Archaeological discoveries made public in 2015 have given us new information about biblical events and people. Below are the Top 10 findings of the important excavations taking place in the lands of the Bible. (This list is subjective, and based on news reports rather than peer-reviewed articles in scientific publications.)

10. Beit Shemesh idol head

An Israeli boy enjoying a picnic with his family in mid-November at the ruins of the biblical city of Beit Shemesh found what appeared to be the small head of a statue and showed it to an Israeli tour guide. The guide encouraged the boy to take the find to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which he did. They determined it was the head of a fertility goddess, probably Asherah, dating to the 8th century B.C.

9. Horvat Kur Byzantine menorah mosaic

The 2015 excavation of a Byzantine synagogue at Horvat Kur, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, revealed a mosaic depicting a menorah with a unique oil lamp design. This project is one of several synagogues being excavated near the epicenter of Jesus’ ministry, providing new insights into worship communities in the centuries after Jesus.

8. The site of Herod’s palace

Early in 2015, archaeologists announced the excavations of a former Turkish prison near Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate would be open to the public via guided tours. The site is believed to have been the location of Herod’s palace 2,000-years ago, and possibly the site of the trial of Jesus before Pilate.

7. Iron Age gate at Gath

Excavators of Tell es-Safi (the Philistine city of Gath) have made many discoveries over 20 years of excavations, but in 2015 they found the monumental gate of Gath from the time of Goliath (its most famous resident). It is one of the largest city gates ever found in Israel, attesting to the importance of the city 3,000 years ago.

6. Rare 3,000-Year-Old seal from Jerusalem found in Temple Mount sifted dirt

Ten-year old Matvei Tcepliaev, a tourist from Russia, participated in the Temple Mount Sifting Project during his family’s visit to Jerusalem. Amidst the dirt that is the focus of this project – illegally excavated from the Temple Mount in 1999 –he discovered a seal dating to the time of King David and the Jebusites, 3,000-years ago. Archaeologists called it a rare find from that period of Jerusalem’s history.

5. Eshba’al name found at Khirbet Qeiyafa

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