While on a weekend dive off Carmel Beach, Shlomi Katzin identified a sword that antiquities experts say dates to the Crusader era. "Ancient artifacts help us assemble the historic puzzle of the Land of Israel," says Antiquities Authority director Eli Escosido.
While there is no way of gauging the flavor of the ancient "Gaza wines," contemporary texts describe them as "agreeable to the taste," says archaeologist Jon Seligman.
Carved limestone sanitary fitting, with attached septic tank, was a rarity 2,700 years ago, when only a very few enjoyed the privilege of privacy.
The discovery was made using advanced 3D scans of an area in eastern Turkey, believed to be the location of Mount Ararat – the mythical resting place of Noah's Ark, as described in the Book of Genesis. "Such angles below the surface is something you would not expect to see in a natural, geologic formation," researcher says.
Some 33 shell beads discovered off Morocco's Atlantic coast may have been worn as earrings or on a necklace, archaeologists say.
Looted from Iraqi museum 30 years ago, $1.7 million Gilgamesh Dream tablet contains portion of Epic of Gilgamesh, considered to be one of the earliest surviving works of notable literature.
Finds from excavation at Itamar settlement include Hasmonean-era silver coin minted in Tyre, a stone structure dating to the Second Temple Era, and a cistern that had never been opened.
Paleontologist Hesham Sallem says prehistoric whale lived on both land and sea and was apparently an accomplished hunter.
Southern Tomb is largely underground and includes a labyrinth of corridors, decorated with hieroglyphic carvings and tiles, but King Djoser is actually buried in the nearby Step Pyramid.
Weight discovered by researchers during excavations in Jerusalem is believed by archeologists to have been used by traders to overcharge their customers.