In December, Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviewed Zachi Dvira. In this first installment of the interview, Dvira discusses the history of the project, as well as some details about where the project stands today.

Following where the evidence leads

Archaeology corroborates the invasion of the earliest pharaoh named in the biblical account.

AIBA staff make a 3D map of Israel in preparation for the upcoming ‘Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered’ exhibit.

On today’s podcast, host Brent Nagtegaal talks to Professor Ben-Yosef about how the copper production site in Timna—as well as the wider Aravah Valley area—could have contributed to the power and wealth of the kingdom of David and Solomon, as well as the Edomites.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has produced some remarkable finds. The discoveries are diverse—from arrowheads to astragals—and unique, including items made of gold! Each discovery, just like the sifting project itself, makes a great contribution to the archaeological record of Jerusalem. During their December interview, project co-director Zachi Dvira gave Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames an inside look at some of these finds. You can now see these for yourself in this second installment of that interview.

On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal interviews the lead author of the paper, archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling, about the discovery and its final publication.

The Bible says King Solomon possessed such quantities of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) that it became a common material, not worthy of being enumerated. From where did Solomon acquire such vast supplies of copper? Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviewed Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, director of excavations at Timna, to discuss the copper mines of Israel’s united monarchy.

Protecting antiquities from looters and illicit markets continues to be a problem in Israel. Yet in the past week, Israel has announced the repatriation of two key discoveries: a First Temple Period papyrus and a silver shekel from the fourth year of the Great Revolt.

The upcoming excavation at Shiloh may reveal the resting place of the biblical tabernacle, says dig director Dr. Scott Stripling.

On April 2, renewed excavation began in Jerusalem’s biblical royal quarter in preparation for reconstruction work to highlight the ancient city’s famed past. The three-to- four-week excavation is the first return to the area, known as the Ophel, since the excavations led by the late Dr. Eilat Mazar in 2009–2010. This current excavation is led by Hebrew University’s Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, staffed by the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA) and funded by AIBA alongside Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman. On today’s program, host Christopher Eames interviews aiba staff member Brent Nagtegaal who was on the 2009 excavation and is helping coordinate the excavation this year.

Later this week, scholars will present their reading of an ancient curse tablet discovered on Mt Ebal. This discovery may turn out to be the greatest discovery in biblical archaeology of the past decade. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal previews the context of the tablet discovery. He also reviews author Andrew Lawler’s latest article which takes aim at archaeologists who would dare use the Bible as a scientific resource.

Prof Uzi Leiber speaks about the discovery of an alabaster vessel on the 2022 Ophel Excavations in Jerusalem.

The following are seals of biblical individuals discovered in Jerusalem and dating to the late seventh/early eighth centuries B.C.E. These individuals witnessed Judah’s demise and the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.

Celebrating the arrival of the Tel Dan Stele to the ‘Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered’