The top 10 discoveries of biblical archaeology in 2023

The major biblical archaeological stories of 2023 contain much doom, destruction, and disappointment. They also contain mysteries that may be solved in future excavations, and in one case may resolve a controversy that has kept New Testament scholars busy for the past decade.

Of course, the really important discoveries of 2023 won't be known until years from now, as archaeologists need time to scrutinize their findings and then publish them in scientific journals. But here are some of the stories that made headlines in biblical archaeology in 2023.

10. Lost graves in Gaza

In late September, archaeologists in Gaza announced the discovery of graves in a Roman-era cemetery. The team, working under the direction of French archaeologist René Elter, uncovered important information about the lives of the inhabitants of this coastal trade route 2,000 years ago. They found two extremely rare lead coffins - one decorated with ornate vine leaves, the other with images of dolphins - suggesting that members of the social elite were buried here.

"The inconspicuous building site, surrounded by a grove of unremarkable apartment buildings, has become a gold mine for archaeologists," the Associated Press reported.

Two weeks later, Hamas militants from Gaza attacked Israel, triggering a costly war that likely leveled these unremarkable apartment buildings, displacing and possibly killing their residents. The fate of those who worked at the site and the site itself is currently unknown. Elter responded to a question about his safety, but did not elaborate on the excavation.

The war, of course, has disrupted the work of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) throughout Israel. Some IAA archaeologists with expertise in studying ancient disasters found their skills needed for other work. They were called to Jewish communities under attack by Hamas to help locate and identify human remains.

"It is one thing to expose remains from 2,000 years ago, and quite another - horrifying and unfathomable - to undertake the current task of searching for evidence of our sisters and brothers in the settlements," the IAA said.

They found evidence that helped identify at least 10 dead people previously reported missing.

9. DNA of the ancient Israelites

Almost lost in the news of the war was the news that DNA from ancient Israelites of the First Temple period had been found in early October. The genetic material came from two people whose remains were found in a family tomb west of Jerusalem, dating from around 750-650 B.C.E.

The achievement has been called "the Holy Grail in the study of lost civilizations," which "promises to pave the way for further research into long-standing questions about the origins of the ancient Israelites."

The preliminary results were to be discussed at a conference on new archaeological discoveries, but the gathering was postponed due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

8. The earliest evidence of ancient warfare

The Bible describes wars going back to the time of Abraham in Genesis 14. Now archaeologists have discovered evidence of armed conflicts several thousand years earlier, during the Early Chalcolithic period, about 5800-4500 B.C.

Hundreds of sling stones smoothed into a single aerodynamic shape were found in two different locations in Israel. This indicates an organized preparation for battle. The size of the two prehistoric sites in the Lower Galilee and in the northern Sharon Plain show that many people were required to prepare for war.

7. Leveling of Antioch

In 2022, Turkish archaeologists first began work in the residential neighborhoods of Antakya, the site of the ancient city of Antioch, where followers of Jesus first became known as Christians. The excavations had raised hopes that many new discoveries about life in Antioch could be made. But on February 6, an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria.

Antakya was one of the most destroyed cities, with more than 35,000 people killed. The old part of the city, including monuments to its diverse history dating back to the first century and earlier, has been left in ruins. Plans for excavations have been permanently suspended.

6. The Disappointment of Siloam

For nearly two decades now, visitors to Jerusalem have been shown the steps that lined one side of the Pool of Siloam in New Testament times. The pool served as a place of ritual cleansing for Jewish pilgrims before they ascended to the temple. In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man and tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.

The steps were accidentally discovered during sewer repairs in 2004. But the excavation was limited in order to preserve the orchard. However, archaeologists and local authorities were enticed by the possibility of finding more, and decided to sweep away the orchard in order to conduct a larger excavation. Nothing was found. The steps apparently survived when a road was built over them, but the rest of the pool stones are gone. They were probably taken away for other building work in ancient times.

5. Psalm 86, found on the top of a desert mountain

Archaeologists traveled to Hyrcanus, a fortress on top of a desert mountain overlooking the Dead Sea, to begin the first season of excavations. The fortress was built by the Hasmoneans, then used as a prison by Herod the Great before becoming a Byzantine monastery. Among a layer of crumbling building stones, archaeologists found a simple cross painted in red paint with an inscription. It was a prayer, partly quoting Psalm 86: "Jesus Christ, protect me, for I am poor and needy".

Judging by the epigraphic style, the inscription dates from the sixth century AD.

4. David and Solomon regain their strength

For several decades, biblical minimalists have regarded Israel's 3,000-year-old kings as insignificant leaders, but in 2023 they have shown surprising resilience. In the middle of the year, Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel published a paper analyzing excavations at five sites around Jerusalem and concluded that their similar fortifications and other urban features fit the biblical description of a centralized kingdom in that time period.

"These cities are not located in the middle of nowhere," he writes. "They are an example of urbanism with a unified urban concept."

Archaeologists who have been excavating Tel Gezer for ten years published the results of a radiocarbon analysis in November that puts the construction of Gezer's famous six-chambered gates in the first half of the 10th century B.C. This seems to confirm 1 Kings 9:15, which says Solomon hired laborers for work in Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.

"This brings David and Solomon back to the idea that they were involved in at least some of the monumental architecture in the area," says Lindell Webster of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, lead author of the study.

3. The mystery of the mud brick arch in Tel Shimron

On the acropolis of a Canaanite city overlooking the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, an unusually well-preserved mud-brick arch was carefully uncovered. The arch leads from a vaulted corridor into the depths of a multi-layered archaeological mound. Its end has not yet been opened.

The purpose of the arch is still unknown, although some speculate that it has cultic significance. Apparently, the arch was preserved because it was reburied shortly after construction.

Shimron, little mentioned in the Bible, was virtually overlooked by archaeologists until the current excavations began in 2017. At its height during the Middle Bronze Age, 4,000 years ago, the city covered an area of 48 acres.

2. Identification of Bethsaida on the shores of Galilee

Archaeologists are carefully excavating the remains of a Byzantine basilica near the Sea of Galilee, confident they are discovering the true location of Bethsaida. Last year they discovered a mosaic inscription "leader and chief of the heavenly apostles," suggesting that this ancient church may have been built in memory of Peter. According to tradition, the Church of the Apostles was built over the house of the apostles Peter and Andrew. This find was number 6 on our list of 2022 archaeological stories.

This year's excavation won a major award for the discovery deep beneath the apse of the remains of a first-century wall. This find adds weight to the argument that this is historic Bethsaida, not Et Tel, located several miles inland.

Continued excavations may tell us more about the life of the first apostles. John refers to Bethsaida as the city of Andrew and Peter. Mark, however, suggests that he lived in Capernaum. Could it be that Peter lived in two different fishing villages? In the mid-twentieth century, excavations uncovered Peter's dwelling. Now an ultra-modern church in the shape of a flying saucer stands on the site. Perhaps clarity will come after new archaeological excavations.

1. The mysterious moat of Jerusalem

Archaeologists have been puzzled by canals dug into the rock formations in the oldest part of Jerusalem. Could they have been intended for the industrial production of liquids? Experts have made various speculations and even called in a forensic team from the Jerusalem Police Department to try to solve the mystery.

They then determined that it was part of a moat dating back to the ninth century. According to a report published this fall, the moat separated the Temple Mount from the older, lower area of the City of David when Jerusalem was the capital of Judea, and possibly hundreds of years earlier.

"In all our reconstructions of what Jerusalem looked like in those days, we envision a continuous cityscape from the Temple Mount to the base of the City of David," says Iftach Shalev, co-director of the excavation. "This discovery completely changes the picture."

A moat nearly 100 feet wide and at least 20 feet deep had been seen in Kathleen Kenyon's excavations to the east, but experts considered it a natural feature of the landscape, not part of the city's architecture. But Shalev and his team concluded that the moat created a barrier between the temple, the palace and the area where the rest of the people lived. In an earlier era, before the temple and palace were built, it may have protected the city from attack by the Northmen.

The excavation, known as the Givati site excavation, has yielded many surprising finds since it began in 2007, including a hoard of Byzantine-era gold coins and ceramic tiles dating to the Hellenistic period. Iftah Shalev, co-director of the excavations, estimates that another year of work lies ahead.

Bonus: One of the most interesting finds announced in Israel this year is not technically from the biblical period. Archaeologists entered a cave near the Dead Sea to get a better look at a previously spotted inscription on a stalactite. At the top of the cave, they found the shaft of a pilum, a spear-like weapon. Upon further inspection, they found a cache of well-preserved Roman swords that had apparently been taken from soldiers during the Bar Kokhba revolt in 130-135 AD. The swords were still in their wooden and leather scabbards.