2024 was an exciting and productive year for the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (aiba). We continued our work of promoting Israel’s archaeology through our bimonthly magazine, regular podcasts, website articles and excavations. We also took on some important new ventures—something we look forward to doing more of in 2025.
It was also a difficult year. Like every family and community in Israel, we felt the effects of the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and resulting war. While our experience hasn’t been as heartbreaking as that of our Israeli friends, it has been personal. Our institute receives a lot of support from Herbert W. Armstrong College in the United States, and a good deal of our work is done by U.S.-based employees, but we are intimately connected to events and people in Israel.
aiba’s headquarters is in Jerusalem, where we have two full-time employees: Christopher Eames and Nicholas Irwin (each of whom has a wife and two young children). These men and their families (as did Brent Nagtegaal and his family before returning to the U.S. ahead of our exhibit) willingly stayed in Jerusalem after October 7 and throughout 2024. Having employees in Israel allows us to experience Israel’s archaeology up close and personal. We are able to visit the sites we write about, work with our colleagues at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in studying finds from our own excavations, and speak face to face with archaeologists, scholars and others in the field.
For all of us here at aiba, and especially Chris and Nick, this is more than a job. The people and institutions we work with in Israel are more than colleagues. They are friends. In many cases, they feel like family—and when one member of the family hurts, we all hurt.
But as difficult as it has been, the past 15 months haven’t been entirely negative. It has been inspiring to watch Israelis unite to conquer evil and to witness and experience the courage, resolve and sacrifice of the Jewish people as they rekindle the “lion of Judah” spirit. The events of the past 15 months have only served to strengthen our love for Israel, for its history (biblical and otherwise) and its place in the world. We believe Israel’s biblical history is more important now than it ever has been!
Zachi Dvira, codirector of the Temple Mount Sifting Project and a friend of our staff, recently explained the importance of archaeology, even in this time of war:
Over the past year, as the State of Israel has been engaged in a war that many have described as existential, each day has brought new casualties among our soldiers, and hundreds of our brothers and sisters remain in captivity in Hamas’s dungeons. In such a reality, it is incredibly difficult to speak about or capture the public’s interest in matters related to pottery sherds, ancient artifacts and distant history. Archaeology often feels like a luxury reserved for times of peace. However, in Israel, archaeology is no less existential than security matters. Yigal Allon famously said: ‘A nation that does not know its past has a meager present and an uncertain future.’
It is commonly understood that a nation cannot move toward a shared vision without knowing its roots in the past. But it is not enough to understand history intellectually; we must connect to it tangibly, and there is no better means for this connection than archaeology” (emphasis mine).
We couldn’t agree more. This is why we kept Chris and Nick, and their families, in Jerusalem. And this is why, even as the challenges persist, we will continue to devote significant resources to our goal of sharing Israel’s biblical archaeology and all of the hope and lessons it bears.
Another Successful Exhibit
2024 got off to a momentous start. On February 25, we opened the doors to our third exhibit at Armstrong Auditorium in Edmond, Oklahoma: “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered.” At the time, Let the Stones Speak editor in chief Gerald Flurry said this exhibit would be “the most important we have ever hosted.” This has certainly been the case.
One reason this particular exhibit is so important is that it is so unique. We have brought together all of the historical and scientific evidence of David and Solomon’s monumental kingdom. There is more archaeological evidence attesting to the biblical account of Israel’s early monarchy than most people know, much of it uncovered only in the past one or two decades. And this exhibit is really the only place on Earth where all of this remarkable material is presented as one story.
Nearly 12,000 people have visited the exhibit. This is more than either of our two previous exhibits, and we are on track to welcome more visitors than both previous exhibits combined. We have been pleasantly surprised by how far people have traveled to visit us. More than 65 percent of visitors come from outside the local area (Edmond and Oklahoma City)—33 percent of visitors come from outside the state! We’ve had visitors from 17 different countries, including Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria and France. We’ve even had filmmakers and podcasters visit the exhibit and produce programs, including media personalities from Hungary and Brazil, as well as from within the U.S. We’re also encouraged by the fact that more than 20 percent of visitors come at the recommendation of friends and family.
The highlight of the exhibit was the incredible opportunity to host the most important artifact in biblical archaeology: the Tel Dan Stele. This was an opportunity we never thought possible. Together with the Dead Sea Scrolls, this inscription is Israel’s most valuable and important artifact. This was only the second time the stele has ever come to America. We still can’t believe we were able to display it as part of our exhibit. It was so special to see visitors stand in awe before the most powerful evidence there is (outside of the Bible) of King David and the “House of David.” On behalf of Armstrong, as well as all those who saw the stele, we want to once again extend our gratitude to Israel Museum–Jerusalem (imj) and the Israel Antiquities Authority (iaa) for loaning us this artifact; and to the Jewish Museum in New York City for helping us sponsor this tour.
The exhibit was originally scheduled to end in January 2025. However, the imj and iaa have kindly approved an extension until the end of April. If you haven’t done so already and are able, I encourage you to visit our exhibit either in person or online (click here for an online virtual tour).
Special Issue
To go along with the exhibit, we produced a special issue of Let the Stones Speak devoted solely to the archaeology of David and Solomon’s monumental kingdom. Over three times longer than our typical issue, this 130-page, full-color magazine is essentially the exhibit in print. This too is completely original. A lot of books and articles have been written on Israel’s united monarchy, but there isn’t one that collects all of the new textual and scientific evidence together into a single visually appealing and engaging account. One reader from Israel called the publication “a monumental contribution to the literature of this order—an exceptionally amazing intellectual effort that must find its way to every municipal and school library.”
We have given this free “book”—it is more like a book than a magazine—to more than 15,000 people, and we hope to give it to many more. If you haven’t received your free copy, please e-mail letters@ArmstrongInstitute.org.
We did something else really wonderful with this special issue. We translated it into Hebrew! This is the first time we have produced literature in Hebrew, and it was a challenging and ambitious task. But thanks to the editorial help of some of our friends in Jerusalem, especially Dr. Viviana Moscovich, our friends in Israel can now read about their greatest king in their own language!
We currently have almost 5,000 Hebrew-language copies of this special issue at our office in Jerusalem. If you have friends and family in Israel who you think might enjoy this magazine in Hebrew, they can request the first issue by e-mailing requestIL@ArmstrongInstitute.org.
This was only the beginning of our efforts to publish in the Hebrew language. We recently made changes to ArmstrongInstitute.org to make it a hybrid website, capable of publishing articles in both English and Hebrew. We already have some articles in Hebrew on the site and plan to consistently post Hebrew-language articles. To see our Hebrew-language content, visit ArmstrongInstitute.org/more/Hebrew.
Excavating Jerusalem
Between August and September 2024, under the direction of Prof. Uzi Leibner and Dr. Orit Peleg-Barkat, nine of our students from Herbert W. Armstrong College and six of our staff members continued our excavations at the Ophel. This was our ninth excavation in Jerusalem and our seventh at the Ophel.
It was a unique season of excavation with the ongoing war in the region, which contributed to the later start date. Once it began, however, our dig was able to move forward undeterred.
If you would like to see some of the highlights of this year’s excavation, you can visit our blog here. For a more in-depth update on the season, read our September-October 2024 issue, “Excavating in Times of War.”
Positive Numbers
aiba’s reach has grown dramatically over the years—and 2024 was no exception. The first issue of Let the Stones Speak, January-February 2022, went to 1,435 subscribers. By the end of that year, the November-December issue went to 2,868 subscribers. That number increased dramatically by the end of 2023, with a circulation of 8,462. Our first year brought incredible growth, and this hasn’t slowed.
Our November-December 2024 issue went to 11,625 subscribers in 85 different countries—that is our largest circulation to date! To continue being a part of our thousands of subscribers, be sure you are renewing your subscription when you are notified.
Our YouTube channel has experienced similar growth. Our Let the Stones Speak podcast had roughly 2,000 subscribers in 2022 and had jumped to 20,000 subscribers by the end of 2023. Today we have 36,000 subscribers. Our videos regularly get thousands of views. Our most popular video, “Is This Moses?”, was posted in May 2024; it received 30,000 views in the first day and now has over 415,000 views.
Our website receives consistent and heavy traffic with many articles receiving tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of views. But it’s not all about clicks. One of the most encouraging statistics is the one related to engagement time: On average, visitors to the website spend around 4 minutes per page, which, by industry standards, is excellent. We are curious to see what happens to website traffic now that the site offers articles in Hebrew.
Looking Ahead
Like 2024, this coming year will be packed with projects. For over a year, we have been working with various partners, including the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Berkman-Mintz family, Hebrew University, East Jerusalem Development Ltd. and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, to explore ways to develop the Ophel area of Jerusalem to showcase its crucial and inspiring history and share it with visitors.
What is the Ophel? The Ophel area is situated adjacent north of the City of David and southeast of the Temple Mount and forms the heart of ancient Jerusalem. According to the biblical text and as archaeological evidence increasingly suggests, this area was first developed by King Solomon and was home to Judah’s kings, prophets and priests right up until 586 b.c.e., when the city was destroyed by the Babylonians. Some of the most epic events in Jerusalem’s history occurred on the Ophel.
Much of this history has been revealed over the years by archaeological excavation, especially by the late Dr. Eilat Mazar. Dr. Mazar, together with Armstrong, uncovered several sensational Ophel artifacts, including monumental structures (evidence of a monumental kingdom), the seal of Judah’s King Hezekiah (and the Prophet Isaiah) and a large assemblage of stunning gold coins (or what Dr. Mazar called, “the Ophel treasure”).
Our goal is to bring this crucial history to life—with signs, additional paths and other infrastructure, and state-of-the-art technology—and to open this amazing site to visitors.
Phase i, which we hope will begin as early as March, is especially exciting. This phase will focus on restoring the archaeological remains of Iron Age Jerusalem, including remains associated with King Solomon. When completed, the Ophel park will give visitors the opportunity to experience the world of some of Judah’s greatest kings, priests and prophets.
In future issues we will provide more details about this exciting development, including information on how you can help support the project.
This summer we will also be back at the Ophel for another excavation with Professor Leibner, Dr. Peleg-Barkat and Hebrew University. This phase will run through the month of July. This dig will be slightly larger, as we will be opening a new area of excavation, in addition to continuing where we excavated in 2024. As always, you will be able to follow the day-to-day activities of the dig by reading our blog at ArmstrongInstitute.org.
We are also looking at possibly bringing the “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered” archaeology exhibit to Israel. Having the exhibit in Edmond, Oklahoma, has been really special. We have been able to share some extraordinary artifacts and the life and history of King David with thousands of people in America. But it would be truly special to take the exhibit to Israel and share it with our Israeli friends—to take King David home to Jerusalem!
Finally, I can also reveal that Herbert W. Armstrong College is currently working on bringing its amazing new Irish dance show, Celtic Throne II—Psalter of Ireland, to Israel. This show is not being sponsored by aiba and is not part of aiba’s archaeological activities in Israel. However, we are thrilled to see this new production being shared with the people of Israel. This epic new show, which explores the mysterious origins of ancient Ireland and even has a Jerusalem connection, is an upbeat, super-inspiring, incredibly exciting fusion of Irish dance, music, theater and cinema.
The past 15 months have been tough for Israel. The people of Israel, especially the children and elderly, and the brave soldiers, need encouragement and support. I believe Celtic Throne has the potential to really inspire and move every person who sees it, and even the nation. Apparently, Celtic Throne will be the first international show to tour Israel since Oct. 7, 2023.
The team is still finalizing tour details (and it’s always possible that it might not work out), but if everything continues to fall into place, Celtic Throne will visit Israel this June to perform six shows: three in Tel Aviv, one in Haifa, one in Beer Sheva and one in Jerusalem. If you have friends or family in Israel, be sure to tell them. To learn more about this production, and to purchase tickets when they become available, visit CelticThrone.com.
As you can see, aiba is thriving. It isn’t always easy or smooth going. We live in an uncertain world and in tumultuous times, and we do our work in a region that is especially fluid and unstable. There are always challenges, hurdles that need to be overcome. But we remain motivated and excited. We are inspired by the example of the courageous people of Israel. We are motivated by the crucial role the Jewish people and the State of Israel play in the world. And above all, we are motivated by the biblical history we excavate, analyze and publish, and the life-changing lessons it furnishes for all mankind.
We are very grateful to have the privilege to be a part of Israel’s biblical archaeology. We have a long and special history with the nation of Israel, going back nearly 60 years to the work of our namesake, the late Herbert W. Armstrong, and his partnership with the late Prof. Benjamin Mazar, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and various governmental bodies. We’ve been a part of many successful projects over the years, but I believe 2025 is going to be our most important and exciting year yet.
