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(JNS) The Israeli Antiquities Authority, Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia, have announced the discovery of what they believe is the biblical city of Ziklag, the Philistine city in which according to the Bible the young David took refuge from King Saul. Ziklag is mentioned in the Bible multiple times in relationship to David, who the Bible states received sanctuary in the city along with his army, with the permission of Achish, King of Gat. The site is also believed to be the place from which David left to journey to Hebron, where he was anointed...

Photography of Mesha Stele. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository =============================================================== The biblical King Balak may have been a historical figure, according to a new reading of the Mesha Stele, an inscribed stone dating from the second half of the 9th century BCE. A name in Line 31 of the stele, previously thought to read 'House of David', could instead read 'Balak', a king of Moab mentioned in the biblical story of Balaam (Numbers 22-24), say archaeologist Prof. Israel Finkelstein and historians and biblical scholars Prof. Nadav Na'aman and Prof. Thomas Römer, in an article published in Tel Aviv:...

Excavation uncovers a unique, monumental structure previously unknown in the region. Was it a shrine — or the site of David’s triumphant parade of the legendary ark? Facebook Twitter linkedin email 4,229 shares Amanda Borschel-Dan is The Times of Israel's Jewish World and Archaeology editor. In the upper terrace at Kiriath-jearim, a massive wall was unearthed some 15 cm below topsoil. The well-preserved wall is circa 3 m broad and preserved to 2.15 m on its outer face. (Shmunis Family Excavations at Kiriath-jearim) Illustration from the 13th century Morgan Bible of David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6)....

Based on a statistical analysis of the results, and taking into account the content of the texts that were chosen for the sample, the researchers concluded that at least six different hands had written the 18 missives at around the same time. Even soldiers in the lower ranks of the Judahite army, it appears, could read and write... The study was based on a trove of about 100 letters inscribed in ink on pieces of pottery, known as ostracons, that were unearthed near the Dead Sea in an excavation of the Arad fort decades ago and dated from about 600...

A few years ago, while visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, I had a very disturbing conversation with a member of the Islamic Wakf who was escorting me to make sure that I didn’t pray on the holy mountain. I asked him if he could tell me when the Al Aqsa mosque was built. He looked at me with a straight face and responded that it was always there. I hadn’t expected that, and of course was surprised and asked him again. I thought that maybe he didn’t understand my question and meant that the mountain was always there. So...