Archaeology

Ancient wildfires in the Levant may have inspired Neolithic pottery-making, Israeli study suggests

Pottery appeared in the region during roughly the same broad period in which fires, erosion and clay deposition reached their peak. 

A Yarmukian juglet found in a cave in Samaria.
Obsidian convergent scraper found in Ararat-1 cave, Armenia, in 2019.

Israeli researchers use ancient stone tools to trace hunter-gatherer migrations

Ararat-1 Cave, Armenia.

Prehistoric hunter-gatherers stayed connected across 200 kilometers, Israeli study finds

‘Macbeth’ (see Sunday).

Jerusalem highlights: October 23-29


France loans Mexico rare Aztec manuscript as nations celebrate 200 years of diplomatic ties

The codex will be on display until December. As part of the exchange, Mexico will loan France another important historical document, the Codex Boturini.

The Azcatitlan Codex, an ancient Aztec pictorial manuscript on loan from France, is displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City on September 17, 2026

Rare Christian amulet holding bible scrap, ancient stone seal unearthed at Turkish site - report

“Inside a copper box, we found an extremely thin gold sheet, only 0.1 millimeters thick, most likely carrying a passage from the Bible,” said Michele Ruzgar Massa of Bilkent University.

A close-up shows the exterior of the copper amulet container uncovered at Turkmen Karahoyuk in Konya, Turkey, July 26, 2026.

How to move an ancient mikvah? Inside the IAA's operation to conserve a Second Temple ritual bath

Discovering the mikvah, as well as stone measuring vessels, provides direct evidence of the existence of a Jewish settlement in the area at the time. 

Lifting the Second Temple-era mikveh found in the Carmei Gat neighborhood in Kiryat Gat, September 17, 2026.

Hebron’s Jewish community finishes restoring tomb belonging to ancestors of biblical King David

The work was spearheaded by the community’s international spokesperson, Yishai Fleisher, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party.

Newly restored Tomb of Yishai and Ruth atop Tel Hebron in the West Bank, September 15, 2026.

Greece denies German museum's bid for Parthenon Sculptures amid British Museum ownership fight

The sculptures are slated to go on display in November as part of Liebieghaus’s upcoming exhibition titled “Athena, the Stage is Yours: The Parthenon Puzzle.” 

The Parthenon Sculptures, British Museum, London, United Kingdom on December 10, 2024.

Turkey unearths rare statues of Roman Emperor Hadrian, Empress Sabina in ancient Mediterranean city

Hadrian’s statue is depicted wearing military garb, with the features of a lion and eagle carved into the emperor’s armor. 

Statues of Roman Emperor Hadrian and his wife, Sabina, found in Kibyra, Turkey, September 11, 2026.

Bronze Age hoard, Egyptian diamonds: String of museum heists throughout August shake Europe

The Treasure of Villena is a a collection of Bronze Age artifacts found in 1963 • The necklace once belonged to Queen Nazli of Egypt and is adorned with 673 diamonds

The Treasure of Villena.

Roadworks in Tbilisi uncover oldest medieval pottery cache ever found in Georgian capital

Medieval Georgian chronicles date Tbilisi's founding to the 4th century, when Vakhtang I ruled over the kingdom of Kartli in what is now eastern Georgia.

Cache of 10th-century pottery found during roadwork in Georgia, September 9, 2026.

Is Monte Verde really 14,500 years old? Researchers clash over true age of Chile's ancient site

But a study published in March based on different testing called the 1997 study results inaccurate, concluding that Monte Verde dated to between about 4,200 and 8,200 years ago.

A drone view shows the Monte Verde archaeological complex and its surrounding landscape n Chile's Los Lagos region, in this handout photo taken in July 2025 and obtained by Reuters on August 31, 2026.

At least 120 Roman-era inscriptions, worship to unknown goddess identified inside Spanish cave

“Preliminary results indicate that Cova Dones was a cave-sanctuary frequented by women, since several female names appear among the inscriptions documented so far,” explained the team.

Members of the research team during the documentation and analysis work, September 4, 2026.