🇮🇱 Israel · Temple complex
Antonia Fortress
The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic: קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony, as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Temple complex
Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela
Zagwe dynasty · Ethiopian Orthodox
11 medieval monolithic rock-cut churches chiselled from tuff into trenches, connected by tunnels, built for King Lalibela as New Jerusalem pilgrimage site; UNESCO 1978.
🇮🇱 Israel · Temple complex
Temple Mount Sifting Project
archaeological project focused on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem
🇵🇸 Palestine · Ancient city
Herodium
Late Hasmonaean to Byzantine (3rd c. BCE Mount — Herodian peak 23 BCE–4 BCE) · Herodian (Judaean client of Rome) → Zealot → Roman → Bar Kokhba → Byzantine monastery
Herod's artificial volcano citadel with 350 m pool-garden and recently discovered royal mausoleum.
🇵🇸 Palestine · Ancient village
Qumran — Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Iron Age to Roman (8th c. BCE–68 CE; peak Hasmonaean–Herodian) · Israelite → Hasmonaean/Essene (Yahad) sect (possibly Sadducean debate) → Roman destruction
Essene terrace settlement feeding 11 cliff caves that yielded 972 Dead Sea Scrolls.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Temple complex
Aqaba Church
Aqaba Church is a historic 3rd-century church located in Aqaba, Jordan. It was unearthed in 1998 by a group of archaeologists and is considered to be the world's oldest-known purpose-built Christian…
🇵🇸 Palestine · Temple complex
Cave of the Patriarchs
The Cave of the Patriarchs or Tomb of the Patriarchs, known to Jews by its Biblical name Cave of Machpelah (Biblical Hebrew: מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה, romanized:, lit.
🇮🇱 Israel · Tell
Tel Arad
Early Bronze II to Iron II / Persian (c.3000–400 BCE; EB peak 2950–2650, Iron 1000–587) · EB Canaanite → absent MB → Israelite Judahite → Babylonian era → Persian
Double-stacked tell: 2950 BCE walled EB city plus Iron Age Judahite fortress-temple twin of Jerusalem.