city of david

city of david Latest

Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

Feb 14 Blog

Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?

By: Richard Elliott Friedman

The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone?

Jan 22 Blog

Where Were the Old Testament Kings of Ancient Jerusalem Buried?

By: BAS Staff

Jeffrey Zorn presents some of Raymond Weill’s early-20th-century plans from his Jerusalem excavations in “Is T1 David’s Tomb?” in the November/December 2012 edition of BAR. […]

Jan 21 Blog

A Second Temple in First Temple Jerusalem?

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Solomon’s Jerusalem Temple is easily one of the most central and important buildings in the Hebrew Bible. However, an archaeological discovery suggests that for much […]

Dec 20 Blog

King David’s Palace and the Millo

By: Robin Ngo

In the study of Biblical archaeology, Biblical texts and archaeological finds must be examined critically and independently, but ultimately, they must be interpreted together. Such an approach can be applied to King David’s Palace and the Millo.

Dec 2 Blog

First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist?

By: Hershel Shanks

In BAR, Hershel Shanks examines a recent article published by archaeologist Amihai Mazar. Mazar contends that while the Biblical narratives were written hundreds of years after the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, they “retain memories of reality.”

Nov 25 Blog

Ancient Jerusalem: The Village, the Town, the City

By: Hershel Shanks

Archaeologist Hillel Geva says that population estimates for ancient Jerusalem are too high. His new estimates begin with people living on no more than a dozen acres.

The Tel Dan stele. Photo: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Israel Antiquities Authority (photograph by Meidad Suchowolski)

Nov 23 Blog

The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible

By: BAS Staff

Few modern Biblical archaeology discoveries have attracted as much attention as the Tel Dan inscription—writing on a ninth-century B.C. stone slab (or stela) that furnished the first historical evidence of King David from the Bible.

Illustration of a stonecutter using a pickax to cut a channel in a limestone block, while another worker pours water over some logs stacked in the channel between two blocks. Photo: Leen Ritmeyer

Nov 9 Blog

The Stones of Herod’s Temple Reveal Temple Mount History

By: BAS Staff

Building and furnishing the Herodian Temple involved more than stone quarrying and laying, but the stones and foundations of Herod’s Temple can give us clues to Temple Mount history.

Nov 6 Blog

Laughter in the Bible? Absolutely!

By: Robin Gallaher Branch

Robin Gallaher Branch on the lighter side of the Bible.

Oct 24 Blog

An Assyrian Letter to the King of Judah

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

For the first time, a fragment of a cuneiform inscription from the First Temple period (c. 1000–586 BCE) has been excavated in Jerusalem. The inscription, […]

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life

Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

More Free eBooks

Want more Bible history?

Join Us on an Educational Journey

For more than 40 years, the Biblical Archaeology Society has partnered with world-renowned hosts and guides to provide you exceptional educational offerings in the archaeology of the Biblical lands and in Biblical studies.

Learn More