JERUSALEM and GALILEE — A series of excavations and scientific analyses completed or announced in 2025 and 2026 have yielded fresh evidence connected to sites and practices described in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. From ritual baths in southern Israel to cultivated gardens beneath a major Jerusalem church and newly examined manuscript fragments, researchers report findings that refine understandings of ancient Jewish settlement, early Christian holy places, and the transmission of scriptural texts.

Ritual Bath and Settlement from the Second Temple Era

In the Carmei Gat neighborhood near Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority extracted an intact 2,000-year-old mikveh, a stone ritual purification bath weighing approximately 25 tons. The structure, along with stone measuring vessels typical of Jewish purity practices, points to a previously undocumented Jewish community active during the Second Temple period and lasting until the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the second century CE. Officials described it as the first known settlement of this era documented between the Judean Lowlands and the northern Negev. The mikveh’s design and context have been linked by some researchers to purification traditions that later influenced early Christian baptism practices.

Garden Landscape Beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Excavations beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, led by archaeologist Francesca Stasolla of Sapienza University of Rome and completed in 2025, uncovered traces of an ancient quarry that later became a mixed funerary and agricultural area. Archaeobotanical analysis identified pollen and seeds from vines, olives, grains, grapes, and figs dating to the period spanning the first century CE. These details align with the Gospel of John’s description of a garden near the site of crucifixion and a new tomb. A 98-page preliminary report published in Liber Annuus details the findings, though researchers note that precise radiocarbon dating of the plant remains remains pending.

Synagogue Remains and Manuscript Insights

In the Yehudiya Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights, a team uncovered the foundations of a 1,500-year-old Byzantine-era synagogue measuring roughly 13 by 17 meters. Features include two rows of columns, wall benches, and a southern wall with three openings oriented toward Jerusalem, consistent with regional synagogue architecture of the period. Decorated lintels, column drums, and possible Torah ark fragments were also recovered, resolving the long-sought original location of architectural elements previously documented in a nearby abandoned village.