Free Republic

A toddler has made a stunning discovery at the site believed to be where David battled Goliath more than 3,000 years ago.Ziv Nitzan, 3, was collecting rocks while hiking with her family in Israel when she picked up a particular stone that turned out to be a 3,800-year-old scarab amulet.A scarab amulet is an ancient Egyptian charm shaped like a scarab beetle, symbolizing protection, rebirth, and good fortune, which were commonly made of stone.The hiking trail passes through Tel Azeka, less than 20 miles from Jerusalem, which is referenced in the Bible as the site of the infamous Biblical battle...

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University have discovered a large 30 metre wide moat that separated the City of David from Temple Mount.Excavations in the Jerusalem Walls National Park revealed a massive impassable channel up to 9 metres deep by 30 metres wide.Archaeological evidence indicates that the moat was cut when Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. At this time, the moat would have separated the southern residential part of Jerusalem from the upper city, where the palace and temple were located...The exact date the moat was cut is inconclusive, however, most...

Newsweek reports that two wool textile fragments discovered in Israel’s Cave of Skulls in 2016 had been dyed bright red with dye made from Kermes vermilio, a species of scale insect. The fabric has been dated to 3,800 years ago, making it the oldest known use of scale insects for dyeing textiles.“Identifying the dye in the ancient textile was achieved using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)—a device commonly employed in biology and chemistry laboratories to separate and identify substances in minute quantities,” said Na’ama Sukenik of the Israel Antiquities Authority.A large quantity of the insects would be needed to produce a...

A 3,250-year-old seal belonging to a Hittite prince and an ancient cuneiform tablet dating back 3,400 years were discovered in Turkey's southern Hatay province... in Accana Hoyuk of the Reyhanli district...Murat Akar, the head of the excavation team and Mustafa Kemal University's Protohistory and Near East Archeology Department chair, said... "The tablet, around 3,400 years old, and the accompanying cylinder seals give us information about the administration and administrative practices of the region, especially during a period when the region was under the rule of the Mitanni Empire."He said they had found a 3,250-year-old seal during the latest excavation, adding...