Second Temple

Rare half-shekel coin used in biblical census count discovered by archaeologists in Judean Desert

The survey is an ongoing project by the IAA meant to protect archaeological sites in the Judean Desert from looting and unauthorized excavations.

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
Rare half-shekel coin discovered in Judean Desert by the Israel Antiquities Authority, February 26, 2026.
Newly discovered limestone shards and vessels on display in the new "Criminal Past" exhibit at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, February 16, 2026.

Second Temple workshop found on Israel's Mount Scopus during investigation into antiquities thieves

The workshop was discovered at the Ras Tamim archaeological site on the eastern slope of Mount Scopus. 

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
Opening of the Pilgrim's Road in Jerusalem, on September 16, 2025.

Ancient Pilgrimage Road leading to Temple Mount opens to public after 13 years of excavations

Archaeologists say the stepped street served as Jerusalem’s main thoroughfare for pilgrims during the Second Temple period.

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
THE RITUAL purification bath (mikveh) from the Second Temple period.

Israel uncovers Second Temple-period mikveh beneath Western Wall

The ritual bath was found sealed beneath a layer of destruction dated to 70 CE, in which researchers found burned ash and numerous artifacts that offer a snapshot of life just before the city fell.

|ByJOANIE MARGULIES

The Finger of Og or Herod's Pillar? A Jerusalem archaeological mystery

The 12.15-meter-long and approximately 1.75-m -wide column is thought to have been quarried in order to decorate the Second Temple.

JANUARY 10, 2025ByMARION FISCHEL
Herod's Pillar, or the Finger of Og, lies openly in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem.

Ancient Jewish quarter of Phanagoria discovered in Black Sea area of Russia

Phanagoria's 1st century BCE synagogue was discovered last year, following excavations on the ancient Greek city.

NOVEMBER 28, 2024ByMATHILDA HELLER
Ancient Jewish quarter of Phanagoria uncovered in Russia's Taman peninsula

Jerusalem in its glory: Reconstructing the Sukkot pilgrimage to the Second Temple

What was the pilgrims’ visit to Jerusalem on Sukkot during the Second Temple like?

OCTOBER 16, 2024ByALAN ROSENBAUM
ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES Authority workers walk down the Herodian Street dig at the City of David National Park, in 2019. Also named The Pilgrim’s Way, the street lies beneath Wadi Hilweh street in the Palestinian village of Silwan, and leads from the Siloam Pool to the Temple Mount.

A letter to Lebanon: Could Northern Arrows free Lebanon from Hezbollah? - opinion

Center Field: A breakthrough in Beirut could lead to a regional turnaround with Tehran, something in everyone's best interest.

OCTOBER 16, 2024ByGIL TROY
AN ISRAELI soldier drives through southern Lebanon this week. This conflict should be named ‘The Second Hezbollah War,’ or more accurately, ‘The First Iranian War,’ the writer maintains.

Our future is at risk if level of hatred among us is not reduced - opinion

We believe that the most important lesson of Jewish history is that an independent Jewish state is not something that can be taken for granted.

AUGUST 18, 2024ByDR. NETANEL FISHER , DR. ADAR COHEN
THE MASSES gather at the Western Wall, toward the conclusion of Tisha B’Av, on Tuesday. We face the risk of another destruction today if we fail to pull back from the brink, the writers warn.

Hopefully this will be the first and last 'real' Tisha B'Av after October 7 - opinion

For the first time, I truly understood what it means to mourn for the destruction of the Temple, for the loss of our homeland, and for the countless lives that have been taken in the name of hatred.

AUGUST 16, 2024ByJONATHAN LIEBERMAN
THE BOOK of Lamentations is read in a Tel Aviv synagogue at the beginning of Tisha B’Av on Monday night, with worshipers sitting on the floor as a sign of mourning. ‘This year, Tisha B’Av was unlike any other I have experienced,’ the writer laments.

Ancient lamps that may have been used by Jewish rebels unearthed in Jerusalem

Within the soil, researchers unearthed pottery lamps which can be dated to the end of the Second Temple era, with soot residue indicating the fire that burned in them.

AUGUST 14, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
A preserved glass vial which was used for perfume or expensive oils.

My son died on Oct. 7. This Tisha B'Av, I think how our greatest threat comes from within - opinion

We dare not go back to the zero-sum game of Oct 6. Significant issues roil the Jewish people today, as they always have.

AUGUST 12, 2024ByRABBI DORON PEREZ/JTA
A woman walks with her dog next to posters in support of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 11, 2024

Tisha B'Av 2024: What the Jewish summer fast day is all about - explainer

On Tisha B'av, the Jewish people mourn the two destructions of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem. Here is everything you need to know.

AUGUST 12, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
An ultra-Orthodox jew prays at the Westen Wall July 17, 2002 on Tisha B'Av

For Jerusalem, Armageddon is part of life - opinion

Persia ruled over Jerusalem twice, resulting in starkly contrasting periods. In light of of a pending attack and Tisha b'Av, which one are we in today?

AUGUST 9, 2024ByAMOTZ ASA-EL
ISRAELIS GATHER to hear the annual reading of ‘Lamentations’ on the eve of Tisha B’Av outside of Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, last year.