After stumping epigraphers for over a decade, a mysterious First Temple-era inscription uncovered at the Ophel, a stone’s throw from Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, may finally have been deciphered. According to a new study by Dr. Daniel Vainstub, the seven-letter inscription etched on a large clay jar records one of the ingredients found in the incense mixture used in the Temple — perfumed gum resin or labdanum. According to readings of Exodus 30:34, aromatic labdanum (Cistus

A team of scientists has examined a number of mysterious sealed boxes dating back to Egpyt's Late and Ptolemaic periods using neutron tomography. The boxes, which were all made roughly between the mid-seventh to third century BCE, contained some startling discoveries including hidden remains of the very animals depicted on the illustrations on the outside of the boxes. Mummification of animals was a common practice in ancient Egypt, with animal remains being placed in statues,

While excavating ancient Neolithic hunting traps in Jordan’s southeastern desert near the site of Jibal al-Khashabiyeh, a team of French and Jordanian archaeologists (led by Dr. Tarawneh and Dr. Abu-Azizeh) made a unique discovery that sheds new light on daily life and belief in the prehistoric Levant. The traps, known as “desert kites,” were used extensively throughout prehistoric southwestern Asia. But while most have been dated to the fourth and third millennia B.C.E., the kites