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Archaeological excavations at the ancient site of Megiddo in northern Israel, also known as "Armageddon," have unearthed a significant amount of 7th-century BCE Egyptian pottery, potentially providing the first physical evidence of the battle between King Josiah of Judah and Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, as documented in the biblical books of Kings II and Chronicles.A team of Israeli archaeologists, led by Prof. Israel Finkelstein of the University of Haifa and Dr. Assaf Kleiman of Ben Gurion University, detailed their findings in two academic papers published earlier this year. The unprecedented quantity of Egyptian ceramic vessels discovered at Megiddo suggests a...

Israeli archaeologists on Sunday announced the "once-in-a-lifetime" discovery of a burial cave from the time of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II, filled with dozens of pottery pieces and bronze artifacts. The cave was uncovered on a beach Tuesday, when a mechanical digger working at the Palmahim national park hit its roof, with archaeologists using a ladder to descend into the spacious, man-made square cave. In a video released by the Israel Antiquities Authority, gobsmacked archaeologists shine flashlights on dozens of pottery vessels in a variety of forms and sizes, dating back to the reign of the ancient Egyptian king who...

During construction work at Palmachim National Park near Tel Aviv, a fallen rock reveals an ancient treasure trove from the era of the biblically notorious pharoah A team of archaeologists was essentially transported back in time when it entered an untouched 3,300-year-old cave at the Palmachim National Park, just south of Tel Aviv, last week. The vast array of discovered items date to the Late Bronze Age, close to or during the rein of the biblically notorious Ramses II. The cave was spotted when a rock shifted during the course of construction work and light was literally shed on an...

Human Remains in Ancient Jar a Mystery Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Jan. 23, 2007 — For over 100 years, four blue-glazed jars bearing the nametag of Rameses II (1302-1213 B.C.) were believed to contain the Egyptian pharaoh's bodily organs. But analysis of organic residues scraped from the jars has determined one actually contained an aromatic salve, while a second jar held the organs of an entirely different person who lived around 760 years later. Now the question is, who was this individual? "We do believe that the unknown person was of importance for at least two reasons," said Jacques Connan,...