Archaeological Sites in Israel
Absalom's Tomb
The Tomb of Absalom is an ancient monumental rock-cut tomb with a conical roof located in the Kidron Valley on the lower western foothills of Mount of Olives, facing the old city of Jerusalem [1][6].…
Adullam Grove Nature Reserve
A nature reserve south of Beit Shemesh in central Israel containing extensive archaeological remains spanning the 10th century BC to 4th century AD. The site of Khirbet Midras features a stepped…
Anim Synagogue
A 4th-7th century CE basilical synagogue at Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein al-Tahta) in the southern Hebron Hills, Israel. The rectangular hall measures approximately 14.5 by 8.5 metres, oriented…
Atlit Yam
Atlit Yam is a submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) village located 300-400 meters off the modern coast of Atlit, Israel. Carbon-dated to 6900-6300 BC (8,900-8,300 years ago), it represents the…
Avdat National Park
Avdat is a ruined ancient city in the Negev Desert that was the most important city on the Incense Route after Petra [1]. Originally called Oboda, the site was inhabited from the 3rd century BCE…
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park in central Israel encompasses the ruins of Maresha, an important town of Judah from the 8th century BC, and Beit Guvrin (Roman Eleutheropolis). The site contains…
Bet She'arim National Park
A vast Jewish necropolis southeast of Haifa, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. Developed from the 2nd century AD as the primary Jewish burial place outside Jerusalem after the Bar…
Caesarea Philippi
Caesarea Philippi, originally called Banias, is an ancient site at the foot of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. The spring is the source of the Banias River, one of the main tributaries of the…
City of David
The City of David is the most excavated archaeological site in Israel, situated on a ridge south of the Temple Mount, representing the original urban core of ancient Jerusalem. Settlement dates to…
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate is one of the main entrances to Jerusalem's Old City along the northern wall. The current Ottoman structure was built in 1537 under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Beneath it lies…
Herodion National Park
A palace-fortress built between 23-15 BC by King Herod atop a partly artificial hill in the Judaean Desert, 12 km south of Jerusalem. Constructed to commemorate Herod's victory over Antigonus II in…
Horvat Omrit
Horvat Omrit (Khirbat 'Umayrī) is an archaeological site featuring the ruins of a Roman temple complex[1]. Located on the western slopes of the Golan Heights where they meet the Upper Jordan Valley,…
Horvat Shema
Khirbet Shema is an archaeological site at the foot of Mount Meron in Upper Galilee, Israel, containing ruins of a large Jewish village from the Roman and Byzantine periods (1st–5th century AD). The…
Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate (Arabic: Bab al-Khalil, "Gate of the Friend") is one of seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem, built in 1538 by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Its L-shaped entryway,…
Mamshit National Park
Mamshit (also Mampsis) was a Nabataean caravan stop that later became a Byzantine city in the Negev Desert[1]. Strategically positioned on the Incense Road, it connected Southern Arabia through Edom…
Masada National Park
Masada is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. Built in the first century BC atop a natural plateau rising over…
Nebi Samuel National Park
Nebi Samuel is an archaeological and religious site on a hilltop over 800 m above sea level near Jerusalem, traditionally identified as the burial place of the biblical prophet Samuel. Excavations by…
Rujum Al-Hiri
Massive megalithic monument in the Golan Heights consisting of more than 40,000 basalt rocks arranged in concentric circles with a tumulus at its center, dating to the Early Bronze Age (3000-2700…
Shivta National Park
An ancient Nabatean and Byzantine city in the Negev Desert, 43 km southwest of Beersheba, Israel, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005 as part of the Incense Route. Founded as a Nabatean…
Tel Hazor National Park
Tel Hazor, located in Upper Galilee north of the Sea of Galilee, was the largest fortified city in ancient Israel from the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age and one of the most important cities in…
The Archaeological Site Nitzana
Nessana (Nitzana) is an ancient Nabatean city in the southwestern Negev desert of Israel, founded as a fortified caravan station on the Incense Road in the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE. The site…
The Davidson Center
An archaeological park and museum near the Western Wall at the foot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City. The site spans approximately 5,000 years of history from the Canaanite Bronze Age…
Tombs of the Kings
A monumental rock-cut funerary complex in East Jerusalem, about half a mile north of the Old City walls in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Believed to be the burial site of Queen Helena of Adiabene…
Tower of David
The Tower of David is an ancient citadel near the Jaffa Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, containing archaeological remains spanning over 2,500 years. Built on Hasmonean foundations from the 2nd…
Western Wall
A portion of the ancient limestone retaining wall in Jerusalem's Old City, built by Herod the Great around 19 BC as part of his massive expansion of the Temple Mount platform. The wall extends…