Sitting at the crossroads of the ancient world, Israel is an archeologist’s dream. Peeling back the layers of history here is a never-ending pursuit.
Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority with local and international experts are constantly turning up new clues to ancient civilizations.
And it’s quite common for casual hikers to contact the IAA about valuable antiquities they’ve stumbled across. Click here and here to read about kids finding rare artifacts.
Israel has invested heavily in enabling safe access to dozens of archeology sites for the public. Many of them have been turned into national parks and UNESCO Heritage Sites.
Ten of the most iconic Israeli archeological sites are described below. In a future article, we’ll look at 10 lesser-known sites where impressive discoveries have been made.
The Old City of Jerusalem
Archeological digs and conservation projects reveal the history of this capital city established by King David more than 3,000 years ago.
The most visited place in Israel, Jerusalem has been continuously inhabited for some 5,000 years. So it’s not surprising that hardly a month goes by without major archeological news here.
Although important discoveries are also made outside the Old City – for instance, underneath the Jerusalem International Convention Center — the most famed archeological heritage sites are in the Old City area and shed light on life during the First Temple period (1000-586 BCE), Second Temple period (516 BCE to 70 CE), Byzantine Muslim period (4th to 11th centuries CE) and Crusader period (1095 to 1291 CE).
Recently, cutting-edge micro-archeology tools were used to correctly date the construction of Wilson’s Arch.
Read More: Israel21c