-
Jerusalem Researchers Look Behind Ancient Bullae to Reveal What They Once Sealed
Ancient bullae from Jerusalem are usually studied for the seal impressions on their front faces. But a new research project is turning them over. On their backs, faint traces of papyrus, cord, cloth, wood, or jars may reveal what these clay sealings once protected. That hidden side is now at the center of a new…
-
Reconstructing the Temple Light: Archaeology and the Enigma of the Menorah’s Shape
Few artifacts in Jewish history have inspired more fascination than the lost Menorah of the Jerusalem Temple. For centuries, scholars have tried to determine how this sacred lamp — destroyed or looted long before the Roman conquest — was truly designed. Ancient texts record that after the Maccabean uprising restored the Temple in the 2nd…
-
First Assyrian Inscription Ever Found in Jerusalem Reveals Diplomatic Ties Between Kings
Archaeologists in Jerusalem have made a discovery that could reshape our understanding of the city’s ancient political landscape: a 2,700-year-old pottery fragment bearing an Assyrian inscription — the first of its kind ever found in Jerusalem.Written in Akkadian cuneiform, the text appears to record a royal communication between the Assyrian Empire and the Kingdom of…