Biblical Archaeology — 533 discoveries that run alongside the Bible

Every major archaeological discovery connected to the biblical story, from the first digs of the 1800s to this year's finds: steles, seals and bullae, coins, inscriptions, cities, tombs, scrolls and sacred sites. For each one: what it is, who found it and when, where it is today, why it matters, the Hebrew word to learn, and the one to three Bible verses where it comes alive.

Newest finds

• Charred Beams of Jerusalem's 586 BCE Destruction (Givati, 2026)
  Tree-ring-dated timbers from the Babylonian burning of the city · found 2025
• קְהִלָּה
  Colossae: First Excavations and the Rock-Cut Necropolis
  The last unexcavated city of the New Testament finally opened in 2025 · found 2025
• חוֹמָה
  Radiocarbon Re-dating of Jerusalem's Eastern Wall
  The 2024 PNAS study that moved a City of David wall from Hezekiah's reign back to Uzziah's · found 2024
• Tel Shimron Corbelled Vault
  A 3,800-year-old mudbrick passage in the Canaanite city of Shimron (2023) · found 2023
• Jerusalem's Rock-Cut Northern Moat
  A 9-metre-deep trench that cut the City of David off from the Temple Mount, identified in 2023 · found 2023
• דָּרְיָוֶשׁ
  The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022)
  A 'first Darius inscription in Israel' that turned out to be a modern demonstration piece · found 2022
• Holy Sepulchre Excavations of 2022–2025
  Sapienza University's dig under the church floor: a Roman quarry, traces of a garden, and the tomb's early marble · found 2022
• יהוה
  Cave of Horror Scroll Fragments (2021)
  Greek Zechariah and Nahum with the divine Name in paleo-Hebrew, from the Judean Desert survey · found 2021

Beginnings & the Patriarchs · 46

Mesopotamia, the great archives, Middle Bronze Canaan, Avraham to Yosef

• Ebla Tablets
  A 4,500-year-old royal archive from northern Syria · found 1974
• Mari Archives
  20,000 letters from a kingdom on the Euphrates in Avraham's world · found 1933
• Nuzi Tablets
  Family law texts that echo patriarchal customs · found 1925
• Royal Tombs of Ur
  The wealth of the city Avraham's family left behind · found 1926
• Ziggurat of Ur
  The moon-god's temple tower in Avraham's home city · found 1854
• Eridu
  Mesopotamia's 'first city' and its long temple sequence · found 1854
• Etemenanki, the Ziggurat of Babylon
  The historical tower behind the Tower of Babel tradition · found 1913
• Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)
  Long-lived kings before the flood, and kingship after it · found 1922
• Gilgamesh Flood Tablet (Tablet XI)
  The Babylonian flood story that shook Victorian London · found 1872
• Atrahasis Epic
  Creation of humans and a flood in one Old Babylonian poem · found 1876
• Enuma Elish (Babylonian Creation Epic)
  Seven tablets on how Marduk made the world · found 1849
• Beni Hasan Tomb Painting of Semites
  A caravan of 'Asiatics' entering Egypt in the days of the patriarchs · found 1828
• מִשְׁנֶה
  Statue of an Asiatic Official at Avaris
  A Semitic dignitary honored with a tomb-statue in Egypt · found 1986
• Tall el-Hammam
  A huge Bronze Age city proposed as Sodom—and a retracted 'airburst' claim · found 2005
• Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira
  Burned Early Bronze towns southeast of the Dead Sea · found 1924
• Tel Dan Canaanite Gate ('Abraham's Gate')
  A mudbrick arched gateway from the age of the patriarchs · found 1979
• Ashkelon Canaanite Gate and Rampart
  The oldest known arched city gate, from a giant Middle Bronze port · found 1992
• Beersheba and the Well at Tel Sheva
  A deep well at the gate of the city named for Avraham's oath · found 1969
• Hebron (Tel Rumeida)
  Cyclopean walls of the Canaanite city where Avraham settled · found 1964
• Cave of Machpelah (Herodian Enclosure)
  Herod's monument over the traditional tomb of the patriarchs · found 1119
• Shechem (Tell Balata) Temple-Fortress
  The great Canaanite temple in the city of Avraham's first altar · found 1913
• Jacob's Well
  A deep well near Shechem tied by tradition to Yaakov · found 333
• Dothan (Tell Dothan)
  The town where Yosef's brothers sold him · found 1953
• Hazor: The Middle Bronze City Named at Mari
  Canaan's largest city, already famous in Avraham's world · found 1955
• Hittite Archives at Hattusa
  The lost empire that proved the Bible's 'Hittites' were real · found 1906
• Alalakh Tablets and the Statue of Idrimi
  A Syrian city's archives and a king's story that reads like Genesis · found 1937
• Egyptian Execration Texts
  Curses on Canaanite cities and chiefs from the patriarchal age · found 1926
• Laws of Hammurabi
  A Babylonian king's law stele from the patriarchal age · found 1901
• Nineveh (Kuyunjik)
  The city of Nimrod's kingdom and Ashurbanipal's library · found 1847
• Kish and Its 'Flood' Deposit
  The city where the King List says kingship resumed after the flood · found 1923
• Tell Brak and the Haran Region
  Early cities of the Khabur plain where Avraham's family settled · found 1937
• Bahr Yussef ('Joseph's Canal')
  A canal into the Fayum that tradition credits to Yosef · found 1888
• גָּמָל
  Camel Domestication and the Patriarchs
  An honest look at when camels reached Canaan · found 2013
• Haran
  The crossroads town where Terach died and Yaakov found a wife · found 1951
• Gaza: Tell el-Ajjul and Its Gold Hoards
  Petrie's Bronze Age city at the mouth of Wadi Ghazzeh, the richest gold find in Canaan · found 1930
• Tel Haror (Tell Abu Hureira): Gerar
  The Middle Bronze city with a Canaanite temple, most often identified as Abraham and Isaac's Gerar · found 1982
• Tel Kabri: Canaanite Palace and the Oldest Wine Cellar
  A Middle Bronze ruler's palace with Minoan-style frescoes and forty jars of spiced wine · found 1986
• Lachish Ivory Comb: The Earliest Canaanite Sentence
  A 3,700-year-old lice comb inscribed 'May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard' · found 2016
• Tel Shimron Corbelled Vault
  A 3,800-year-old mudbrick passage in the Canaanite city of Shimron (2023) · found 2023
• The Temple of Melchizedek ("Temple Zero") — City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary
  Rock-cut sanctuary rooms beside the Gihon Spring that excavator Eli Shukron identifies as Jerusalem's earliest shrine, from the days of Malki-Tzedek · found 2010
• Megiddo Round Altar and Early Bronze Temples
  A stepped stone altar and a row of temples in Canaan's oldest sacred area · found 1933
• Tananir Sanctuary on Mount Gerizim
  A Middle Bronze courtyard building above Shechem, once called 'Joshua's altar' · found 1931
• Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation)
  A ship-shaped mound in eastern Turkey promoted by Ron Wyatt and recent scan teams · found 1959
• Mount Ararat Ark Expeditions: Navarra's Wood, the 'Anomaly' and the 2010 NAMI Claim
  A century of searches on the summit ice, none confirmed · found 1955
• Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer
  The Sumerian flood hero's home city, with a river-flood deposit of about 2900 BCE · found 1902
• כֹּפֶר
  The 'Ark Tablet' (Old Babylonian round-ark instructions)
  A palm-sized cuneiform text giving the flood hero a coracle to build · found 1985

Egypt & the Exodus · 60

The sojourn, slavery, the Exodus and the wilderness

• Merneptah Stele
  Earliest secure mention of 'Israel' outside the Bible · found 1896
• כְּנַעַן
  Berlin Statue Pedestal ÄM 21687
  Disputed reading of 'Israel' on a broken name-ring, possibly a century before Merneptah · found 1913
• Avaris (Tell el-Dab'a)
  A Semitic city in the eastern Delta, in the land the Bible calls Goshen · found 1966
• כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים
  Avaris 'Asiatic Official' Statue and Tomb
  A smashed statue of a Semitic dignitary in a striped coat, beside a twelve-pillared house · found 1986
• עֶבֶד
  Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446
  A household list of servants in Egypt, many with Northwest Semitic names · found 1881
• Ipuwer Papyrus (Leiden I 344)
  An Egyptian lament of chaos, often compared with the plagues, but from the wrong century · found 1828
• 'Shasu of YHW' at Soleb and Amarah West
  The oldest known writing of the divine name, on a Nubian temple of Amenhotep III · found 1957
• Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, Serabit el-Khadim
  Semitic workers in Sinai writing the world's first alphabet · found 1905
• Wadi el-Hol Inscriptions
  The earliest alphabetic writing, left by Semites on a desert road in Egypt itself · found 1994
• Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription
  A small sphinx labeled in both Egyptian and the first alphabet: 'beloved of Baalat' · found 1905
• Hathor Temple, Serabit el-Khadim
  An Egyptian mining temple in Sinai where Semitic workers served alongside Egyptians · found 1762
• עִבְרִי
  Amarna Letters and the Habiru
  Canaanite kings beg Pharaoh for help against roving 'Apiru' bands · found 1887
• Abdi-Heba's Jerusalem Letters (EA 285–290)
  The earliest letters from a ruler of Jerusalem, pleading for Egyptian archers · found 1887
• Timna Valley Copper Mines
  Egyptian-run mines in the Aravah, later worked by Edomite and Midianite smelters · found 1959
• Timna Hathor Shrine and Midianite Tent Sanctuary
  An Egyptian temple turned into a tent shrine with a copper serpent · found 1969
• מִדְיָנִי
  Midianite (Qurayyah) Painted Ware
  Colorful pottery of the Midianites, found from Arabia to Timna · found 1968
• Kadesh-Barnea (Tell el-Qudeirat)
  The oasis where Israel camped for a generation; fortresses found, but from later kings · found 1914
• Pi-Ramesses (Qantir)
  The Delta capital of Ramesses II, the 'Rameses' of Exodus 1:11 · found 1928
• Tell el-Retaba (Pithom candidate)
  A Ramesside fortress-town in the Wadi Tumilat with Egyptian and Semitic residents · found 1905
• Tell el-Maskhuta
  Naville's 'Pithom' of 1883, now dated mainly to the 7th century and later · found 1883
• אֱדוֹם
  Papyrus Anastasi VI
  A border official lets Shasu of Edom through the fort to the pools of Pithom · found 1839
• סִבְלֹת
  Papyrus Leiden I 348 (Apiru hauling stone)
  'Apiru who drag stone for the great pylon of Ramesses' · found 1828
• Tjaru (Tell Hebua) and the Way of Horus Forts
  Egypt's fortified coastal road, the 'way of the land of the Philistines' Israel avoided · found 1981
• יַם־סוּף
  Ballah Lakes and the Sea of Reeds
  Geological work on the ancient lakes east of the Delta and the 'Yam Suph' · found 1998
• מֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ
  Wadi Tumilat
  The green valley from the Delta to the Bitter Lakes, the heart of Goshen · found 1883
• Jebel Musa (traditional Mount Sinai)
  The mountain Christian tradition has honored as Sinai since the 4th century · found 330
• Jebel al-Lawz (Arabian 'Mount Sinai' claim)
  A popular candidate in Saudi Arabia that specialists do not support · found 1984
• Har Karkom
  A Negev mountain covered in rock art, proposed as Sinai by Emmanuel Anati · found 1980
• Ramesses II's Military Camp at Qadesh (Abu Simbel reliefs)
  A pharaoh's war tent laid out like the Tabernacle: 2:1 enclosure, tent in the rear, throne at the west · found 1813
• Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100)
  Foreign laborers making mudbricks under Egyptian overseers, painted on a vizier's tomb wall · found 1832
• Mummies of Ramesses II and Merneptah
  The two pharaohs most often named as 'Pharaoh of the Exodus', both found in their tombs' aftermath · found 1881
• Tomb of the Vizier Aper-El
  A Semitic-named vizier of Egypt under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten · found 1987
• The Plagues and the Exodus: What Archaeology Has and Has Not Found
  An honest summary keyed to the eastern Delta evidence · found 1966
• Jaffa (Joppa): The Ramesses II Gate
  An Egyptian fortress gate inscribed with Pharaoh's names in the port of Jonah and Peter · found 1955
• Ophel Cuneiform Tablet Fragment
  The oldest written text found in Jerusalem, a scrap of an Amarna-age royal letter · found 2010
• The 'Split Rock of Horeb' near Jabal Maqla
  A giant cleft boulder in Saudi Arabia claimed as the rock Moshe struck · found 1992
• The 'Golden Calf Altar' Petroglyphs at Jabal al-Lawz
  Boulder pile with cattle carvings, claimed as Aharon's calf altar · found 1984
• The 'Altar of Moses' and 'Twelve Pillars' at Jabal al-Lawz
  Stone structure and column fragments at the mountain's foot, claimed from Exodus 24 · found 1988
• The 'Boundary Markers' around Jabal al-Lawz
  Stone cairns claimed as the fence Moshe set around the mountain · found 1988
• The 'Cave of Elijah' at Jabal al-Lawz
  A rock-cut chamber claimed as the cave of 1 Kings 19 · found 1988
• The Blackened Summit of Jabal Maqla
  The dark peak said to be scorched when YHVH descended in fire · found 1984
• עַיִן
  Maqna 'Springs of Moses' (Arabian Elim and Marah claims)
  Palm-oasis springs on the Gulf of Aqaba offered as the twelve wells of Elim · found 1984
• יְהוָה נִסִּי
  The 'Rephidim Battlefield' Claim near Al-Bad'
  Cairns and stone rings on the plain by the split rock, read as the fight with Amalek · found 1992
• Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim
  Coral shapes in the Gulf of Aqaba said to be Pharaoh's drowned army · found 1978
• The Nuweiba Granite Column ('Solomon's Pillar')
  An unmarked column on the beach said to have been raised by Shlomo to mark the crossing · found 1978
• Jabal al-Lawz: The Official Archaeology and the 2019 Opening
  What Saudi surveys actually found, and how the fenced site became a tour stop · found 1980
• סִין
  Gabal Sin Bishar (Har-El's Mount Sinai)
  A low peak in western Sinai proposed by an Israeli geographer · found 1983
• Jebel Serbal (the Early Christian Mount Sinai)
  The peak above Wadi Feiran that hermits honoured before Jebel Musa · found 1845
• עַצְמוֹת
  Joseph's Tomb at Shechem (Nablus)
  The domed shrine where tradition says Yosef's bones were buried; never excavated · found 333
• Saqqara 'Joseph's Granaries' Claim (Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex)
  Deep shafts and vaults said to be Yosef's grain stores; Imhotep said to be Yosef · found 1924
• The Famine Stela (Sehel Island)
  A Ptolemaic rock inscription telling of seven years of famine under Djoser · found 1889
• Hawara 'Labyrinth' and the Faiyum Works of the 12th Dynasty
  Amenemhat III's vast administrative temple and the land reclamation many link to Yosef's era · found 1843
• Tell el-Yahudiya ('Mound of the Jews')
  A Delta site with a Hyksos-era rampart and, much later, a Jewish temple · found 1887
• The Hyksos Expulsion: Kamose's Stelae and Ahmose son of Ebana
  Egyptian records of driving out the Asiatic rulers, background to 'a new king who knew not Yosef' · found 1908
• Ayun Musa (Springs of Moses) near Suez
  The traditional Marah or Elim on the Egyptian shore of the Gulf of Suez · found 1838
• עֲמָלֵק
  Wadi Feiran (Pharan): The Traditional Rephidim
  Sinai's largest oasis, a Byzantine bishopric built on the Amalek battle tradition · found 1984
• Mount Nebo: The Memorial of Moses
  Byzantine basilica and mosaics on the peak where Moshe viewed the Land · found 1933
• בָּרָד
  Tempest Stele of Ahmose I
  An Egyptian king's record of a great storm, darkness, and flooding at the start of the New Kingdom · found 1947
• El-Arish Naos (the 'El-Arish Stele')
  A Ptolemaic myth of Shu and Geb, read by some as an echo of the darkness and the drowning at the sea · found 1890
• Thera (Santorini) Eruption and the Plagues
  A Bronze Age volcanic disaster proposed as the natural engine behind the plagues of Egypt · found 1967

Conquest & Judges · 50

Yehoshua, the settlement of the hills, the Philistines, Shiloh

• Jericho (Tell es-Sultan)
  Collapsed walls, burned grain jars, and a century-long dating debate · found 1907
• Hazor's Burned Palace and Defaced Statues
  The 'head of all those kingdoms' destroyed by fire in the 13th century BCE · found 1955
• יָבִין
  Hazor Cuneiform Tablets
  Letters and law fragments from the largest Canaanite archive south of Syria · found 1962
• Ai: et-Tell
  The traditional site of Ai, empty when Joshua is said to have taken it · found 1933
• Ai Candidate: Khirbet el-Maqatir
  A small Late Bronze I fortress proposed as Joshua's Ai · found 1995
• Mount Ebal Altar Site
  Zertal's Iron I stone structure identified by some as Joshua's altar · found 1980
• אָרוּר
  Mount Ebal Lead 'Curse Tablet'
  A folded lead piece said to read 'Cursed, cursed, cursed... by YHW' · found 2019
• Foot-Shaped 'Gilgal' Enclosures
  Iron I stone enclosures in the Jordan Valley shaped like a giant sandal · found 1990
• Shiloh (Tel Shiloh / Khirbet Seilun)
  Iron I storerooms, collared-rim jars, and an altar horn at the home of the Tabernacle · found 1926
• Bethel (Beitin)
  The 'house of El' where Jacob dreamed and Israel later worshiped · found 1934
• Gibeon: Inscribed Jar Handles and the Great Pool
  The city's own name stamped on wine-jar handles beside a rock-cut pool · found 1956
• לַיִשׁ
  Dan (Laish): The Tribe's Migration Layer
  Canaanite Laish replaced by pits, collared-rim jars, and a new people · found 1966
• Beth Shean: Egyptian Garrison and the Seti I Stelae
  Pharaoh's fortress inside Canaan, where Saul's body was hung · found 1921
• Megiddo Ivories
  A Canaanite king's treasure showing the world Israel entered · found 1937
• Lachish Level VI Destruction and the Fosse Temple
  A Canaanite city under Egypt, burned around 1150 BCE · found 1932
• Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription
  'Achish son of Padi... ruler of Ekron' carved in a Philistine temple · found 1996
• Ekron (Tel Miqne): Philistine Settlement
  From Sea Peoples' arrival to the world's largest olive-oil industry · found 1981
• Ashkelon Philistine Cemetery and DNA Study
  The first Philistine graveyard, and genes that point to Europe · found 2013
• Ashdod (Tel Ashdod)
  Dagon's city, where the Ark toppled the idol · found 1962
• Gath (Tell es-Safi): Goliath's Hometown
  The 2005 ostracon with Goliath-like names and Hazael's siege trench · found 1996
• Tell Qasile Philistine Temples
  Three superimposed shrines with roof-bearing pillars · found 1971
• Philistine Bichrome Pottery
  Red-and-black painted ware that maps where the Philistines lived · found 1899
• Sea Peoples Reliefs at Medinet Habu
  Ramesses III's carved record of the Peleset (Philistines) arriving · found 1799
• Izbet Sartah Abecedary Ostracon
  A schoolboy's alphabet from an Israelite village near Ebenezer · found 1976
• Israelite Settlement Surveys
  Hundreds of new hill-country villages appear around 1200 BCE · found 1978
• Khirbet Raddana and the Four-Room House
  A textbook early Israelite village near Ai and Bethel · found 1969
• Taanach Cult Stand
  Four tiers of lions, sphinxes, a tree, and a horse under a sun · found 1968
• The 'Bull Site' and Bronze Bull Figurine
  A hilltop shrine in Manasseh with a small bronze bull · found 1977
• Deir Alla Balaam Inscription
  'Balaam son of Beor, seer of the gods' written on a plaster wall · found 1967
• Aphek (Tel Afek): Egyptian Governor's Residence
  Where the Philistines camped before Ebenezer · found 1972
• Hebron (Tell Rumeida)
  Caleb's city, with Bronze Age walls and Late Bronze occupation · found 1964
• Kiriath-jearim (Deir el-Azar)
  The hill where the Ark rested for twenty years · found 2017
• Tel Beth-Shemesh
  A border town in Samson's valley that avoided pork · found 1911
• Timnah (Tel Batash)
  The Philistine town where Samson sought a wife · found 1977
• Mizpah (Tell en-Nasbeh)
  Benjamin's gathering place with a great Iron Age wall · found 1926
• Tel Burna (Libnah?)
  A Shephelah fortress proposed as Libnah of Joshua 10 · found 2009
• Tel Sera' (Tell esh-Shari'a): Ziklag Candidate
  An Egyptian governor's residence and hieratic tax receipts in the town many identify as David's Ziklag · found 1972
• Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins
  Petrie's 'Beth-pelet', with Egyptian-style clay coffins and a governor's house on the Philistine frontier · found 1928
• Tell Beit Mirsim: Albright's 'Debir'
  The dig that built the pottery chronology of Palestine, in a Judahite hill town once thought to be Kiriath-sepher · found 1926
• Heshbon (Tell Hesban)
  Sihon's capital in Numbers, where a decade of digging found no Late Bronze city · found 1968
• Shiloh Monumental Iron I Building
  East-west structure on the northern platform proposed as the tabernacle's resting place · found 2019
• רִמּוֹן
  Shiloh Ceramic Pomegranate
  A clay pomegranate from the sacred area of Iron Age Shiloh · found 2018
• קֶרֶן
  Shiloh Altar Horns
  Three horned corner stones of a four-horned altar, found in secondary use · found 2019
• Shiloh Storage Rooms and Collar-Rim Jars
  Pillared storehouses and pithoi along the northern wall — the sanctuary's pantry · found 1981
• Shiloh Animal Bone Deposits
  Tens of thousands of bones from sheep, goats and cattle — with a bias toward the right side · found 2018
• Shiloh's Burnt Layer and Sacred-Precinct Wall
  The fiery end of Iron I Shiloh around 1050 BCE — the aftermath of Eben-ezer? · found 1929
• Hazor Shrine of the Stelae
  A small Canaanite chapel with a row of standing stones and hands lifted to the moon · found 1955
• Hazor Orthostat Temple (Area H)
  A three-room Canaanite temple whose plan foreshadows Solomon's · found 1957
• Tel Burna Canaanite Cult Enclosure
  Masks, goblets and giant Cypriot jars from a 13th-century shrine courtyard · found 2014
• Beth Shemesh Iron I Temple and Stone Table
  A 12th-century shrine with a massive flat stone — the 'large stone' where the ark rested? · found 2012

Shaul, David & Shlomo · 39

c. 1050–931 BCE

• Khirbet Qeiyafa
  A fortified Judahite city with two gates overlooking the Elah Valley · found 2007
• Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon
  Five lines of early alphabetic writing from the days of David · found 2008
• צְלָעוֹת
  Khirbet Qeiyafa Model Shrines
  Two miniature shrines with architecture echoing Solomon's Temple · found 2011
• Ishbaal son of Beda Inscription
  A jar bearing the same name as Saul's son · found 2012
• Gezer Calendar
  A farmer's year scratched on limestone in the oldest Hebrew-style script · found 1908
• Six-Chambered Gates of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer
  Three matching city gates and the debate over who built them · found 1958
• Gezer Boundary Inscriptions
  Rock-cut markers reading 'boundary of Gezer' that identified the biblical city · found 1874
• Gezer Tenth-Century Destruction Layer
  A burned city that may be the pharaoh's 'dowry' destruction · found 2006
• Large Stone Structure ('David's Palace')
  Massive walls in the City of David that one excavator called David's palace · found 2005
• Stepped Stone Structure
  A giant stone rampart on the slope of the City of David, perhaps the biblical Millo · found 1923
• עֹפֶל
  Ophel Pithos Inscription
  The oldest alphabetic writing found in Jerusalem · found 2012
• Ophel Wall and Gatehouse
  A fortification line south of the Temple Mount attributed to Solomon · found 1986
• Bubastite Portal of Shoshenq I (Shishak)
  Pharaoh's victory list at Karnak naming towns of Israel and Judah · found 1828
• Megiddo Shoshenq Stele Fragment
  A piece of Pharaoh Shishak's monument found in the city his list names · found 1926
• Tel Rehov Apiary
  The oldest industrial beehives ever found, in a 'land of honey' · found 2005
• Timna Valley Copper Mines and 'Slaves' Hill'
  Tenth-century smelting camps and a scrap of royal purple cloth · found 1934
• Khirbet en-Nahas (Faynan Copper Center)
  A fortress and slag mounds in Edom dated to the tenth century · found 1934
• Tel 'Eton Governor's Residency
  A tenth-century ashlar building in the Judean lowlands · found 2006
• Tel Beersheba Planned City
  A royal administrative town laid out on a single plan in the Negev · found 1969
• Beersheba Horned Altar
  A dismantled four-horned altar from an Israelite border town · found 1973
• Tel Arad Fortress and Temple
  A Judahite border fort with the only excavated YHVH temple · found 1962
• Lachish Level V
  The first Judahite town at Lachish and the question of Rehoboam's wall · found 1932
• Gihon Spring Tower and Pool Tower
  Giant fortifications guarding Jerusalem's only spring · found 1995
• Warren's Shaft
  The vertical shaft above the Gihon once thought to be David's way into Jerusalem · found 1867
• חָרְמָה
  Tel Masos
  A large open settlement in the Beersheba Valley on the eve of the monarchy · found 1972
• Megiddo Ashlar Palaces (Stratum VA–IVB)
  Two fine-stone palaces claimed for Solomon's district capital · found 1935
• Proto-Aeolic Capitals and Ashlar Masonry
  The signature stonework of Israelite and Judahite royal buildings · found 1903
• Ahiram Sarcophagus
  A Byblos king's coffin with the earliest full Phoenician alphabet · found 1923
• Ain Dara Temple
  A Syrian temple that is the closest surviving parallel to Solomon's Temple · found 1955
• Tell Tayinat Temples
  Long-room temples beside a palace, like Solomon's Temple next to his house · found 1936
• Tel Motza Temple
  An Iron IIA temple a few miles from Jerusalem · found 2012
• Tel Zayit Abecedary
  The oldest complete alphabet from a Judahite site · found 2005
• Tel Beth Shemesh Iron IIA Town
  A border town of Judah facing the Philistines, with a giant water reservoir · found 1911
• Khirbet a-Ra'i (Ziklag?)
  A Philistine-era site proposed as David's town of refuge · found 2015
• Gibeah of Saul (Tell el-Ful)
  Albright's Iron Age fortress on the ridge north of Jerusalem, beneath an unfinished royal palace · found 1922
• Jerusalem's Rock-Cut Northern Moat
  A 9-metre-deep trench that cut the City of David off from the Temple Mount, identified in 2023 · found 2023
• מִלּוֹא
  The Millo: Where Was It?
  The Stepped Stone Structure and the Gihon Spring fortifications as rival candidates for the biblical Millo · found 1923
• Axum Chapel of the Tablet
  Ethiopia's claim to hold the Ark of the Covenant · found 1965
• Nebi Samwil (Tomb of Samuel) Excavations
  The hilltop shrine of Samuel — and the search for Gibeon's 'great high place' · found 1992

Israel & Judah · 50

931–722 BCE and the Assyrian records

• Tel Dan Stele
  Aramean victory inscription naming the 'House of David' · found 1993
• Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone)
  King Mesha of Moab's own account of his revolt against Israel · found 1868
• Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
  Jehu of Israel bowing before the Assyrian king — the only known portrait of an Israelite king · found 1846
• Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III
  'Ahab the Israelite' and 2,000 chariots at the Battle of Qarqar · found 1861
• Shalmaneser III's Annals of 841 BCE
  The Calah bull and marble-slab texts recording Hazael's defeat and Jehu's tribute · found 1846
• Nimrud Slab of Adad-nirari III
  Assyria lists 'the land of Omri' among its tributaries · found 1854
• Tell al-Rimah Stele
  'Jehoash the Samarian' pays tribute to Adad-nirari III · found 1967
• Annals of Tiglath-Pileser III
  Menahem's tribute, Pekah's overthrow, Hoshea's appointment, and 'Jehoahaz of Judah' · found 1845
• Sargon II's Khorsabad Annals
  'I besieged and conquered Samaria... 27,290 people I carried away' · found 1843
• קֶשֶׁר
  Nimrud Prism of Sargon II
  A second Assyrian telling of Samaria's fall and the exile of its people · found 1952
• Samaria: The Omride Royal Acropolis
  Omri's new capital and Ahab's palace on the hill he bought from Shemer · found 1908
• Samaria Ivories
  Carved furniture inlays from the 'ivory house' of Ahab and his successors · found 1932
• Samaria Ostraca
  Wine and oil receipts from the royal storehouse in the days of Jeroboam II · found 1910
• חוֹתָם
  'Jezebel' Seal
  An opulent Phoenician-style seal that may — or may not — have belonged to Ahab's queen · found 1964
• Seal of Shema, Servant of Jeroboam
  A roaring lion and the name of a royal official of Jeroboam II, from Megiddo · found 1904
• Megiddo Pillared Stables
  Rows of stone-pillared buildings for hundreds of horses in Israel's chariot city · found 1928
• Megiddo Water Tunnel
  A deep shaft and tunnel giving the city hidden access to its spring in wartime · found 1928
• Hazor: Israelite Citadel and Water Shaft
  Yadin's Omride-period fortress and the 40-metre shaft to the water table · found 1955
• בָּמָה
  Tel Dan Sacred Precinct ('Jeroboam's High Place')
  A monumental platform, altar and horned altar stones at Israel's northern shrine · found 1966
• Tel Dan Iron Age Gate Complex
  The stone gate, plaza and 'seat of judgment' where the Tel Dan Stele was reused · found 1966
• Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions
  'YHVH of Samaria and his Asherah' — blessings painted on storage jars at a desert way-station · found 1975
• בָּרוּךְ ... לַיהוה
  Khirbet el-Qom Tomb Inscription
  'Uriyahu... blessed by YHVH... by his Asherah' — a Judahite tomb blessing with a carved hand · found 1967
• נָבִיא
  Tel Rehov 'Elisha' Ostracon and Nimshi Inscriptions
  The prophet's name inked on a sherd in a ninth-century house near Abel-meholah · found 2013
• Jezreel: The Omride Royal Enclosure
  Ahab and Jezebel's fortified compound overlooking the valley · found 1990
• כֶּרֶם
  Jezreel Rock-Cut Winery ('Naboth's Vineyard')
  An Iron Age wine press at the foot of Ahab's Jezreel · found 2013
• מָצוֹר
  Tell es-Safi/Gath: Hazael's Siege Trench
  A 2-km ditch and burnt city marking the Aramean destruction of Gath · found 1996
• Zakkur Stele
  A king of Hamath saved from 'Bar-Hadad son of Hazael' — Ben-Hadad III in stone · found 1903
• Hazael Booty Inscriptions (Arslan Tash Ivory and Samos Horse Frontlet)
  Luxury goods marked 'for our lord Hazael', carried off as plunder across the ancient world · found 1928
• Bar-Rakib Stele
  A vassal king of Sam'al who boasts of serving 'my lord Tiglath-Pileser' · found 1891
• Sefire Treaty Stelae
  Aramaic vassal treaties whose curses read like Deuteronomy 28 · found 1930
• Amman Citadel Inscription
  The god Milkom speaks: the earliest Ammonite monumental text · found 1961
• Tell Siran Bottle
  A bronze flask naming three generations of Ammonite kings, two of them known to Assyria · found 1972
• Uzziah Tablet
  'Here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open.' · found 1931
• רַעַשׁ
  The Earthquake of Uzziah's Days
  Cracked walls and tilted floors across Israel dated to Amos's 'two years before the earthquake' · found 1956
• מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה
  Bulla of Ahaz, King of Judah
  'Belonging to Ahaz (son of) Jehotham, king of Judah' — a royal seal impression with no findspot · found 1995
• עֶבֶד
  Seal of Ushna, Servant of Ahaz
  A carnelian seal of a royal official of King Ahaz · found 1940
• יוֹתָם
  'Jotham' Seal from Tell el-Kheleifeh
  A copper seal ring naming Yotam from the Red Sea port of Elath · found 1940
• Royal Steward Inscription (Shebna's Tomb?)
  'This is the tomb of ...yahu who is over the house' — a Jerusalem tomb Isaiah may have condemned · found 1870
• הוֹשֵׁעַ
  Seal of Abdi, Servant of Hoshea
  The only Israelite object naming Israel's last king · found 1995
• Nimrud Ivories
  Thousands of Phoenician and Syrian ivories — the same art that filled Ahab's palace — hoarded by Assyria · found 1845
• יַבְנֶה
  Yavneh 'Temple Hill' Favissa: Philistine Cult Stands
  A single pit with over a hundred clay shrine-stands from Philistine Jabneh · found 2002
• תִּרְצָה
  Tirzah (Tell el-Far'ah North): Omri's First Capital
  De Vaux's excavation of Israel's second capital, with a building project abandoned when Omri moved to Samaria · found 1946
• Abel Beth Maacah and the Faience 'King's Head'
  A 'mother city in Israel' on the northern border, and the tiny glazed head of a 9th-century ruler · found 2013
• מוֹאָב
  Dibon (Tell Dhiban): Mesha's Capital
  The Moabite royal city that produced the Mesha Stele, dug from 1950 to today · found 1950
• צִידוֹן
  Sidon: The British Museum 'College Site' Excavation
  A Canaanite temple and 4,000 years of the city that gave Israel Jezebel · found 1998
• Tel 'Eton Standing Stone and Hezekiah's Reform
  A decommissioned massebah in a Judean mansion, published 2026 · found 2014
• City of David Rock-Cut Sanctuary Rooms
  Eight bedrock chambers near the Gihon with an altar, olive press and winepress, sealed in the 8th century BCE · found 2010
• The Gihon Standing Stone (Matzevah)
  A thin upright stone on a rock-cut platform beside the spring, still standing where it was set · found 2011
• חוֹמָה
  Radiocarbon Re-dating of Jerusalem's Eastern Wall
  The 2024 PNAS study that moved a City of David wall from Hezekiah's reign back to Uzziah's · found 2024
• Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars
  Neighborhood worship in the Northern Kingdom: a small bamah and dozens of pottery altars · found 1997

Judah, Babylon & Exile · 66

722–539 BCE

• Hezekiah's Tunnel (Siloam Tunnel)
  533-metre rock-cut water channel bringing the Gihon Spring inside Jerusalem's walls · found 1838
• Siloam Inscription
  Hebrew record of the moment two tunnelling crews met under Jerusalem · found 1880
• The Broad Wall
  Seven-metre-thick fortification from Hezekiah's expansion of Jerusalem · found 1970
• Royal Bulla of Hezekiah
  'Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, king of Judah' — the king's own seal impression · found 2009
• נָבִיא
  The 'Isaiah' Bulla
  Seal impression reading 'Yesha'yah[u] nvy[?]' — the prophet, or a man named Navi? · found 2009
• Sennacherib's Prism (Taylor, Chicago and Jerusalem Prisms)
  Assyrian annals: 'Hezekiah the Judean I shut up like a bird in a cage' · found 1830
• Lachish Reliefs of Sennacherib
  Wall carvings from Nineveh showing the Assyrian siege of a Judean city · found 1847
• Lachish Level III: Assyrian Siege Ramp and Battle Debris
  The only surviving Assyrian siege ramp, with arrowheads, sling stones and a mass grave · found 1932
• Lachish Gate Shrine and Desecrated Toilet
  A gate sanctuary with broken altar horns and a stone latrine — Hezekiah's reform in action? · found 2016
• Lachish Letters (Lachish Ostraca)
  Military dispatches from the last days of Judah: 'we cannot see the signals of Azekah' · found 1935
• LMLK Jar Handles
  Royal 'Belonging to the King' stamps on Hezekiah's storage jars · found 1870
• Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls
  The oldest known copy of a Bible text: the Priestly Blessing on two tiny silver amulets · found 1979
• Ramat Rachel Royal Palace and Garden
  Judah's second royal residence, later an Assyrian- and Babylonian-era administrative centre · found 1954
• Arad Ostraca (the Eliashib Archive)
  Supply orders from a Judean desert fort naming the 'House of YHVH' and the Kittim · found 1962
• Tel Arad Judean Temple
  A YHVH sanctuary in a border fort, decommissioned during the reforms of Hezekiah or Josiah · found 1962
• Mesad Hashavyahu Ostracon (Yavne-Yam Letter)
  A field worker's plea for his confiscated cloak — Torah law in a soldier's petition · found 1960
• סֹפֵר
  House of Bullae and the Gemariah son of Shaphan Bulla
  Fifty-one seal impressions baked hard in the fire of 586 BCE, one naming a scribe from Jeremiah 36 · found 1982
• שַׂר
  Jehucal son of Shelemiah Bulla
  Seal of the royal official who was sent to Jeremiah and later had him thrown in a cistern · found 2005
• חוֹתָם
  Gedaliah son of Pashhur Bulla
  Seal of a second official from Jeremiah 38, found beside the Jehucal bulla · found 2008
• הַסֹּפֵר
  Baruch son of Neriah Bulla (unprovenanced)
  'Belonging to Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe' — Jeremiah's secretary, if genuine · found 1975
• Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King Bulla
  Seal of an official named in the story of Josiah's reform · found 2019
• אֲשֶׁר עַל־הַבַּיִת
  Adoniyahu 'Over the House' Bulla
  Seal of a royal steward found in Temple Mount sifting debris · found 2019
• בֵּית לֶחֶם
  Bethlehem Bulla
  The earliest mention of Bethlehem outside the Bible, on a tax-shipment seal · found 2012
• Megiddo Stratum II and the Death of Josiah
  The fortress where Pharaoh Necho II killed Judah's reforming king on his way to the Euphrates · found 1925
• גָּלוּת
  Babylonian Chronicle BM 21946 (the 'Jerusalem Chronicle')
  Nebuchadnezzar's own dated record: Carchemish 605 and the capture of Jerusalem, 2 Adar 597 BCE · found 1896
• Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet
  A Babylonian temple receipt naming an officer from Jeremiah 39:3 · found 1920
• Jehoiachin Ration Tablets
  Babylonian palace records of oil for 'Yaukin, king of the land of Judah' and his sons · found 1899
• Ishtar Gate and Processional Way of Babylon
  Nebuchadnezzar's glazed-brick gateway, the Babylon the exiles walked into · found 1899
• East India House Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar
  The king's own account of rebuilding Babylon's temples, palaces and walls · found 1803
• Nabonidus Cylinders and the Nabonidus Chronicle
  The texts that rescued Belshazzar from the charge of being a biblical invention · found 1854
• אֶרֶז
  Nebuchadnezzar's Wadi Brisa Inscription
  Rock reliefs in Lebanon where the king boasts of cutting cedars — Habakkuk's 'violence of Lebanon' · found 1883
• Al-Yahudu Tablets ('Judahtown')
  Two hundred cuneiform documents from a village of Judean exiles in Babylonia · found 1996
• Jerusalem's 586 BCE Destruction Layer
  Burnt Room, House of Ahiel, Givati ash and arrowheads — the fall of Jerusalem in the ground · found 1978
• מִצְפָּה
  Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah) and the Jaazaniah Seal
  Gedaliah's capital after 586, and the seal of a captain named in 2 Kings 25 · found 1926
• Horvat Uza Edomite Ostracon
  An Edomite letter blessing by 'Qaus' found in a Judean fort — Edom moving into the Negev · found 1983
• תֹּפֶת
  The Valley of Hinnom and the Tophet Question
  Jeremiah's valley of child sacrifice: what archaeology has and has not found · found 1975
• Silwan Necropolis and the Tomb of the Royal Steward
  Rock-cut tombs of Jerusalem's elite, including the tomb Isaiah condemned Shebna for carving · found 1870
• עֶקְרוֹן
  Tel Miqne-Ekron Olive-Oil Industry and Royal Inscription
  The largest olive-oil factory of the ancient world, and a Philistine king's dedication naming his city · found 1981
• Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal Prisms Naming Manasseh
  Assyrian tribute lists that include 'Manasseh, king of Judah' · found 1927
• Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (BM 21901)
  Babylonian record of the destruction of Assyria's capital in 612 BCE, as Nahum foretold · found 1896
• חֶרֶב
  The Murder of Sennacherib in Assyrian and Babylonian Records
  Esarhaddon's account of his father's assassination by his brothers — Isaiah 37:38 from the Assyrian side · found 1927
• שְׁמָמָה
  Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE)
  A Philistine city burned to the ground the winter Jeremiah's scroll was read · found 1985
• Tel Beersheba Stratum II and the Dismantled Horned Altar
  A Judean city burned in 701 BCE, whose great altar had already been taken apart · found 1969
• Judean Pillar Figurines
  Thousands of little clay women from Judah's homes — Asherah, prayer aids or charms? · found 1900
• En-Gedi (Tel Goren) Stratum V
  A royal perfume village by the Dead Sea, burned in the Babylonian conquest · found 1961
• Gibeon Winery and Inscribed Jar Handles
  Rock-cut wine cellars and handles stamped 'Gibeon' that fixed the city's identity · found 1956
• Tel Azekah
  The fortress whose signal fire went dark in the Lachish letters · found 1898
• Tell Jemmeh: Assyrian Vaulted Building
  A Philistine border town that became an Assyrian base, with the earliest true mudbrick vaults in the Land · found 1927
• רִמּוֹן
  Tel Halif (Lahav): A Judahite Town Destroyed in 701 BCE
  Houses frozen in Sennacherib's campaign, at a site proposed for Rimmon, Hormah or Ziklag · found 1976
• Tel Hadid: Assyrian Cuneiform Tablets of Resettled Exiles
  Two 7th-century contracts from a village where Assyria planted deportees — the mirror image of Israel's exile · found 1995
• Bozrah (Buseirah): Capital of Edom
  Bennett's excavation of the Edomite royal city that Amos and Isaiah singled out · found 1971
• Tyre: The Island City and Alexander's Causeway
  Bikai's deep sounding through Hiram's city, and the mole that fulfilled Ezekiel's image of scraped rock · found 1973
• Megiddo Area X: Necho's Army and the Death of Josiah
  A layer of Egyptian and Greek pottery from the time Pharaoh Necho killed King Yoshiyahu (2025) · found 2016
• Tel Hadid Mother-of-Pearl Seal
  A moon-god seal from the Assyrian resettlement of Samaria's hills (published 2026) · found 2019
• Charred Beams of Jerusalem's 586 BCE Destruction (Givati, 2026)
  Tree-ring-dated timbers from the Babylonian burning of the city · found 2025
• The Israelite Tower
  Avigad's 8th–7th century BCE gate tower with Babylonian arrowheads in the ash of 586 BCE · found 1975
• The House of Ahiel
  A four-room Judean house in Area G with its owner's name on a potsherd and a stone toilet · found 1978
• Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites
  The Armon Hanatziv and Ahiel toilets, whose cesspit sediment holds the oldest known Giardia · found 2019
• Armon Hanatziv Royal Estate
  A 7th-century BCE palace outside the walls with miniature proto-Aeolic capitals and carved window balustrades · found 2020
• בֶּקַע
  The 'Beka' Weight from the Western Wall Foundations
  A First Temple-period stone weight inscribed with the biblical half-shekel unit, in mirror writing · found 2018
• שֶׁקֶל
  The Two-Shekel Weight from the Western Wall Plaza
  A First Temple-period limestone weight of exactly 23 grams with a clumsily copied shekel sign · found 2020
• The 'Jerusalem' Papyrus
  A scrap of Hebrew papyrus recording wine sent 'to Yerushalayim', seized from looters and hotly debated · found 2012
• Horvat Qitmit Edomite Shrine
  The first Edomite sanctuary ever excavated — inside Judah's Negev · found 1984
• En Hazeva Edomite Cult Vessels
  A pit of deliberately smashed shrine furniture beside a Judahite fortress · found 1993
• Warren's Gate and the 1981 Temple Mount Tunnel Incident
  Underground searches for the ark beneath the Temple Mount — what really happened · found 1867
• Ron Wyatt's 'Ark' beneath Skull Hill
  A popular claim that the ark lies under the crucifixion site — and why archaeologists reject it · found 1982

Return, Persia & the Maccabees · 53

539–63 BCE and the Dead Sea Scrolls

• Cyrus Cylinder
  Cyrus the Great's clay proclamation of his capture of Babylon and the return of exiled peoples and their gods · found 1879
• Nabonidus Chronicle
  Babylonian chronicle recording the night Babylon fell to the army of Cyrus · found 1879
• Behistun Inscription of Darius I
  Darius the Great's cliff-face account of how he won the throne, and the key to reading cuneiform · found 1835
• Persepolis Fortification Tablets
  Tens of thousands of ration records from the heart of Darius's empire · found 1933
• בִּירָה
  Palace of Darius at Susa (Shushan)
  The royal citadel where the book of Esther is set, with its Apadana and garden court · found 1851
• אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ
  Inscriptions of Xerxes (Ahasuerus)
  Royal texts of the king of Esther, including the 'Daiva' inscription and the Gate of All Nations · found 1935
• Elephantine Papyri
  Aramaic letters of a Jewish garrison in Egypt that name Sanballat, Johanan the priest and a temple of YHW · found 1893
• Wadi Daliyeh (Samaria) Papyri
  Legal documents of Samaria's elite naming a later Sanballat, found with the bones of refugees from Alexander · found 1962
• Qasr al-Abd and the 'Tobiah' Inscriptions
  The Tobiad family estate east of the Jordan, with the name Tobiah carved over its caves · found 1818
• הָעַרְבִי
  Silver Bowl of 'Qainu son of Geshem, King of Qedar'
  An Arabian votive bowl from the Egyptian delta naming the son of Nehemiah's enemy Geshem · found 1947
• Yehud Coins
  The first Jewish coins, tiny silver pieces stamped 'YHD' for the Persian province of Judah · found 1814
• מְדִינָה
  Yehud Stamp Impressions
  Jar-handle stamps of the Persian province of Judah, successors of the LMLK seals · found 1898
• חוֹמָה
  Nehemiah's Wall in the City of David
  A Persian-period wall and tower on the eastern slope, proposed as the wall Nehemiah rebuilt in 52 days · found 2007
• Mount Gerizim Samaritan Temple
  The sacred precinct of the Samaritans, rival to Jerusalem's Temple, destroyed by John Hyrcanus · found 1983
• Murashu Archive of Nippur
  Business records of a Babylonian firm whose clients include dozens of Jews living by the river Chebar · found 1893
• נִשְׁתְּוָן
  Arsames Correspondence (Bodleian Aramaic Letters)
  Leather letters of a Persian satrap of Egypt written in the same official Aramaic as Ezra · found 1932
• Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran Cave 1)
  The 1947 find that gave the world Hebrew Bibles a thousand years older than any known before · found 1947
• Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa)
  The only complete biblical book among the Dead Sea Scrolls, copied around 125 BCE · found 1947
• Habakkuk Commentary (1QpHab)
  A Qumran commentary reading Habakkuk as prophecy about the Teacher of Righteousness and the Wicked Priest · found 1947
• Copper Scroll (3Q15)
  A treasure list engraved on copper, the strangest of the Dead Sea Scrolls · found 1952
• Temple Scroll (11QTa)
  The longest Dead Sea Scroll, a rewritten Torah describing an ideal Temple and its laws · found 1956
• נֻסָּח
  Samuel Scrolls from Cave 4 (4QSama-c)
  Fragments of Samuel that preserve readings lost from the traditional Hebrew text · found 1952
• Great Psalms Scroll (11QPsa) with Psalm 151
  A Cave 11 psalter in a different order, with Psalm 151 and other hymns unknown to the Hebrew Bible · found 1956
• Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen)
  An Aramaic retelling of Genesis with Lamech, Noah and Abraham speaking in their own voices · found 1947
• War Scroll (1QM)
  The 'War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness', a battle plan for the end of days · found 1947
• Qumran Messianic Texts (4Q521 and 4Q246)
  The 'Messianic Apocalypse' and the Aramaic 'Son of God' text from Cave 4 · found 1952
• טוֹטָפֹת
  Tefillin and Mezuzot from Qumran
  Leather prayer-capsules and doorpost scrolls, the oldest physical witnesses to Deuteronomy 6:8-9 in practice · found 1949
• Khirbet Qumran Settlement
  The ruined community center beside the scroll caves, with its ritual baths, scriptorium and cemetery · found 1951
• Qumran Cave 12 (2017)
  A newly excavated scroll cave, looted in antiquity but proving the caves still hold secrets · found 2017
• Nash Papyrus
  The Ten Commandments and the Shema on one sheet, the oldest Hebrew biblical text known before the Dead Sea Scrolls · found 1902
• חָכְמָה
  Hebrew Ben Sira (Cairo Genizah and Masada)
  The lost Hebrew original of Sirach, recovered from a Cairo synagogue storeroom and a fortress casemate · found 1896
• Hasmonean Coins of John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus
  The bronze prutot of the Maccabean priest-kings, with 'Yehohanan the High Priest' and Jannaeus's anchor and star · found 1864
• Menorah Coin of Mattathias Antigonus
  The last Hasmonean king's bronze coin, the earliest known picture of the Temple menorah · found 1900
• Hasmonean Winter Palaces at Jericho
  Royal estate with swimming pools and ritual baths where the Hasmonean kings wintered · found 1973
• The Seleucid Akra (Givati Parking Lot)
  Fortification and Seleucid weapons in the City of David identified as the Akra of 1 Maccabees · found 2015
• Heliodorus Stele
  Seleucus IV's order that put Heliodorus over the temples of Judea, the man of 2 Maccabees 3 · found 2005
• Coins of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
  Silver tetradrachms of the king who desecrated the Temple, styling himself 'God Manifest' · found 1800
• Beth-zur Fortress
  The border stronghold that Judas Maccabeus fortified and Antiochus's generals besieged · found 1931
• Maresha Painted Tombs (Tomb of Apollophanes)
  Hellenistic Idumean tombs with painted animals and Greek epitaphs of the Sidonian colony at Marisa · found 1902
• מַס
  Zenon Papyri
  A Ptolemaic official's files from a 259 BCE trip through the land of Israel, naming Tobias the Ammonite chief · found 1914
• Earliest Septuagint Papyri (Rylands 458 and Fouad 266)
  Greek Deuteronomy fragments from the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, one writing God's name in Hebrew letters · found 1917
• קוֹס
  Idumean Aramaic Ostraca
  About 2,000 potsherd receipts from southern Judah recording grain, oil and taxes on the eve of Alexander's conquest · found 1985
• Horbat Ha-Gardi ('Tomb of the Maccabees')
  The monumental structure near Modi'in long claimed as the Maccabees' family tomb, re-excavated in 2015 · found 1866
• פַּחַת יְהוּדָה
  Persian-Period Jerusalem: Bullae, Seals and the Small City
  The scanty but telling remains of the Jerusalem Ezra and Nehemiah knew · found 1978
• Tel Dor in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
  The Phoenician-ruled harbor city on Israel's coast that supplied cedar and trade to Yehud · found 1980
• Tel Kedesh: The Persian–Hellenistic Administrative Building and Its 2,000 Bullae
  A governor's compound in Galilee abandoned after Jonathan Maccabee's victory, with its seal-impression archive intact · found 1999
• Ecbatana (Hamadan) and the Tomb of Esther and Mordecai
  The Median capital where Cyrus's decree was found, and Iran's shrine to the heroes of Purim · found 1913
• יהוה
  Cave of Horror Scroll Fragments (2021)
  Greek Zechariah and Nahum with the divine Name in paleo-Hebrew, from the Judean Desert survey · found 2021
• דָּרְיָוֶשׁ
  The Lachish 'Darius' Ostracon (2022)
  A 'first Darius inscription in Israel' that turned out to be a modern demonstration piece · found 2022
• Tomb of the Bene Hezir Priestly Inscription
  A Hasmonean-era rock tomb in the Kidron naming a family of priests from the biblical course of Hezir · found 1865
• Jason's Tomb
  A Hasmonean family tomb in Rehavia with a Doric porch, ship graffiti and a lament for Jason · found 1956
• The Hasmonean Water Channel
  A rock-cut aqueduct under the Western Wall Tunnels that Herod's Temple Mount cut in two · found 1867
• Mount Nebo and the Hidden Ark of 2 Maccabees
  The mountain where Moses died — and where a Jewish tradition says Jeremiah hid the ark · found 1933

Herod, Yeshua & Jerusalem's Fall · 78

63 BCE–70 CE

• Herodium and Herod's Tomb
  Herod's artificial mountain palace-fortress and the mausoleum found in 2007 · found 2007
• Caesarea Maritima
  Herod's harbor city, seat of the Roman governors and home of Cornelius and Philip · found 1959
• Pilate Stone
  Latin dedication naming 'Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of Judea' · found 1961
• טַבַּעַת
  The 'Pilate' Ring from Herodium
  Copper-alloy ring reading 'of Pilatus' in Greek, found 1968–69 and read in 2018 · found 1969
• Caiaphas Ossuary
  Ornate bone box inscribed 'Yehosef bar Kayafa' from a priestly family tomb · found 1990
• מַעַזְיָה
  Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Ossuary
  Looted ossuary naming 'Miriam daughter of Yeshua son of Caiaphas, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri' · found 2011
• תָּלָה
  Yehohanan's Crucified Heel Bone
  The only physical remains of a Roman crucifixion victim from Judea, with the iron nail still in place · found 1968
• אָח
  James Ossuary
  'Yaakov bar Yosef, brother of Yeshua' — an unprovenanced box at the center of a forgery trial · found 2002
• Herodian Western Wall and Temple Mount Platform
  The retaining walls of Herod's expanded Temple enclosure · found 1838
• Robinson's Arch and Wilson's Arch
  Herodian bridge and stairway arches that carried worshippers onto the Temple Mount · found 1838
• Trumpeting Place Inscription
  'To the place of trumpeting…' — a stone from the Temple's southwest corner tower · found 1968
• Temple Warning Inscription
  Greek notice forbidding foreigners to pass the Temple's inner barrier on pain of death · found 1871
• Southern Steps and Temple Mikvaot
  The pilgrim staircase to the Huldah Gates and the ritual baths beside it · found 1968
• Herodian Street and the 70 CE Collapse
  The paved market street beneath the Western Wall, still buried under stones thrown down by Titus' soldiers · found 1968
• Temple Mount Sifting Project
  Wet-sifting of debris dumped from the Temple Mount, yielding Second Temple floor tiles, coins, and seals · found 2004
• Pool of Siloam
  The Second Temple-period stepped pool where Yeshua sent the blind man to wash · found 2004
• Pool of Bethesda
  Twin pools with five porticoes beside the Church of St Anne, exactly as John 5 describes · found 1888
• עָלָה
  Pilgrimage Road (Stepped Street)
  The 600-meter stepped street from the Pool of Siloam up to the Temple Mount, built under Pilate · found 2004
• Magdala Synagogue and the Magdala Stone
  A 1st-century synagogue in Mary Magdalene's town, with a carved stone showing the Temple menorah · found 2009
• כְּפַר
  Capernaum Synagogue and 'Peter's House'
  The white limestone synagogue over a 1st-century basalt one, and the house-church venerated as Peter's · found 1866
• Ancient Galilee Boat ('Jesus Boat')
  A 1st-century fishing boat preserved in the mud of the Sea of Galilee · found 1986
• נֵצֶר
  Nazareth 1st-Century House
  Simple dwellings showing Nazareth was a small Jewish village in Yeshua's day · found 2009
• Nazareth Inscription (Decree of Caesar)
  Greek edict threatening death for tomb-robbing — once tied to the empty tomb, now traced to Kos · found 1878
• Bethsaida: et-Tell and el-Araj
  Two rival sites for the fishing village of Peter, Andrew and Philip · found 1987
• Chorazin Synagogue and the 'Seat of Moses'
  Basalt synagogue with a carved stone chair in the town Yeshua rebuked · found 1905
• בֵּית כְּנֶסֶת
  Gamla and Its Synagogue
  One of the oldest synagogues in the world, in the Golan town that fell to Vespasian in 67 CE · found 1976
• Herod's Winter Palaces at Jericho
  Three palace complexes by Wadi Qelt, where Herod died and near where Yeshua met Zacchaeus · found 1950
• Machaerus
  Herod Antipas' fortress east of the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was beheaded · found 1968
• Masada
  Herod's cliff-top palace-fortress and the last stand of the Jewish revolt in 73/74 CE · found 1838
• The Burnt House (House of Kathros)
  A priestly home in the Upper City burned in 70 CE, with the family's name on a stone weight · found 1970
• Herodian Quarter and the Palatial Mansion
  Wealthy priestly homes of the Upper City with mosaics, frescoes and ritual baths · found 1969
• Arch of Titus Menorah Relief
  Roman soldiers carrying the Temple menorah and table in Titus' triumph · found 81
• Judaea Capta Coins
  Roman coins celebrating the conquest of Judea with a weeping woman under a palm tree · found 1800
• Antonia Fortress and the Lithostrotos Pavement
  Herod's fortress beside the Temple and the stone pavement long shown as the place of Yeshua's trial · found 1857
• בֵּית הַמִּשְׁפָּט
  Herod's Jerusalem Palace and the Kishle Excavation
  The western-hill palace that most scholars now identify as Pilate's praetorium · found 1999
• Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Golgotha and the Tomb
  A 1st-century quarry, garden and rock-cut tombs beneath the traditional site of the crucifixion and burial · found 1961
• The Garden Tomb
  A beloved Protestant site for the resurrection — but an Iron Age tomb, not a 'new' one · found 1867
• Tomb of the Shroud (Akeldama)
  The only 1st-century burial shroud from Jerusalem, with the remains of a man who had leprosy · found 2000
• Rolling-Stone Tombs: Herod's Family Tomb and the Tomb of the Kings
  Elite Jerusalem tombs sealed by great round stones, like the tomb in the Gospels · found 1863
• 'Alexander Son of Simon' Ossuary (Cyrene Tomb)
  A bone box from a tomb of Cyrenian Jews that may name the son of Simon who carried the cross · found 1941
• Nicanor Ossuary
  Bone box of 'Nicanor of Alexandria who made the gates' of the Temple · found 1902
• Theodotus Synagogue Inscription
  Greek dedication of a Jerusalem synagogue 'for the reading of the Law' from before 70 CE · found 1913
• Tyrian Shekel (Temple Tax Coin)
  The silver coin required for the half-shekel Temple tax — and the likely 'thirty pieces of silver' · found 1960
• פְּרוּטָה
  The Widow's Mite (Bronze Prutah / Lepton)
  The smallest coins in circulation — Hasmonean and Herodian bronze leptons · found 1900
• Tribute Penny (Denarius of Tiberius)
  'Whose image is this?' — the silver denarius with Caesar's portrait · found 1900
• Coins of Pontius Pilate
  Small bronzes with Roman priestly symbols, minted in Jerusalem under Pilate in 29–31 CE · found 1900
• טֶטְרַרְךְ
  Coins of Herod Antipas and Herod Agrippa I
  Bronze coins of the Gospel-era Herods — Tiberias palms and Agrippa's canopy · found 1900
• כְּלִי אֶבֶן
  Stone Vessels and the Reina Quarry Cave
  Chalk jars and cups for ritual purity, and the Galilean workshop where they were made · found 2016
• Jacob's Well at Sychar
  The deep well near Shechem where Yeshua spoke with the Samaritan woman · found 333
• Kursi (Gergesa)
  Byzantine monastery on the eastern shore marking the miracle of the swine · found 1970
• שְׁאוֹל
  Caesarea Philippi (Banias) and the Grotto of Pan
  The pagan spring-shrine where Peter confessed Yeshua as Messiah · found 1988
• Emmaus: Nicopolis, Abu Ghosh and Motza
  Rival sites for the village on the road where the risen Yeshua walked with two disciples · found 1875
• יָד
  Absalom's Pillar and the Kidron Valley Tombs
  Monumental Second Temple tombs Yeshua would have seen from the Mount of Olives · found 1924
• Sepphoris (Tzippori)
  The 'ornament of all Galilee' rebuilt by Antipas an hour's walk from Nazareth · found 1931
• Bethlehem: Church of the Nativity
  Constantine's basilica over the cave of Yeshua's birth, its 4th-century mosaics and the 2013–2020 restoration · found 1934
• Gerasa (Jerash) of the Decapolis
  The best-preserved Roman city east of the Jordan, in the 'country of the Gerasenes' · found 1928
• Gadara (Umm Qais): The Country of the Gadarenes
  A Decapolis city on a ridge above the Sea of Galilee, Matthew's setting for the swine miracle · found 1974
• Petra: Nabataean Capital of Aretas IV
  The rock-cut city ruled by the king whose governor tried to arrest Paul, and the 1993 church papyri · found 1812
• Cana: Khirbet Qana and Kafr Kanna
  Two candidates for the village of the water-into-wine sign · found 1998
• Nain (Nein)
  The village where Yeshua raised a widow's son · found 1880
• Tabgha: Church of the Multiplication and the Loaves-and-Fishes Mosaic
  A 5th-century Byzantine church marking the feeding of the five thousand · found 1932
• Mount Tabor
  Deborah's mustering place and the traditional Mount of Transfiguration · found 1921
• Bethany beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas)
  Yochanan's baptizing place on the east bank of the Jordan · found 1996
• Bethany (el-Azariyeh) and the Tomb of Lazarus
  Village of Marta, Miriam and Elazar, with Saller's 1949–53 church excavations · found 1949
• Bethphage and the Crusader 'Bethphage Stone'
  Starting point of the Palm Sunday ride, with a painted 12th-century mounting block · found 1877
• Dominus Flevit Ossuaries
  A Second Temple cemetery on the Mount of Olives and the over-claimed 'Christian' names · found 1953
• Gethsemane: First-Century Mikveh and Byzantine Church
  A ritual bath from the days of Yeshua beside the Garden of Gethsemane (2020) · found 2020
• St Peter in Gallicantu and the 'House of Caiaphas'
  Mount Zion's Byzantine church, rock-cut cells and the 'sacred pit' · found 1888
• The Cenacle (Upper Room) on Mount Zion
  Crusader hall over Roman-Byzantine remains, read anew by 2019–2025 imaging · found 2019
• Ancient Harbors of the Sea of Galilee
  Mendel Nun's sixteen first-century harbors revealed by low water · found 1970
• Yodfat (Jotapata)
  The Galilean town where Josephus surrendered to Vespasian in 67 CE · found 1992
• Ophel Cave of 'Redemption of Zion' Coins
  A refuge cave beside the Temple Mount sealed in 70 CE with bronze coins of the revolt's last year · found 2018
• רָעָב
  Givati Parking Lot Mansion ('Queen Helena's Palace')
  A grand first-century building in the Lower City, proposed as the palace of the convert queen of Adiabene · found 2007
• The Talpiot Tomb ('Jesus Family Tomb')
  A first-century family tomb with common names that a 2007 film claimed held Yeshua's family · found 1980
• Skull Hill (Gordon's Calvary)
  The rocky knoll above the East Jerusalem bus station that Protestants proposed as Golgotha · found 1842
• Holy Sepulchre Excavations of 2022–2025
  Sapienza University's dig under the church floor: a Roman quarry, traces of a garden, and the tomb's early marble · found 2022
• Roman Theater under Wilson's Arch
  An unfinished 200-seat odeon built against the Western Wall after the Temple's fall · found 2017
• The Gabriel Revelation Stone (Hazon Gabriel)
  An ink-on-stone Hebrew prophecy from the age of Herod, unprovenanced and much argued over · found 2000

The Apostles & the Early Believers · 91

Acts, the Epistles, Revelation and the earliest manuscripts

• Gallio Inscription (Delphi)
  Letter of Emperor Claudius naming Gallio proconsul of Achaia — the anchor date for Paul's ministry · found 1905
• Erastus Inscription (Corinth)
  Pavement laid by an aedile named Erastus — possibly Paul's friend the city treasurer · found 1929
• The Bema at Corinth
  The judgment platform in the forum where Paul stood before Gallio · found 1935
• 'Synagogue of the Hebrews' Lintel (Corinth)
  Marble doorway block from a Jewish meeting house in Paul's Corinth · found 1898
• Corinth Meat Market (Macellum) Inscription
  Latin stone naming the market where meat 'sold in the shambles' came from · found 1898
• Theater of Corinth
  Roman theater beside the Erastus pavement, seat of the city's public life · found 1896
• Politarch Inscription (Thessalonica)
  Arch inscription proving Luke's rare word for city rulers was exactly right · found 1835
• נְצִיב
  Sergius Paulus Inscriptions
  Stones from Cyprus, Rome, and Pisidian Antioch naming the proconsul who believed · found 1887
• טֶטְרַרְךְ
  Lysanias Tetrarch Inscription (Abila)
  Temple dedication naming 'Lysanias the tetrarch' in the reign of Tiberius · found 1737
• Great Theater of Ephesus
  The 24,000-seat theater where the silversmiths' riot shouted 'Great is Artemis' · found 1866
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
  One of the Seven Wonders, whose silver shrines sparked the riot against Paul · found 1869
• צוֹרֵף כֶּסֶף
  Ephesus Artemis Inscriptions: Salutaris Foundation and the Asiarchs
  Stones from the theater confirming the goddess processions, silversmiths, and provincial officials of Acts 19 · found 1866
• Curetes Street and the Library of Celsus, Ephesus
  The marble city Paul walked — with a landmark built a generation after him · found 1903
• Philippi: Forum, Bema, and the Prison Tradition
  The Roman colony where Paul was beaten before the magistrates and freed by an earthquake · found 1914
• Via Egnatia and the Port of Neapolis
  The Roman highway and harbour that carried the Good News into Europe · found 1914
• Lydia's Baptism Site on the Gangites (Zygaktis) River
  The riverside 'place of prayer' outside Philippi where Europe's first recorded believer was immersed · found 1974
• אֵל לֹא נוֹדָע
  The Areopagus and the Altar 'To an Unknown God'
  Mars Hill, where Paul preached, and the Pergamon altar inscribed 'to unknown gods' · found 1909
• Pisidian Antioch: Temple of Augustus and the Res Gestae Copy
  Imperial-cult city where Paul preached his first recorded sermon · found 1914
• אֱלִילִים
  Lystra Inscription and the Zeus–Hermes Cult Stones
  The stone that located Lystra and the local worship of the two gods Paul was mistaken for · found 1885
• תַּלְמִידִים
  Derbe Inscription (Kerti Höyük)
  The 1956 stone that finally placed the last city of Paul's first journey · found 1956
• Theater of Caesarea and the Death of Herod Agrippa I
  The seaside theater where Josephus and Acts both place the king's fatal appearance · found 1959
• Inscriptions of Agrippa II and Bernice
  Stones from Beirut and Athens naming the royal pair who heard Paul at Caesarea · found 1927
• Coins of Felix and Festus
  Small bronze coins struck by the two governors who kept Paul in prison at Caesarea · found 1864
• Malta: St Paul's Bay and the Roman Anchor Claims
  The traditional landing site and lead anchor stocks said to be from Paul's ship — unproven · found 2003
• אֳנִיָּה
  Puteoli and the Alexandrian Grain Fleet
  The Bay of Naples port where Paul landed and the giant grain ships he sailed on · found 1750
• בֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים
  Mamertine Prison (Carcer Tullianum), Rome
  The Forum dungeon where tradition holds Peter and Paul were held before death · found 2010
• Jewish Catacombs of Rome and the Synagogue Inscriptions
  Vigna Randanini and Villa Torlonia — the graves of the community Paul wrote to · found 1859
• Ostia Synagogue
  The oldest synagogue building in Europe, at Rome's harbour town · found 1961
• גֵּרוּשׁ
  Letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians (P.Lond. 1912)
  Papyrus decree of 41 CE on Jewish–Greek strife — context for Claudius' expulsion of Jews from Rome · found 1921
• Great Altar of Pergamon ('Satan's Throne')
  The monumental Zeus altar many link to Revelation's 'where Satan's throne is' · found 1878
• Sardis Synagogue
  The largest ancient synagogue ever found, in the heart of a city of Revelation · found 1962
• Laodicea: Lukewarm Water and the Early Church
  Calcified pipes, the Hierapolis hot springs, and a 4th-century church in the city that was 'neither hot nor cold' · found 2010
• Tomb and Martyrium of Philip at Hierapolis
  The 2011 discovery of a 1st-century tomb honoured as the apostle's, beside his octagonal shrine · found 2011
• אַרְגָּמָן
  Thyatira Dyers' Guild Inscriptions
  Stones naming the purple-dyers of Lydia's home city · found 1875
• Patmos and the Cave of the Apocalypse
  The exile island of Revelation and its traditional grotto of vision · found 1088
• Miletus Theater 'God-fearers' Inscription
  A reserved seat row for 'the Jews who are also God-fearers' in the city where Paul said farewell · found 1906
• יִרְאֵי אֱלֹהִים
  Aphrodisias 'God-fearers' Stele
  A donor list separating Jews, proselytes, and 'theosebeis' — the clearest proof of the God-fearers of Acts · found 1976
• Papyrus P52 (Rylands Greek 457)
  The earliest surviving scrap of the New Testament — John 18 on a card-sized fragment · found 1920
• Papyrus P46 (Chester Beatty II)
  The oldest collection of Paul's letters, a single codex from about 200 CE · found 1930
• Bodmer Papyri P66 and P75
  Near-complete early codices of John, and of Luke with John, from a Christian library in Upper Egypt · found 1952
• Codex Sinaiticus
  The oldest complete New Testament, rescued from St Catherine's Monastery · found 1844
• Codex Vaticanus
  The Vatican's 4th-century Bible, the finest early witness to the Greek text · found 1475
• Magdalen Papyrus P64 (with P67)
  Three scraps of Matthew 26 once claimed to be 'eyewitness-era' — the claim did not hold · found 1901
• Oxyrhynchus Papyri and the Gospel of Thomas Fragments
  A rubbish-heap of Roman Egypt yielding the earliest 'Sayings of Yeshua' and dozens of New Testament pieces · found 1897
• Nag Hammadi Library
  Thirteen Coptic codices of Gnostic and other writings — the 'other side' of early Christian debates · found 1945
• שֻׁלְחָן
  Megiddo Prison Church Mosaic
  The earliest known Christian prayer hall, with a mosaic dedicated 'to God Jesus Christ' · found 2005
• Dura-Europos House Church and Synagogue
  A painted baptistery and a synagogue full of Bible scenes, sealed under a Roman rampart in 256 CE · found 1932
• Alexamenos Graffito
  The earliest picture of the crucifixion — a mocking scratch on a Roman wall · found 1857
• Tomb of Peter beneath St Peter's Basilica
  A 2nd-century shrine over a simple grave, with the graffito 'Petros eni' · found 1940
• עֵד
  Sarcophagus of Paul at St Paul Outside the Walls
  The Ostian Way tomb inscribed 'To Paul, apostle and martyr' · found 2006
• מְשִׁיחִיִּים
  Pompeii and Herculaneum: Claimed Christian Traces
  The 'Christianos' graffito, the Herculaneum cross-shaped mark, and the ROTAS square — all uncertain · found 1862
• Antioch-on-the-Orontes: Mosaics and the 'Chalice of Antioch'
  The city where disciples were first called Christians — and a famous silver cup that is not what it seemed · found 1932
• עַזָּה
  Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis
  The excavated harbor town north of Gaza and the 2022 cemetery with lead sarcophagi · found 1995
• Gaza Synagogue and the 'King David' Mosaic
  A 6th-century synagogue floor showing David with a lyre, found by chance in 1965 · found 1965
• Lod (Lydda) Mosaic
  A stunning Roman floor found under a street in the town where Peter healed Aeneas · found 1996
• Acco / Ptolemais (Tel Akko)
  The Canaanite–Phoenician port Asher never took, where Paul spent a day with the believers · found 1973
• Hammath Tiberias Synagogue and Zodiac Mosaic
  A 4th-century synagogue by the hot springs of biblical Hammath, with Helios and the zodiac on its floor · found 1961
• נוּס
  Pella of the Decapolis and the Flight of the Jerusalem Church
  The Jordan valley city to which, Eusebius says, Yeshua's followers fled before 70 CE · found 1967
• Damascus: Straight Street and the Temple of Jupiter
  The Roman city grid of Acts 9 and the great temple that became the Umayyad Mosque · found 1921
• Huqoq Synagogue Mosaics
  Samson, Jonah, the Red Sea and an 'elephant' panel in a Galilean village synagogue · found 2012
• Yavne Byzantine Winery
  The largest known wine factory of the Byzantine world, maker of 'Gaza' and 'Ashkelon' wine · found 2019
• מְנוֹרָה
  The Ophel Treasure and Gold Menorah Medallion
  A Byzantine-era hoard with a 10-cm gold medallion showing menorah, shofar and Torah scroll · found 2013
• Agora of Smyrna and the Basilica Graffiti
  The civic centre of a church of Revelation, with the world's largest set of ancient Greek wall graffiti · found 1932
• Acropolis of Pergamon: Trajaneum, Library and Theatre
  The hill-top of imperial cult and learning above 'Satan's throne' · found 1878
• Asklepieion of Pergamon
  The healing sanctuary where Galen trained, in the city of Revelation 2 · found 1928
• Red Basilica (Temple of the Egyptian Gods), Pergamon
  Hadrian's giant brick temple to Serapis and Isis, later a church of St John · found 1906
• Thyatira: Tepe Mezarlığı and Hastane Höyüğü Excavations
  The colonnaded street and mounds of Lydia's city of craft guilds · found 1968
• Temple of Artemis at Sardis
  One of the largest Greek temples, standing unfinished beside a later church · found 1910
• צָרַף
  Lydian Gold Refinery on the Pactolus, Sardis
  Where King Croesus' electrum was purified into the world's first gold coins · found 1968
• Sardis: The Lydian Wall and the Sack of 547 BCE
  The fallen soldiers of a city taken 'like a thief' by Cyrus · found 1976
• Philadelphia (Alaşehir): Basilica of St John and City Walls
  Three brick pillars in a city that promised its faithful a 'pillar in the temple' · found 1990
• Laodicea: Temple A, the Western Theatre and the Stadium
  The Şimşek excavations that turned a bare hill into a city of Revelation · found 2003
• Terrace Houses (Hanghäuser) of Ephesus
  Wealthy homes of the city where Paul taught for two years · found 1960
• Church of Mary (Council Church), Ephesus
  The great basilica where the Council of 431 met, built inside a Roman hall · found 1927
• Basilica of St John and the Tomb of John, Ayasuluk
  Justinian's church over the traditional grave of the apostle who wrote Revelation · found 1921
• Grotto of St Paul and the Thecla Fresco, Ephesus
  A hillside cave with the oldest painted image of Paul found in Asia · found 1906
• קְהִלָּה
  Colossae: First Excavations and the Rock-Cut Necropolis
  The last unexcavated city of the New Testament finally opened in 2025 · found 2025
• Alexandria Troas and the Baths of Herodes Atticus
  The port where Paul saw the Macedonian vision and raised Eutychus · found 1993
• Assos: Temple of Athena and the First American Excavation in the East
  The clifftop port where Paul rejoined his companions on foot · found 1881
• Perga: Hellenistic Gate, Colonnaded Street and Stadium
  The city where John Mark turned back, excavated by Turkish archaeologists since 1946 · found 1946
• House of Theseus, Paphos: The Roman Governor's Residence
  The proconsul's palace in the city where Sergius Paulus believed · found 1965
• Chrysopolitissa Basilica and 'St Paul's Pillar', Paphos
  Cyprus' largest early church and the column where tradition says Paul was flogged · found 1971
• Salamis: Gymnasium, Theatre and the Tomb of Barnabas
  The first port of Paul's first journey and the home city of Barnabas · found 1952
• תַּרְשִׁישׁ
  Tarsus: The Roman Road and Cleopatra's Gate
  Paved street and city gate of Paul's 'no mean city' · found 1993
• Cave Church of St Peter, Antioch
  The grotto where tradition says the first 'Christians' met · found 1863
• Seleucia Pieria: Harbour of Antioch and the Titus Tunnel
  The port from which Paul and Barnabas first sailed, and Vespasian's flood tunnel · found 1937
• Cenchreae: Corinth's Eastern Harbour
  The port of Phoebe, where Paul cut his hair for a vow · found 1963
• נֶצַח
  Nicopolis: Augustus' Victory Monument at Actium
  The 'City of Victory' where Paul planned to winter, and the trophy that founded it · found 1913
• דָּרַשׁ
  Berea (Veria): The 'Bema of Paul' and the Ancient City
  The city of the noble Bereans who searched the Scriptures daily · found 1949
• Thessalonica: The Roman Forum and the Arch of Galerius
  The city centre where 'the world was turned upside down', found by accident in 1962 · found 1962
• Amphipolis: The Lion Monument and the Kasta Tomb
  Macedonian splendour on the Via Egnatia, where Paul passed on the way to Thessalonica · found 1912

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