Solomonic gates refers to the gates rebuilt by Solomon during his reign. Our modern ideas of gates are simple barriers to separate property, but gates served as much more in Old Testament times. City gates were very important points of communication, government, justice, and marketplaces. Biblical descriptions of these gates indicate that they were fairly…
Project Type: Archaeology
Garden Of Gethsemane (Biblical Archaeology) | 10 min
The Garden of Gethsemane lies outside of the old city towards the lower side of the Mount of Olives. The modern garden you can visit today is much smaller than it was in the first century but the olive industry is still alive and well. There are a few trees in this garden that might…
Hadrian’s Inscription at the Double Gate (Biblical Archaeology) | 7 min
Before the Dome of the Rock we see today, there was another temple built on the Temple Mount aside from the Jewish Temple. This temple was built by the roman Hadrian and for a long time there was no archaeological evidence besides a few historical records. However the modern walls of the Temple mount give…
The Baptisms of Pentecost (Biblical Archaeology) | 7 min
Pentecost marks the explosion of the faith among the Jews in Jerusalem. Acts 2:41 tells us that three thousand people were baptized following Peter’s sermon at the Temple Mount. That’s a lot of people! The traditional theory is that these new believers travelled a ways from the Temple Mount to get baptized in the river….
The Beautiful or Triple Gate (Biblical Archaeology) | 13 min
In Acts 3 Peter and John meet a lame man at the Beautiful Gate (or Triple Gate) on the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. You can still see where this gate stood today and the three arches that give it the name “Triple Gate”. Join us as Michael takes the opportunity to dig a little deeper…
The Seal of the Prophet Isaiah (Biblical Archaeology) | 4 min
Dr. Eilat Mazar is a renowned archaeologist whose discoveries helped uncover the biblical record under Jerusalem. One of those discoveries was a bulla, also known as a clay seal that would have been used to seal letters. Hundreds of bullas have been found and they typically carry the symbol and name of the writer (such…
The Trumpeting Stone (Biblical Archaeology) | 8 min
When visiting the old city of Jerusalem you might hear claims that there never was a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. However, there is archaeological evidence that says quite the contrary. One of these is the trumpeting stone, a place where one was instructed to blow the shofar to announce the beginning of Shabbat….
Ketef Hinnom: Valley of Hinnom, the Silver Scrolls (Biblical Archaeology) | 14 min
Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist, used student volunteers to help him with his dig in the valley of Hinnom in 1979. This site unexpectedly became a significant discovery for Biblical Archaeology. Dr. Barkay kept sending one of the very bored volunteer children back into a cleaned out tomb hoping to get some peace. It turns out…
King David’s Tomb (Biblical Archaeology) | 18 min
Just outside of the old city of Jerusalem, to the south lies the city of David, an active Biblical Archaeology site uncovering King David’s palace. Go a bit further and you will find a peculiar area that’s often ignored between the Gihon spring and the Pool of Siloam. This site has gone through many changes…
Hezekiah’s Broad Wall (Biblical Archaeology) | 8 min
Isaiah 2:10 and Nehemiah 3:8 both make references to the “Broad Wall” King Hezekiah built in Jerusalem. Archaeologist have excavated this wall and you can find sections of this wall exposed in the old city of Jerusalem. Join us as we look at archaeological evidence the remains provide and how they show evidence for the…