sedentary populations to become nomadic, when circumstances make it worth their while, is typical of many Mid-Eastern populations which retain the knowledge of both ways of life and can switch between them fairly easily. This happens on a small scale, but can also happen on a large scale, when regional political and economical circumstances change dramatically. According to Finkelstein, this process of settlement on a large scale in the mountain-ranges of Canaan had already happened twice before, in the Bronze Age, during periods when the urban civilization was in decline. The numbers of settlers were smaller in those previous two instances, and the settlement-systems they created ended up dissipating instead of coalescing into more mature political entities, as was the case with the settlers of the early Iron Age.

In the early stages of this process, settlements had the form of nomadic tent-camps: a ring of stone houses surrounding an inner yard where the livestock was kept. Gradually, as the settlement evolved, that space was filled up with houses. The composition of animal bones found in successive archaeological layers also displays change over time, reflecting the change in lifestyle – nomadic societies raise many sheep and goats and very little cattle. As the settlement process progressed, the percentage of cattle bones found in animal bone deposits increased dramatically. Another characteristic of the early Israelite settlements is the absence of pig bones in excavated sites, which seems to be the earliest evidence of the development of an "Israelite national identity", though it is, so far, not quite conclusive.

At the height of this process, in the 10th century BCE, the population of the areas that would become the early Kingdom of Israel and the early Kingdom of Judea (before these kingdoms began spreading into the surrounding lowlands) numbered around 45,000. In the 11th century BCE Shiloh probably served as a religious center and might have held some political power in the region. In the mid to late 10th century BCE an early Israelite state formation emerged (possibly the one referred to in the Old Testament as the Kingdom of Saul).

It has been suggested by Finkelstein that this early Israelite state—and not David's 'unified kingdom', which he sees as a "literary construct"—had been the target of the campaign of Shoshenq I to Canaan, in the middle of the second half of the 10th century BCE. There is evidence of a large scale abandonment of settlements in the heartland of the Kingdom of Saul, as described in the Old Testament, around that time—in the land of the Tribe of Benjamin, just north of Judah, the area of Gibeah. This attack by Shoshenq I on the Israelite kingdom was, most likely, a response to this kingdom's attempts to expand into the lowlands of Canaan (as evidenced by a series of destruction events of Canaanite cities in the north of Israel around that time), and a part of this Pharaoh's effort to take control over Canaan.

The Kingdom of Judah was relatively small—maybe 5,000 people in the 10th century BCE—and had been a vassal of Israel at least since the early 9th century, when the powerful Omride dynasty had taken over that kingdom, and until Israel's destruction by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the late 8th century BCE. The Old Testament is mostly a Judean creation, although it incorporates many traditions (and, possibly, texts) from the Kingdom of Israel. As such, it describes the history of these two kingdoms, in the Iron Age, from a strictly Judean theological perspective and its historical account is biased, though it becomes relatively reliable from the 9th century onward.

The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

Persian period

The Persian period of Israel's history lasted from the conquest of the former Kingdom of Judah by King Cyrus in 539 B.C.E. until the conquest of the region by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.E. The Persians established the province of Yehud in the region that was once the Kingdom of Judah, however the exact time period when formal administration began is disputed. Ephraim Stern lists three possibilities: An early date, with the province being established by the end of the sixth century B.C.E.; a later date, with the province being established in the mid-fifth century B.C.E.; and a middle position, with the province being established early and only functioning properly in the mid-fifth century B.C.E. The Persian period has not left as much of an archaeological trace as other periods, in large part due to the abandonment of many sites after the Persian period, causing many strata to be exposed and, consequently, eroded.

The population of Yehud at this time was originally thought to be larger, but modern estimations by Israel Finkelstein place the population at 12,000 in the beginning of the period, only growing to 40,000 in the Hellenistic period; with Finkelstein estimating the population of Jerusalem to be only about 400 in the fifth century B.C.E. Oded Lipschits rejects this view, calling it ultra-minimalist and arguing that the evidence points to a more moderate population in Jerusalem of 1,000-1,250.

East of Rosh ha-'Ayin, Archaeologists believe they may have uncovered an administrative building with architecture resembling that of official residences of the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Bablyonian, and Persian periods. The pottery found within, including attic bowls, storage jars, and a closed wheel-made oil lamp, comfortably date the building as being inhabited from the late Persian period to the early Hellenistic period, possibly as an attempt to strengthen Persian administrative presence in response to the Egyptian Rebellion from 404-400 BCE.

A network of fortresses existed in Yehud during the Persian period. One example is the small fortress of Ḥurvat ՙEres in the Judean Foothills, north of Kiryat Ye'arim. Although the finds there were meagre, archaeologists concluded that the pottery types indicate the fort was likely used for a short time in the second half of the fourth century B.C.E. A recovered bronze fibula and nails also match with the date suggested by the pottery, placing it very late in the Persian period.

Although Yehud was a Persian province, Greek influence was heavily felt throughout the Persian period. Along the Levantine coast, Greek trading posts were present, bringing Greek imports from the mainland. At Sepphoris, archaeologists may have identified a Greek lookout post for Greek traders due to the heavy presence of Attic pottery, though it could also have been a Persian garrison with Greek mercenaries.

Local pottery styles appear to mainly continue the Iron Age tradition of plain, undecorated pottery. Deviating from this tradition, we do find among Persian period pottery imitations of Greek imports, mortaria used for grinding, and red or brown amphorae, thick under the neck and growing thinner toward the base until they terminate in a point.

Coinage grew in use during this period, with several cities in the Levant beginning to mint imitation Athenian coins in the fifth century B.C.E., since Athenian coinage had grown to dominate the region. Multiple city states in Yehud began minting their own coinage beginning in the fourth century B.C.E. with multiple motifs, though the most represented in the archaeological record is the motif of the eagle and lily flower.

Hellenistic period

Many archaeological sites in Israel have yet to be excavated, but many have been surveyed by archaeologists on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. One such site dating back to the Hellenistic period is Horvat Geres (Arabic: Khirbet Jurish) near Tzur Hadassah.

Roman period

The Roman period covers the dates 63 BCE to 330 CE, from Pompey the Great's incorporation of the region into the Roman Republic until Rome's adoption of Christianity as the imperial religion. The Roman period had several stages:

• Early Roman period (including the Herodian period) 63 BCE to 70 CE
• Middle Roman period: 70–135 CE (Jewish-Roman wars period); 135–200 CE (Mishnaic period)
• Late Roman period 200–330 CE (Talmudic period)

The end of the middle Roman period marks the end of the predominantly Jewish culture of Judea, but also the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism through Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai in the city of Yavne. Therefore, the late Roman period is also called the Yavne Period.

Prominent archaeological sites from the Roman period include:

• Masada
• Herodium
• Caesarea Maritima

In March 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery at the Ramat Gan Safari Park in Tel Aviv of two 1,800-year-old sarcophagi, ancient stone coffins dating to the Roman period. Researchers assumed that the sarcophagi belonged to high-status people buried near Safari Park. The 6.5-foot-long coffins were crafted with limestone mined and designed with Greco-Roman symbolic discs and flower garlands.

In May 2021, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority led by Dr. Rachel Bar Nathan announced the discovery in the Ashkelon National Park of the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman basilica complex dated to the reign of Herod the Great. The building had 3 sections, a central hall and two side parts. According to the excavators, big marble columns and capitals surrounded the main hall imported from Asia Minor in merchant ships. Remains of column capitals with plant motifs, some bearing an eagle were the symbol of the Roman Empire.

In August 2021, marine archeologists headed by Yaakov Sharvit from the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of 1,700-year-old coins weighing a total of 6 kg., dated back to the 4th century AD in Atlit. According to Sharvit, coins demonstrated that they were assembled and agglutinated because of oxidation of the metals.

In July 2022, marine archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered a 1,850-year-old bronze Roman-era coin off the coast of Haifa. The coin, belonging to the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, depicted the Roman Moon goddess Luna (Greek Selene) and below her an astrological sign of cancer.

In 2025, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the Caesarea Development Corporation discovered a Roman‑period marble sarcophagus in Caesarea dating to approximately 1,700 years ago. The sarcophagus is depicting a drinking contest between the gods Dionysus and Hercules. In the relief, Hercules is depicted reclining and visibly intoxicated, while Dionysus appears triumphant, accompanied by Maenads, satyrs, and panthers.

In August, 2025, archaeologists revealed the discovery of a rare four-line Aramaic inscription, dated to approximately 1,900 years ago, in a cave near the Ein Gedi National Park overlooking the Dead Sea. The inscription, carved in square Hebrew script and beginning with the phrase "Abba of Naburya has perished," was found on the lower part of a stalactite that also bears a First Temple–period Hebrew inscription. Alongside the inscription were four remarkably well-preserved Roman swords, including three still housed in wooden scabbards, and a coin from the Bar Kokhba Revolt suggesting the cave may have served as a refuge or weapons cache during that Jewish uprising.

In December 2025, archaeologists announced the discovery of a Second Temple–period ritual bath (mikveh) beneath the Western Wall Plaza. The Israel Antiquities Authority and The Western Wall Heritage Foundation uncovered the rock-cut mikveh sealed beneath destruction debris dated to the Roman destruction of the city in 70 CE, including burned ash and artefacts. The rectangular structure, carved into bedrock and plastered internally, measures approximately 3.05 m in length, 1.35 m in width and 1.85 m in height, with four stone steps leading down into the basin. Pottery vessels, stone tools and other items characteristic of late Second Temple period Jewish life were found within the destruction layer filling the installation.

In February 2026, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a large 2,000-year-old stone vessel workshop in a cave on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The underground workshop dates to the Second Temple period and contains hundreds of unfinished stone vessels, production waste, and fragments. In July, a 2,000-year-old ritual bath and stone vessels were discovered at a construction site for a new neighborhood in Kiryat Gat, providing the first evidence of an ancient Jewish settlement in the transitional zone between the northern Negev and the Judean lowlands, an area where no Jewish settlements had previously been documented.

Byzantine period

The Byzantine period is dated 330–638 CE, from Rome's adoption of Christianity to the Muslim conquest of Palestine. The transition from the Roman to Byzantine period coincided with the growth of extensive imperial funding to construct Christian religious institutions in the area, often by transforming the older pagan buildings. A third of the 40,000 objects recovered annually from archaeological digs in Israel attest to the ancient Christian presence in the area. In November 2017, archaeologists discovered a 1,500-year-old Greek dedication to a church, or possibly a monastery. The inscription was discovered between two modern houses, about a mile from the coast. According to a medieval Christian Georgian calendar, a four-line Greek mosaic inscription dated back to "the 3rd indiction, year 292", which corresponds to the 6th century AD on the Gregorian calendar. Archaeologists thought they could have found remains from Azotos Paralios of the Byzantine period. In 2020, archaeologists from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at Haifa University uncovered the 25-meter-long ship dating back to the seventh-century. The ship was built using the "shell-first" method, containing the largest collection of Byzantine and early Islamic ceramics discovered in Israel. A team of archaeologists led by Nurit Feig of the Israel Antiquities Authority discovered the 6th-century church remains belonged to the Circassians. The excavators also revealed painted floor mosaics showing geometric shapes, blue, black, and red floral patterns. The main parameters of the discovered church are 12×36 meter.

In December 2020, archaeologists revealed the remains of 1,500 year-old Byzantine church (known as the Church of All Nations) and the foundations of a Second Temple-era ritual bath (also known as a mikveh). According to Dr. Leah and Dr. Rosario, Greek inscriptions were written on the church's floor as : "for the memory and repose of the lovers of Christ… accept the offering of your servants and give them remission of sins". In January 2021, archaeologists from Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of tombstone dating back 1,400 years with Greek inscription by an employee of the Parks and Nature Authority at Nitzana National Park in the Negev desert. On the Christian woman's stone named Maria these words were written: 'Blessed Maria who lived immaculate life'. In 2021, archaeologist from Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) led by researchers Tzachi Lang and Kojan Haku found in the village of Et Taiyiba an engraved stone from the late 5th century from the frame of an entrance door of a church, with a mosaic Greek inscription. The inscription reads "Christ born of Mary. This work of the most God-fearing and pious bishop [Theodo]sius and the miserable Th[omas] was built from the foundation. Whoever enters should pray for them." According to archaeologist Dr. Walid Atrash, Theodosius was one of the first Christian bishops and this church was the first evidence of the Byzantine church's existence in the village of Taiyiba.

In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 1,600-year-old multicolored mosaic dated back to the Byzantine period in an industrial area. According to IAA archaeologist Elie Haddad, it was the first time that excavators revealed a colored mosaic floor in Yavne. In August 2021, Israeli archaeologists led by Yoav Arbel, have announced the discovery of Byzantine-era wine press paved with a mosaic along with an old coin minted by Emperor Heraclius. According to coin expert Robert Kool, one side of the gold depicted the emperor and his two sons, while the other side depicted the hill of Golgotha in Jerusalem. A Greek or Arabic inscription was engraved on the surface of the coins, probably with the name of the coin owner. According to Yoel Arbel, stone mortars and millstones were used to grind barley and wheat and very likely also to crush herbs and healing plants.

Findings from the Byzantine period include:

• Byzantine-period church in Jerusalem hills
• Byzantine-period street in Jerusalem
• 1,400-year-old wine press

In March 2023, Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of the Byzantine period mosaic with a series of floral patterns in Shoham.

In May 2025, a 1,600-year-old Byzantine mosaic from a Christian monastery near Kibbutz Urim in southern Israel was unveiled to the public for the first time. Known as the Be'er Shema mosaic, it features 55 intricately designed medallions depicting mythological figures, exotic animals, hunting scenes, and aspects of daily life, crafted from colored stones, glass, and pottery. After its discovery in 1990, the mosaic was reburied to protect it from erosion but was later conserved and relocated by the Israel Antiquities Authority to a secure location within the Merhavim Regional Council's complex.