Archaeology

French consul general in the city announces new policy to open the compound known as Tombs of the Kings twice a week. Scholars believe the tombs date back to the Second Temple Period.

"We found one inscription in the courtyard of the church which dedicates the site in the memory of a 'glorious martyr,'" says Benyamin Storchan, who directed the excavation. "The martyr is unnamed and it's still a mystery."

Coins found above and below a 2,000-year old road to the Temple Mount prove it was constructed between 31 and 40 CE, researchers say, and thus likely commissioned by the infamous Roman governor of Judea, explain Israeli archaeologists.

3,000-year-old coffins feature intricate carving and bright colors and held mummies. Coffins to undergo restoration before being moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum that is due to open at the Giza pyramids next year.

Fresco, which features "extremely realistic representation of wounds," was uncovered on a wall of what was probably a tavern or wine shop.

The small, 2,600-year-old clay seal was uncovered in earth from near the Western Wall, and bears the Hebrew name and title "Adoniyahu asher al habayit," both of which appear multiple times in the Bible.

Archaeologists report that Stone Age remains found in cave outside Yemeni capital Sanaa appear to have been damaged by looters.

Carthage's place on UNESCO World Heritage list is under threat, due to what the UN cultural body calls "uncontrolled urban sprawl." Residents and civil society activists see government demolitions as discrimination.

Hamas has done little to protect antiquities sites that date back millennia, and in some cases actively destroys them.