The script is composed of four torn lines that begin with the words "To Ishmael send...," which indicates that it's a fragment of a letter containing instructions to the recipient. "It joins only two other documents from this period in the Israel Antiquities Authority Dead Sea Scrolls collection," one official says.
Ivory was one of the most expensive raw materials in the ancient world, even more precious than gold, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The 2.5-meter long fossil belonging to the long-extinct straight-tusked elephant was found during a joint excavation with researchers from Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University.
Archaeologists surprised to find extensive system of vaults beneath estate that dates back to early Islamic Period.
Experts say that the tabernacle, the first capital of the Israelites after wandering the desert and the spot where Hannah prayed to have a son and became mother of Prophet Samuel, could be at any of three locations in ancient Shiloh. If identified, it would be one of the most important discoveries in modern archaeology.
Residents of the ancient city have launched a campaign to reroute a path that would go over rare finds near the Cave of the Patriarchs.
The 'Hellenistic city of Maresha was one of the period’s melting-pots' in the region
Jewish leaders and groups detail the heartbreaking damage Palestinian looters cause to Jewish historical sites across Judea and Samaria and lament the lack of action by the government they say has a moral responsibility to protect the sites.
"In the Roman empire, there was an ample chunk of the population that struggled with their social status and for whom ‘daily bread,’ was anything but a given," says excavation direction Gabrial Zuchtriegel.
PA work destroying Hasmonean-era fortress at Tel Orma in Samaria. Activists decry "new form of terror."
