Jerusalem: City of David - map outline
description: This topographical map of Jerusalem shows the present Old City of Jerusalem in dark blue (the walls of which were built by the <span class="tooltip" title=' The Turkish empire from the 16th-20th centuries CE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Ottoman Turks in the 16th century CE) and the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount in the southeastern corner of the Old City. The <span class="tooltip" title=' Built by David ca. 970 BCE on the site of the earlier Jebusite city Jebus; it was also called Jerusalem. It physically sits on the slope of hill south of the modern Old City and Temple Mount, near the Gihon Spring. Further Reading '>City of David is outlined in light blue, at the south (and lower) end of the Hill of Ophel. During Solomon's reign the city was expanded northward (up the hill), and the Temple was built at the highest point on the hill (the red square within Solomon's city).
date: -1000-01-01/-0800-01-01

Jerusalem: Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock
description: In this view of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount, looking west, one can clearly see the Dome of the Chain (between the five arches and the <span class="tooltip" title=' "Kubbat ash-Sakhra" in Arabic, this is the golden-domed shrine that is located on the Temple Mount (or Haram esh-Sharif) in Jerusalem. It was built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik in 691 CE. Further Reading '>Dome of the Rock), and the Al Aqsa Mosque (the large building complex on the left). The Dome of the Chain is one of the oldest structures on top of the Temple Mount and was used as a prayer house.

Jerusalem: Warren's Shaft
description: This photograph shows the excavation of the so-called 'sloping tunnel' that led from the entrance to the Warren's Shaft complex to the vertical shaft. It was clearly carved to allow many people to walk through it simultaneously.
date: -1000-01-01/0135-01-01

Jerusalem: aerial view
description: In this aerial view of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is looking east toward the <span class="tooltip" title=' A hill immediately east of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The Jehoshaphat Valley runs between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. Further Reading '>Mount of Olives and <span class="tooltip" title=' A hill just north of the Mount of Olives, on which the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is located. Further Reading '>Mount Scopus and the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean Desert beyond them, the outline of the Old City walls is clearly visible, as is the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount and the <span class="tooltip" title=' "Kubbat ash-Sakhra" in Arabic, this is the golden-domed shrine that is located on the Temple Mount (or Haram esh-Sharif) in Jerusalem. It was built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik in 691 CE. Further Reading '>Dome of the Rock (in the center of the photo). The <span class="tooltip" title=' A relatively shallow valley that runs through the middle of the Old City of Jerusalem, emptying into the Hinnom Valley (on the south side of the city). Further Reading '>Tyropoeon Valley, which runs through the middle of the Old City, is visible as a shadow that runs between the Temple Mount and <span class="tooltip" title=' A relatively low hill within the Old City of Jerusalem, on its western side. Further Reading '>Mt. Zion at the bottom of the photograph.

Jerusalem: City of David - the Stepped Structure
description: The 50-foot-high stepped structure on the right in this photo was probably built in the pre-Davidic <span class="tooltip" title=" The Jebusite period was the period prior to the reign of David (i.e., prior to 1000 BCE), in which the Jebusites inhabited the city of Jebus. ">Jebusite period (i.e., prior to the 10th century BCE). The square-cornered tower immediately beyond the stepped structure was part of the east wall of the city in the <span class="tooltip" title=" 519 BCE - 70 CE ">Second Temple period and the walls and steps in the lower left of the photo belong to a house from the 8th or 7th centuries BCE.
date: -1300-01-01/-0064-01-01

Tel Dor: head of Bes
description: This bone pendant is a typical depiction of the god Bes, an Egyptian god who protected pregnant women. It would have been the central ornament on a necklace.
date: -1200-01-01/-0586-01-01

Jerusalem: map of the period between the Jebusites and Hezekiah
description: This map shows the borders of city of Jerusalem from the time of the <span class="tooltip" title=" The Jebusite period was the period prior to the reign of David (i.e., prior to 1000 BCE), in which the Jebusites inhabited the city of Jebus. ">Jebusites, the settlers of the city prior to the 10th century BCE, to the time of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean king <span class="tooltip" title=' A king of Judah who rebelled against the Assyrian king Sennacherib at the end of the 8th century BCE. Further Reading '>Hezekiah (686 BCE). The current Old City walls (built in the 16th century CE) and the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount complex (built by <span class="tooltip" title=' A Jewish king of Edumaean descent who ruled Palestine under Roman authority from 40-4 BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Herod the Great between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE) are in red. The <span class="tooltip" title=' The people who lived in the Land prior to the Israelites (i.e., prior to ca. 1000 BCE). They continued to live in the Seashore Plains for centuries after the rise of David. Further Reading '>Canaanite, Jebusite, and <span class="tooltip" title=' Built by David ca. 970 BCE on the site of the earlier Jebusite city Jebus; it was also called Jerusalem. It physically sits on the slope of hill south of the modern Old City and Temple Mount, near the Gihon Spring. Further Reading '>Davidic city (i.e., the city prior to the time of king Solomon) is outlined in purple; the Solomonic expansion is outlined in green; …
date: -1300-01-01/-0686-01-01

Persian Empire: Map
description: This map shows the extent of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian Empire in 500 BCE. With a capital in Persepolis (down and to the right of the center of the map), they expanded their borders all the way into India in the east and to Egypt, North Africa, and <span class="tooltip" title=' A region just north of Greece where Alexander the Great came from. Further Reading '>Macedonia in the west.
date: -0500-01-01

Jerusalem: Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock
description: This photograph of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount was taken from its southeast corner (i.e., it is looking northwest). The Temple Mount is visible in the center of the photograph, as is the Al Aqsa Mosque (on the left) and both the Old City and New City of Jerusalem (in the background). The ruins at the bottom left of the photograph are archaeological remains from the <span class="tooltip" title=" 1099-1291 CE ">Crusader period.

Jerusalem: City of David
description: This view of the eastern slope of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Built by David ca. 970 BCE on the site of the earlier Jebusite city Jebus; it was also called Jerusalem. It physically sits on the slope of hill south of the modern Old City and Temple Mount, near the Gihon Spring. Further Reading '>City of David shows the steps leading down to the <span class="tooltip" title=' The main water source for the City of David and Jerusalem from before 1,000 BCE until the Roman period, when at least two aqueducts were built to bring water to the upper city. Further Reading '>Gihon Spring (at the bottom of the photo, in the triangular shadow beneath the double window), 8th-7th century BCE walls and a <span class="tooltip" title=" The Jebusite period was the period prior to the reign of David (i.e., prior to 1000 BCE), in which the Jebusites inhabited the city of Jebus. ">Jebusite wall (immediately below the modern terrace walls that are to the right of the diagonal path), a tower in the eastern wall of the city that was built in the time of <span class="tooltip" title=' Both a person and a book in the Bible. The man Nehemiah was a Jewish leader in the Persian period. The book of Nehemiah tells his story and was included in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Nehemiah (at the crest of the hill, above the terrace walls, casting a triangular shadow), and the modern walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, which were built in the 16th century CE (at the top of the photograph).
date: -1300-01-01/2012-01-01

Tel Dor: sculpture of a head
description: This finely worked sculpture of a bearded man wearing a sort of a head cover is typical of the high-quality <span class="tooltip" title=' Refers both to a period (i.e., from Alexander the Great to the Romans, which is 332 - 64 BCE in our region) and the Greek culture that Alexander brought. Further Reading '>Hellenistic finds from the port city of Dor.
date: -0332-01-01/-0064-01-01

Jerusalem: aerial view
description: This aerial photograph shows the <span class="tooltip" title=' Built by David ca. 970 BCE on the site of the earlier Jebusite city Jebus; it was also called Jerusalem. It physically sits on the slope of hill south of the modern Old City and Temple Mount, near the Gihon Spring. Further Reading '>City of David and the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also known as the Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic), it is the site where the Jewish Temple stood and where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. The massive Temple Mount compound that exists today was built by Herod the Great in the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. Further Reading '>Temple Mount above it. Notice the ridge upon which the City of <span class="tooltip" title=' The second king of Israel who founded Jerusalem as a new capital city. David ruled from ca. 1000-970 BCE and was succeeded by his son Solomon. Further Reading '>David was built (to the right of the road running from the upper center to the bottom of the photograph). The place of the Temple Mount was outside of the City of David until the time of Solomon. As the highest point in the area it became the location for David's 'high place' altar and Solomon's temple.

Tel Dor: Persian period figurines
description: These three figurines of pregnant women wearing Egyptian wigs and holding one hand on their stomachs are typical of figurines found at other <span class="tooltip" title=' A seafaring Semitic people who are most closely associated with the cities of Tyre and Sidon. However, they established colonies throughout the Mediterranean, the most well known of which was Carthage. They are generally credited with the invention of the alphabet. Further Reading '>Phoenician sites in Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel in the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian period. Scholars usually assume that they were votive offerings to a goddess. Some similar figurines from a 4th century BCE shipwreck at Shave Zion, on the northern coast of Israel, bore the symbol of the Phoenician goddess Tanit.
date: -0586-01-01/-0332-01-01

Mt. Gerizim: Modern Samaritans
description: This photograph shows modern <span class="tooltip" title=' A group of people turned a nation who lived in the northern parts of the Central Hill, namely in the territories of the former northern kingdom of Israel. They continue to exist till this very day. According to the Bible, the Samaritans competed with the Judeans in the Persian era. Further Reading '>Samaritans, one of whom is holding a Torah scroll, on Mt. Gerizim. The Samaritans still practice their religion in much the same way that ancient Jews practiced their religion prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. They slaughter lambs at Passover and burn parts of the sacrifice on a fire much as happened in the Jerusalem Temple courts. And the Samaritans of today still hold their religious festivals on Mt. Gerizim, near the archaeological ruins of their ancient Temple.

Tel Jemmeh: Persian Period Imported Greek Vase
description: This beautiful urn was made by a well known Greek potter and vase painter around 450 BCE. It was imported to <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the southern kingdom during the period of the Divided Kingdom (Israel was the northern kingdom). Further Reading '>Judah and found in the ruins of a <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian grain storage center at Tel Jemmeh. The reason that an elegant urn from Greece ended up in Judah is unknown, but likely has something to do with the fact that the Persians controlled everything east of the Aegean by this time.
date: -0450-01-01/-0400-01-01

Jerusalem: aerial view
description: This aerial photograph of Jerusalem, looking north, shows the hilly character of the area. The Old City, including the <span class="tooltip" title=' "Kubbat ash-Sakhra" in Arabic, this is the golden-domed shrine that is located on the Temple Mount (or Haram esh-Sharif) in Jerusalem. It was built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik in 691 CE. Further Reading '>Dome of the Rock and the <span class="tooltip" title=' The only mosque on the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif. It sits on the southwest corner of the platform and has a gray dome. Further Reading '>Al-Aqsa Mosque, can be seen in the center of the picture, and the skyscrapers of the New City are in the background. In the middle of the picture a spur of a hill descends from the Old City toward the intersection of the shadows that are created by the hill on which the Old City sits. The <span class="tooltip" title=' Atributary of the Kidron valley, it is the valley to the east of Jerusalem. It connects with the Hinnom Valley (which comes from the west and around the south side of the city) to form the Kidron Valley (which flows south from that junction down to the Dead Sea). Further Reading '>Jehoshaphat Valley sits in the shadow that curves around the Old City to the right, while the <span class="tooltip" title=' One of the valleys that borders Jerusalem on the east and south sides. Further Reading '>Hinnom Valley curves around to the left side of the Old City (the valley itself is not clearly visible because of the other hill in the foreground). These two valleys intersect at the bottom of the spurand become the <span class="tooltip" title=' The valley that runs southeast from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea. Further Reading '>Kidron Valley, which then runs south all the way to the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea. The <span class="tooltip" t…

Jerusalem: Coin of Yehud
description: Money was invented in the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian Period, and this particular coin bears the official name of the district in which the Jews lived: 'Yehud' (spelled out by the three letters to the right of the bird). The script is ancient <span class="tooltip" title=' A Semitic language from the region of Judea and Samaria. Most biblical books were written in this language. In the 19th century the Zionist movement revived it and it became the common language for modern-day Jews living in Israel. Further Reading '>Hebrew and the name is the Persian version of the biblical name <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the southern kingdom during the period of the Divided Kingdom (Israel was the northern kingdom). Further Reading '>Judah.
date: -0370-01-01

Elephantine: The Elephantine Papyri
description: The Elephantine Papyri are correspondences of a Jewish military garrison who occupied an island in the Nile River on ancient Egypt's southern border. They had a temple in which the god of Israel was worshiped under the name Yhwh ('Yahu'), and in this letter a man named Hananiah writes to the Elephantine Jews to observe the Passover. Hananiah cites the authority of word sent from <span class="tooltip" title=" Darius II (not to be confused with "Darius the Great," or Darius I, who was Darius II's great grandfather) was the king of the Persian Empire from 423-405 BCE. Further Reading ">Darius himself to Arsames, the satrap of Egypt, that the Jewish festivals were to be celebrated on their traditional dates. It is possible that Hananiah was the brother of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Both a person and a book in the Bible. The man Nehemiah was a Jewish leader in the Persian period. The book of Nehemiah tells his story and was included in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Nehemiah that is known from the Bible (see, e.g., Neh. 7:2). The letter was written on both sides of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The ancient equivalent of paper. It was made from the stalk of the papyrus reed, a plant that was best known for growing in the Nile River in Egypt Further Reading '>papyrus (customary for letters, as opposed to contracts, which were only written on one side).
date: -0419-01-01

Tel Halif: Persian Period Pottery
description: All three of these vessels can be dated to the late 6th or early 5th century BCE, during the first decades of <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian control of Palestine. However, pottery forms do not change simply because the political control does. As a result, these forms look very much like those from the <span class="tooltip" title=" 900-700 BCE ">Iron II period. That said, pottery forms do change over time, so the lamp in this photograph (in the center) is flatter, wider, and thinner-walled than those found 100 years earlier (in the Iron II period), and the juglet on the left is somewhat trimmer in profile than its Iron II counterparts.
date: -0550-01-01/-0450-01-01

Babylon: The Cyrus Cylinder
description: When the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian king <span class="tooltip" title=' Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II, was a king of Persia who ruled from 557-529 BCE and conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. Further Reading '>Cyrus II (557-529 BCE) conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, he had this ten-inch-long clay barrel made and inscribed in the <span class="tooltip" title=' A major Mesopotamian empire which ruled over Palestine in the late 7th to early 6th centuries BCE. Further Reading '>Babylonian language. In the text he says that his victory was made possibly by support of Marduk, the god of Babylon, and he accuses Nabonidus, the last Babylonian king, of neglecting the gods of Babylon and oppressing its people. According to the cylinder, Marduk scoured the lands for a righteous ruler and chose Cyrus because of his good deeds and just heart. Scholars have long noted parallels between this text and <span class="tooltip" title=' Both the name of an Israelite prophet and the name of the book of his prophecies that were included in the Hebrew Bible and consequently in the Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Isaiah 40-55, a section of the Bible that was composed at about the same time, in which the biblical prophet Isaiah announces the fall of Babylon (though he says that it is because Yahweh, not Marduk, who chose Cyrus). Cyrus' acceptance and reinstitution of the local religion of Babylon presaged Persian imperial policy that allowed the Jews to return from exile and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. See also <span class="tooltip" title=' Both a person and a book in the Bible. The man Ezra was a Jewish leader in the Persian period. The book of Ezra tells his story and was included in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Ezra 1:2-4; 6:1-5 and 2 Chronicles 36:23.
date: -0539-01-01

The Ptolemaic Hyparchies: Map
description: This map shows the regional divisions (hyparchies) in the <span class="tooltip" title=" 312-198 BCE ">Ptolemaic Period (i.e., 312-198 BCE): <span class="tooltip" title=' The region that comprises of the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean (in modern Lebanon and Syria), with the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos at its core. Further Reading '>Phoenicia, <span class="tooltip" title=' "The Galilee" is the hilly region north of the Central Hill in the Land of Israel/Palestine. It consists of two parts, Upper and Lower. The Sea of Galilee in Lower Galilee and the Huleh Valley in Upper Galilee mark its eastern border. Further Reading '>Galilee, Samaria, <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaea, Perea, Ammonitis, Moabitis, and Idumaea.
date: -0312-01-01/-0198-01-01

Ceramic Horses and Riders
description: These two toy-sized ceramic horses with riders are known from the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian period. They are usually found in a favissa (a repository at a shrine used for objects that had gained sanctity by use in cult ritual and could not, therefore, be returned to a non-sacred setting).
date: -0586-01-01/-0332-01-01

Tel Dor: Hellenistic street
description: This photograph shows one of the main streets of the 3rd century BCE city of Dor. This phase of the city was built under King Ptolemy II (285-246 BCE) on a Hippodamian plan (i.e., a checkerboard pattern of city blocks) and had an advanced sewage system (note the drain cutting across the street at an angle in the center of the picture) and was supplied by an aqueduct. Shops opened into the street on both sides, and apartments would have stood above the shops.
date: -0285-01-01/-0064-01-01

The Seleucid Eparchies: Map
description: This map shows the regional divisions (eparchies) after the <span class="tooltip" title=' Fought near the city of Paneas (modern Banias, in northern Israel, near the sources of the Jordan River) between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids in 198 BCE. The Seleucids won, extending their control all the way to Egypt. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Battle of Paneas (198 BCE), when the <span class="tooltip" title=' A Hellenistic dynasty and empire based in Syria. Their name is derived from the founder of the dynasty, Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Seleucids seized control of Israel/Palestine: <span class="tooltip" title=' The region that comprises of the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean (in modern Lebanon and Syria), with the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos at its core. Further Reading '>Phoenicia, Samaria, Paralia, Idumaea, and Galaaditis.
date: -0198-01-01/-0142-01-01

Maresha: The Sidonian Tomb
description: This detail photograph is from the '<span class="tooltip" title=' A Phoenician city on the coast of modern day Lebanon. It and the city of Tyre were the two main Phoenician cities in antiquity. Further Reading '>Sidonian Tomb,' so called because of an inscription that says that the deceased were members of a Sidonian colony living at Maresha. In this photograph we see paintings of animals from Egypt, along with their Greek names: a lynx (left), a porcupine (center), and perhaps a rhinoceros (right).
date: -0198-01-01/-0119-01-01

Jerusalem: Metropolitan Samuel
description: The first of the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls were found by <span class="tooltip" title=' A term used for a group of predominantly nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group that is traditionally divided into tribes or clans. Further Reading '>Bedouin in 1947 in the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean Desert, who took them to an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem named Kando. Kando took four of the scrolls to St. <span class="tooltip" title=' The Gospel of Mark is most likely the earliest of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that are contained in the New Testament. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Mark's Monastery in the Old City of Jerusalem, where he showed them to the spiritual leader of the Jacobite Syrian Christians in Jerusalem, Metropolitan (Archbishop) Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, who is the man in this picture. Metropolitan Samuel purchased the scrolls from Kando for about $97.

Mt. Gerizim: the Samaritan Temple
description: This aerial photograph looking north at Mt. Gerizim, which is located in the northern part of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The hilly region that runs north-south through the middle of the Land of Israel/Palestine. It is bounded by the Jezreel Valley to the north, by the Jordan River Valley to the east, by the Negev Desert to the south, and by the Seashore Plains to the west. Further Reading '>Central Hill, shows the remains of the Samaritan Temple. The city of Shechem sat in the valley below (a portion of which can be seen on the right and side). Shechem's name was changed to Neapolis ('New City') in the late 1st century CE, and that name is still preserved in the modern Arabic name of the city, Nablus.
date: -0586-01-01/-0129-01-01

Maresha: The Sidonian Tomb
description: This photograph shows the entrance stairs leading down into the <span class="tooltip" title=' A Phoenician city on the coast of modern day Lebanon. It and the city of Tyre were the two main Phoenician cities in antiquity. Further Reading '>Sidonian Tomb at Maresha, so called because of an inscription that says that the deceased who were buried here were members of a Sidonian community in Maresha. The paintings on the walls show a hunting scene.
date: -0198-01-01/-0119-01-01

Jerusalem: Persian Period
description: After the decree of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian King <span class="tooltip" title=' Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II, was a king of Persia who ruled from 557-529 BCE and conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. Further Reading '>Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon (ca. 538 BCE), they began to rebuild the city. Seen here are a few of the remains of that building project, which was executed over the following 200 years. The square-cornered tower at the upper left (below Nos. 1 and 2) were erected over the rubble of the 7th century BCE houses. The stepped structure immediately north of the tower (No. 3) goes back to early <span class="tooltip" title=' According to the Bible, the descendents of the 12 sons of Jacob/Israel who formed the nation of Israel. Further Reading '>Israelite times, but its upper portion was reused as a post-Exilic fortification and was supplemented by additional new wall elements farther north (to the right of No. 3).
date: -0538-01-01/-0333-01-01

Persian Divisions of Israel/Palestine: Map
description: This maps shows the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lands, people, and Empire east of Mesopotamia (in the regions of modern Iran). It conquered the Near East in the mid-6th century. Map of Cyrus&#39; kingdom | Further Reading '>Persian divisions (also known as provinces, or pahva in Persian) of Israel/Palestine: Samaria, <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the southern kingdom during the period of the Divided Kingdom (Israel was the northern kingdom). Further Reading '>Judah, Idumaea, <span class="tooltip" title=' A coastal city in the southern part of the Land of Israel/Palestine, near Ashkelon Further Reading '>Ashdod, Ammon, and <span class="tooltip" title=' The region in which the Moabites lived in the Iron Age. It is located on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Ammon was to its north and Edom was to its south. Further Reading '>Moab.
date: -0500-01-01/-0323-01-01

Maresha: The Sidonian Tomb
description: This detail photograph is from the '<span class="tooltip" title=' A Phoenician city on the coast of modern day Lebanon. It and the city of Tyre were the two main Phoenician cities in antiquity. Further Reading '>Sidonian Tomb' at Maresha, so called because of an inscription that says that the deceased were members of a Sidonian colony at Maresha. In this photograph we see a painting of a horse-mounted hunter accompanied by a hunting dog spearing a leopard. The Greek inscription above the rider reads 'the white horse of the rider,' and the Greek word above the leopard says 'pardalos,' a variant of the Greek word for the animal ('pardalis').
date: -0198-01-01/-0119-01-01

Alexander the Great's Kingdom: Map
description: This map shows the extent of <span class="tooltip" title=' A Macedonian leader who established Greek hegemony over the Near East in the late 4th century BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Alexander the Great's conquests on the eve of his death in 323 BCE. His empire stretched from <span class="tooltip" title=' A region just north of Greece where Alexander the Great came from. Further Reading '>Macedonia and Northern Greece in the west to the border of India in the east, and from the Black Sea in the north to Egypt in the south.
date: -0323-01-01

Maresha: The Sidonian Tomb
description: This photograph shows the back wall of the <span class="tooltip" title=' A Phoenician city on the coast of modern day Lebanon. It and the city of Tyre were the two main Phoenician cities in antiquity. Further Reading '>Sidonian Tomb at Maresha, called the 'Sidonian' Tomb because of an inscription designates the tomb's deceased as members of a Sidonian colony living at Maresha. Each of the openings on the walls is a 'loculus,' which is where the bodies of the deceased were placed. There were 41 loculi in total.
date: -0198-01-01/-0119-01-01

Samaria Sabaste: Hellenistic Round Tower
description: This round stone tower dates to the <span class="tooltip" title=" 332-198 BCE ">Early Hellenistic period and was part of the defenses of the city of Samaria, which is located in the central and northern parts of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The hilly region that runs north-south through the middle of the Land of Israel/Palestine. It is bounded by the Jezreel Valley to the north, by the Jordan River Valley to the east, by the Negev Desert to the south, and by the Seashore Plains to the west. Further Reading '>Central Hill. It is possible that this tower is evidence of the Greek occupation of the city at the time of <span class="tooltip" title=' A Macedonian leader who established Greek hegemony over the Near East in the late 4th century BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Alexander the Great, as this style of tower had been used in Greece in the previous century and it became increasingly popular in later periods.
date: -0323-01-01/-0200-01-01

Qumran
description: This photograph of the <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran settlement, taken from a nearby cave, shows the marl terrace where caves 4 and 5 were found, the settlement, and the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea in the background.
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

The Hellenistic Kingdoms after 198 BCE: Map
description: This map shows the divisions of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Refers both to a period (i.e., from Alexander the Great to the Romans, which is 332 - 64 BCE in our region) and the Greek culture that Alexander brought. Further Reading '>Hellenistic kingdoms after the <span class="tooltip" title=' Fought near the city of Paneas (modern Banias, in northern Israel, near the sources of the Jordan River) between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids in 198 BCE. The Seleucids won, extending their control all the way to Egypt. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Battle of Paneas in 198 BCE. After this point, the land of Israel/Palestine was controlled by the <span class="tooltip" title=' A Hellenistic dynasty and empire based in Syria. Their name is derived from the founder of the dynasty, Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Seleucids. The Ptolemiac Kingdom continued to occupy Egypt and North Africa.
date: -0198-01-01

Qumran
description: This photograph shows the marl terraces of <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran, upon which the ancient settlement was built. The Qumran Caves 4 and 5 are pictured near the center of the image. The <span class="tooltip" title=' A seasonal riverbed (i.e., a dry riverbed in which water runs only during rainstorms). They are widespread in the dry regions of the Middle East. Further Reading '>wadi (dry riverbed) flows with water after fresh rains. The <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea is visible in the background.
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

Qumran
description: This aerial photograph shows the settlement of <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran, which is located in the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean Desert, which is probably where a group of people known as the <span class="tooltip" title=' A sect of Jews from the Second Temple period.who lived in many cities in the ancient world. However, t They are best known from the desert settlement of Qumran, which is nearand the nearby the caves in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. As a result, it is believed commonly held that the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by the particular subset ofthe Essenes who lived at Qumran between 150 BCE and 68 CE. Further Reading '>Essenes lived between ca. 150 BCE and 72/73 CE. Most scholars think that the people who lived here wrote and/or copied the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls. The photo shows not just the settlement of Qumran but also the marl terrace (behind it), where Caves 4 and 5 were located. A total of 11 caves that contained scrolls were found by <span class="tooltip" title=' A term used for a group of predominantly nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group that is traditionally divided into tribes or clans. Further Reading '>Bedouin and archaeologists in the 1940s…
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

Jerusalem: the Shrine of the Book
description: The light colored, curved shape on the left in this photograph is the roof the Shrine of the Book, a building within the Israel Museum in Jerusalem that houses the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls. The roof was designed to look like the lid of one of the jars inside of which many of the scrolls were found. Many of the scrolls and artifacts found at <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran are displayed in the exhibition that is inside the building.
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

Jerusalem: Eleazar Sukenik
description: After the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls from Cave 1 were found by the <span class="tooltip" title=' A term used for a group of predominantly nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group that is traditionally divided into tribes or clans. Further Reading '>Bedouin and taken to Bethlehem, they ended up in front of Eleazar Sukenik, a professor and archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who is the man in this picture. He was the first scholar to see them, and he did so across a barbed wire barricade separating Jewish and Arab sectors in the Old City during the last days of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The British gained control of Palestine during the latter part of World War I. They subsequently oversaw the political affairs within this region until the years just after World War II. This period is known as the British Mandate (1917-1948). Further Reading '>British mandate over Palestine in 1948. He immediately recognized their importance and was able to procure three scrolls -the War Scroll, the Thanksgiving Psalms Scroll, and the second of two <span class="tooltip" title=' Both the name of an Israelite prophet and the name of the book of his prophecies that were included in the Hebrew Bible and consequently in the Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Isaiah scrolls (aka "1QIsaiah B").

Jerusalem: Temple Mount - Greek inscription
description: This fragment of a Greek inscription inscribed in stone is one of several large stone notices that were erected around the Temple precinct entrances in the <span class="tooltip" title=" 519 BCE - 70 CE ">Second Temple Period. A complete version of the same text was found in the 19th century, and it is a 'keep out' sign that warns Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) that they may not proceed beyond the entrance point at the risk of death.
date: -0064-01-01/0070-01-01

Jerusalem: Bedouin discoverers of Cave 1
description: The two men in this photograph, Jum'a Muhammed (on the left) and Muhammed edh-Dhib (on the right) are the two Ta'amireh <span class="tooltip" title=' A term used for a group of predominantly nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group that is traditionally divided into tribes or clans. Further Reading '>Bedouin cousins who claim to have discovered the first <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls in Cave 1 in 1947. Details of the discovery differ, but the story goes that they were out shepherding their flock, saw a cave above them, threw a rock into the cave, and heard something break. Upon further investigation they found scrolls and carried three of them back to camp. They discovered four more scrolls in the cave in the following weeks. No other cave yielded as many complete scrolls, and only one other cave (Cave 11) yielded any complete scrolls.

Qumran: pottery vessels
description: The jars in this picture are the same type of jar inside of which the scrolls from Cave 1 were found. Its unusual shape suggests that it may have been made specifically for storing scrolls. The same sort of pottery, as well as a potter's kiln, were discovered in the <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran settlement, creating another link between the inhabitants of the settlement and the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls themselves.
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

Qumran
description: This photograph shows what the limestone cliffs in the region around <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran look like, which makes it easier to understand how the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls could have been hidden for nearly 2,000 years without being discovered. Cave 1 is in the upper left of the picture, just beneath the top of the cliff face.
date: -0150-01-01/0073-01-01

Jerusalem: Inscription from the Tomb of Matthias
description: This inscription was discovered in a tomb in a northern suburb of modern Jerusalem. It is written in <span class="tooltip" title=' A Semitic language from the region of modern-day Syria, which became the common language in the Near East from the Persian Period onwards. The Biblical books of Ezra and Daniel have major Aramaic portions. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Aramaic, a common language of the <span class="tooltip" title=" 519 BCE - 70 CE ">Second Temple period, but the script, called Paleo-Hebrew, is like the one that was used hundreds of years earlier, which is very unusual. The inscription reads, 'I Abba, son of the priest E/leazar, son of Aaron the high [priest], I, / Abba, the oppressed and the persec/uted, who was born in Jerusalem,/ and went into exile in <span class="tooltip" title=' A major Mesopotamian empire which ruled over Palestine in the late 7th to early 6th centuries BCE. Further Reading '>Babylonia and brought [back to Jerusalem] Mattath/iah son of Juda[h], and I buried him in the c/ave, which I acquired by writ.' The remains of an old woman who had been beheaded were buried in the ossuary.
date: -0167-01-01/-0064-01-01

Herodium: aerial view
description: This aerial photograph, looking east, shows what Herodion now looks like after stones were piled up next to the walls and the towers were knocked down. According to the Jewish historian <span class="tooltip" title=' A Jewish historian from whom we know much about life in 1st century CE Palestine. His works include a history of the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, which began in 66 CE, entitled The Jewish War Further Reading '>Josephus, <span class="tooltip" title=' A Jewish king of Edumaean descent who ruled Palestine under Roman authority from 40-4 BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>King Herod (37-4 BCE) built this palace on the site where he won a battle in 40 BCE (Ant. 14.360; War 1.265) and recent excavations have found what is most likely his burial place, just as Josephus said (Ant. 17.199; War 1.419, 673): a mausoleum with an ornate coffin on the northern slope of the mound. In the background, the hills of the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean Desert descend east toward the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea, which is visible at the top right.
date: -0040-01-01/-0004-01-01

Jerusalem: Hasmonaean wall
description: This photograph shows the walls of the western side of the Old City of Jerusalem. The prominent portion of this wall was built by the <span class="tooltip" title=' The Turkish empire from the 16th-20th centuries CE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Ottomans in the 16th century; however, significant parts of the wall, especially the lower layers, are from the days of the Jewish <span class="tooltip" title=' A Jewish king of Edumaean descent who ruled Palestine under Roman authority from 40-4 BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>King Herod (1st century BCE). Several courses of a substantial stone wall built on bedrock and running beneath the walls of the Herodian and later periods dates to the days of the <span class="tooltip" title=' Also called "Maccabean," the two words refer to the dynasty of independent Jewish rulers in the 2nd-1st centuries BCE (167-63 BCE) who came to power after the Maccabaean Revolt. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Hasmonaean kings (late 2nd-early 1st centuries BCE). This lower wall, in conjunction with information from other excavations, confirms that the city walls extended to their present western limits at least by the time of the Hasmonaean kings.
date: -0167-01-01/-0064-01-01

Jerusalem: Tomb of Absalom
description: There are a few monumental tombs outside and below the southeast corner of the Old City of Jerusalem, in the <span class="tooltip" title=' Atributary of the Kidron valley, it is the valley to the east of Jerusalem. It connects with the Hinnom Valley (which comes from the west and around the south side of the city) to form the Kidron Valley (which flows south from that junction down to the Dead Sea). Further Reading '>Jehoshaphat Valley. The one in this picture is known anachronistically as the Tomb of Absalom (Absalom was the biblical son of <span class="tooltip" title=' The second king of Israel who founded Jerusalem as a new capital city. David ruled from ca. 1000-970 BCE and was succeeded by his son Solomon. Further Reading '>David who lived and died nearly 1,000 years before this tomb was built). The structure consists of a tomb below and a monument on top that combines several different styles typical of the Late <span class="tooltip" title=' Refers both to a period (i.e., from Alexander the Great to the Romans, which is 332 - 64 BCE in our region) and the Greek culture that Alexander brought. Further Reading '>Hellenistic period. The square base was carved out of the bedrock and has column bases and capitals of the Greek Ionic style, but the decoration of triglyphs and rosette metopes above the capital are borrowed from Doric style Greek buildings, and the concave cornice on top comes from Egypt. The combination of features in this building have no exact parallel among other known structures, and its date of construction is unknown, but probably dates to the 1st century BCE or the 1st century CE.
date: -0100-01-01/0100-01-01

Masada: aerial view
description: This aerial photograph, looking southeast, shows the mountaintop fortress of Masada, located in the <span class="tooltip" title=' The name of the administrative region around Jerusalem in the late Second Temple and Roman periods. Further Reading '>Judaean Desert, which rises 400 feet above the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea. <span class="tooltip" title=' A Jewish king of Edumaean descent who ruled Palestine under Roman authority from 40-4 BCE. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>King Herod (37-4 BCE) built two palaces on top, and the Northern Palace is visible here. Note the series of three rooms that descend from the top of the mountain and are built as if hanging on the cliffs. Masada was abandoned after his death, but rebels who escaped the Roman Army's attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE fled here and were later besieged. On the lower right side of the photo there is what looks like a sandy slope leading almost to the top of the mountain. This is the siege ramp that the Roman Army built over the course of two years (71-73 CE), with which they were finally able to take the fortress.
date: 0070-01-01/0073-01-01

Jerusalem: Great Isaiah Scroll
description: The Great <span class="tooltip" title=' Both the name of an Israelite prophet and the name of the book of his prophecies that were included in the Hebrew Bible and consequently in the Christian Old Testament. Further Reading '>Isaiah Scroll is one of the largest and best-preserved scrolls from the <span class="tooltip" title=' A collection of First and Second Temple period texts which were preserved by the arid climate of the Dead Sea region. The caves wherein the scrolls were deposited have often been connected to the nearby settlement of Qumran, and the Scrolls themselves are generally thought to have been written and/or copied by the Essenes. Further Reading | Even Further Reading '>Dead Sea Scrolls and was probably produced around 100 BCE. The entire cache of Dead Sea Scrolls, which were initially found by some <span class="tooltip" title=' A term used for a group of predominantly nomadic, desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group that is traditionally divided into tribes or clans. Further Reading '>Bedouin in caves near the <span class="tooltip" title=' The lowest place on earth (1,388 feet below sea level), it is located to the east of the Central Hill, between the modern countries of Israel and Jordan. Further Reading '>Dead Sea in 1947, were probably hidden by people living in the settlement of <span class="tooltip" title=' An archaeological site in the Judaean Desert in which the remains of a Jewish sectarian group were uncovered. Modern scholars tend to identify this group with the Essenes, who lived there between 150 BCE and 68 CE and probably produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. Further Reading '>Qumran during the Jewish War against the Romans around 70 CE. This particular scroll preserves the text of the biblical book of Isaiah and is one long scroll that was constructed of 17 sheets of carefully prepared leather sewn together with linen thread. It measures 23.5 feet in length. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was one of the most important discoveries ever, not …
date: -0100-01-01