Forgery charges dropped in James Ossuary trial

Jerusalem is an ancient city located in ancient Judah that is now the capital of Israel. The city has a history that goes back to the 4th millennium BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. It is the holiest city in Judaism and Christianity and has been the spiritual center of the Jewish people since c. 1000 BCE, when David the King of Israel... [continue reading]

The Kingdom of Israel occupied the land on the Mediterranean Sea corresponding roughly to the State of Israel of modern times. The region was known, historically, as Canaan, as Phonecia and, later, as Palestine. Named after the Hebrew patriarch Jacob (also known as Yisrae’el, `persevere with God’) and, by extension, his nation, Israel was, at first... [continue reading]

The act of placing the corpse of a dead person under earth, sometimes in the expectation that the soul of the individual so buried will more easily reach the after-life (supposed to exist underground) and usually marking the grave with a stone or marker bearing the person’s likeness and/or name and, sometimes, an inscription. Burial of the dead... [continue reading]