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Archaeologists have found evidence of an Assyrian military campaign against Judaea that resulted in the siege of Jerusalem.The campaign was launched in 701 B.C., when Sennacherib was king of Assyria and Hezekiah was king of Judaea. Sennacherib launched the campaign because he considered Hezekiah a vassal king who should obey the Assyrians, but Hezekiah refused and rebelled against him.The Assyrians conquered much of Judaea and laid siege to Jerusalem but, for reasons that are unclear, failed to take the city. The Hebrew Bible claims that the "the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and...

Archaeologists in Israel uncovered a stone seal they believe to be around 2,700 years old from the First Temple period, a find that strengthens the biblical heritage of Jerusalem. The seal, discovered at the City of David National Park in Jerusalem, contains a winged figure with one arm raised forward with an open palm, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced. The seal was discovered during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the City of David Foundation near the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount in the Davidson Archaeological Garden. On either side of the figure is an inscription in...

The stone ring indicates a multi-national culture thriving in ancient Jerusalem "The figure of a winged man in a distinct Neo-Assyrian style is unique and very rare in the glyphic styles of the late First Temple period," he added. "The influence of the Assyrian Empire, which had conquered the entire region, is clearly evident here." The seal depicts a winged genie in the style of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which the excavating team argued showed the influence of the empire in the region in the 7th and 8th centuries. The press release said the "figure raises one arm forward, with an...

Archaeologists have uncovered a "monumental" fortification that protected Jerusalem's biblical kings some 3,000 years ago. The "dramatic" archaeological discovery solved a 150-year-old mystery in the City of David. Since 2007, archaeologists have been excavating the area around the Givati Parking Lot, the largest active archaeological excavation in Jerusalem today. The excavation site on the northwestern side of the City of David has unearthed different layers of the city's life from the Middle Ages to ancient times. The most recent archaeological find is the remnants of a moat that split the City of David in half — separating the king's palace...

Excavations in Jerusalem have finally revealed the route of an ancient fortification, according to a report published Sunday.For more than 150 years, researchers have asked: who divided Jerusalem in two? A report published Sunday by the Jewish Press may finally have another piece of the puzzle, bringing researchers a step closer to answering this question.Excavations in the Givati parking lot at the City of David revealed a massive fortification created by quarrying rock between the National Park and the area above, which contains the Temple Mount and the Ofel. Researchers found unearthed perpendicular cliffs on both sides of a moat,...

Researchers suggested that the inscriptions are short cultic proverbs related to the religious temple they were found in, which was burned and destroyed thousands of years ago.The temple was located in an ancient settlement called Deir 'Alla, at the center of Jordan Valley, which runs along the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee in Israel to the Dead Sea...Archaeologists discovered the tablets in a heavily burned part of the excavation site.The team also found ceramics among the ruins, including goblets and ceremonial vessels, along with armor.Sculptures that were a gift from Egyptian Queen Twosret were also found at the...

One of the big lies in today’s world is that the Jews are white supremacist colonizers, while the people in Gaza and the West Bank are the region’s indigenous inhabitants. In fact, the contrary is true. Jews long predated Muslims in the region, as described in the Bible. Now, there’s more evidence that Isaiah, 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles all accurately describe the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem 2,700 years ago.During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah in Jerusalem and Sennacherib in Assyria, the mighty Assyrian kingdom attacked Jerusalem (around 701 BC). We know it happened because of a clay prism...

The 3D-printed reproduction of the Assyrian statue was previously displayed at the Colosseum in Rome and the Unesco headquarters in ParisItaly has donated a reconstructed Assyrian statue to Iraq in what has been described as a “miracle of Italian cultural diplomacy”. Constructed in the ninth century BC, the 5m-tall Bull of Nimrud was destroyed by Isis fighters in 2015, before Italian artisans made a copy of the monument using 3D-printing technology. The replica, which was previously displayed at the Colosseum in Rome and the Unesco headquarters in Paris, has now been permanently relocated outside the entrance to the Basrah Museum....

In 701 B.C.E., an African king marched into Syria-Palestine to defend Judah against the invasion of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Second Kings 19:9 mentions "Tirhakah, king of Cush," coming to the help of Hezekiah, who was up against the Assyrian superpower. Though the Cushites are mentioned only briefly in the biblical text, a number of scholars have argued that their involvement in the conflict against Assyria was decisive in the survival of Jerusalem at this critical historical juncture...The 25th Dynasty of Egypt, which lasted for about a hundred years, from the mid-eighth century to the mid-seventh century B.C.E., was Cushite...

Archaeologists in northern Iraq, working on the Mashki and Adad gate sites in Mosul that were destroyed by Islamic State in 2016, recently uncovered 2,700-year-old Assyrian reliefs. Featuring war scenes and trees, these rock carvings add to the bounty of detailed stone panels excavated from the 1840s onwards, many of which are currently held in the British Museum. They stem from the ancient city of Nineveh which, for a time, was likely the most dazzling in the world. There is evidence of occupation at the site already by 3,000 BC, an era known as the late Uruk period. But it...

Hasanlu developed into a significant commercial and production center during the early Iron Age (1400-800 B.C.), owing to its location on important trade and communication routes between Mesopotamia and Anatolia. The citadel at the center of the settlement contained an array of monumental buildings, including palaces, temples, and large multi-columned halls. The evidence Danti is studying confirms that the citadel met with a violent end. Many buildings were ransacked and burned, which caused them to collapse. In addition, the remains of more than 250 people were uncovered, some with signs of systematic execution. "The horrific level of violence evident in...

Archaeologists in northern Iraq have unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian empire, an archaeologist has said. The carvings on marble slabs were discovered in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, where experts have been working to restore the site of the ancient Mashki Gate, which was bulldozed by Islamic State militants in 2016. IS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and carried out a campaign of systematic destruction of museums and invaluable archaeological sites in their fervour to erase history. Fadhil Mohammed, the head of the restoration works, said the team were surprised...

Archaeologists recently unearthed ivory plaques found in a luxurious Iron Age residence in Jerusalem, a first-of-its-kind discovery at the site, shedding light on the owner's wealth and social status.The ivory pieces were found in a building from around the eighth or seventh century B.C., the First Temple era, in the City of David...Sifting through the ruins in the building, likely burnt during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., diggers found around 1,500 ivory fragments, said Reli Avisar from Tel Aviv University, which excavated the site along with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)...The decorations consisted of frames with rosettes...

A bungled looting scheme has led archaeologists to an underground Iron Age complex in Turkey that may have been used by a fertility cult during the first millennium B.C., a new study finds.The ancient complex, which has yet to be fully investigated due to the instability of the structure, has rare rock art drawings on its walls featuring a procession of deities depicted in an Assyrian style. This art style appears to have been adapted by local groups, indicating how strongly the culture of the Neo-Assyrian Empire — which hailed from Mesopotamia and later expanded into Anatolia — spread to...

Separated by geography and language, there's not much that might seem to connect India's five dwindling Jewish communities – except praying in Hebrew, and food. ...Kolkata is home to the Baghdadi Jews, who were once abundant enough to warrant five synagogues; now there aren't enough for a minyan (minimum [10] male Jews required for liturgical purposes). Magen David and the smaller Beth El Synagogue were both classified as protected monuments and renovated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2017. ...The story of disappearing Jewish populations finds echoes elsewhere in India. Jews are believed to have first arrived in India...

An international team of archaeologists and historians has completed an extensive analysis of a rare leather armor waistcoat recovered from the grave of an ancient horse-riding soldier in Northwest China. Notably, the climate in that region of China is desert-like and bone-dry. This is significant, because the arid conditions and lack of moisture in the soil allowed the leather armor to survive intact despite being buried for nearly 3,000 years. Under the supervision of archaeologist Patrick Wertmann from the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies at University of Zurich, the research team members used radiocarbon dating procedures to establish the...

Archaeologists have excavated the first, and what they believe is the oldest, industrial wine press in northern Mesopotamia dating back more than 2,700 years and coinciding with a sharp rise in wine demand among the ruling imperial elites of Assyria.One of the world's earliest empires, Assyria was located in the northern part of Mesopotamia - most of modern-day Iraq, as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey...Unearthed at the archaeological site of Khanis, near the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk, the discovery's value lies partly in its historical context, Bonacossi added.Assyrian scripture has previously pointed to an increased...

After faring thus badly the enemy departed, while the Greeks continued their march unmolested through the remainder of the day and arrived at the Tigris river. Here was a large deserted city; its name was Larisa, and it was inhabited in ancient times by the Medes. Its wall was twenty-five feet in breadth and a hundred in height, and the whole circuit of the wall was two parasangs. It was built of clay bricks, and rested upon a stone foundation twenty feet high... Near by this city was a pyramid of stone, a plethrum in breadth and two plethra in...

Unique flagstones of Rabat Tepe Raise QuestionsThe discovery of 3000-year-old flagstones in Rabat Tepe has surprised archaeologists. Tehran, 20 October 2005 (CHN) -- The first season of archaeological excavations in Rabat Tepe led to the discovery of 3000-year-old 180x180 cm flagstone, which have never been seen before in any Urartu historical sites. Similar flagstones have been found in Ancient Rome and Ancient Iran historical sites. Rabat Tepe is located near the town of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province of Iran. It is believed that hill used to be the capital of Musasir government about 3000 years ago. Before setting on...

Among the individuals mentioned in those texts, 12 had Mesopotamian names, five had probably Aramaic names, one bore an Egyptian name, and one had a name with the Yahwistic component Yhw -- Netanyahu. The appearance of the foreign names in the documents, coupled with the scarcity of Yahwistic elements in them, points to the policy of forced resettlement for which the Neo-Assyrian state was notorious. The refugees' displacement in times of war -- a phenomenon, unfortunately, so familiar to us today -- was coupled with forced movements of conquered populations. The kings of the Neo-Assyrian Empire formulated and used this...