More than 25,000 archaeological sites are scattered around the State of Israel. We encounter them near our houses, while on vacation, along the seashore and on mountain tops. Some of the sites, which are large and impressive, have been developed into widely known archaeological parks. Others display humble remains, such as a rock-hewn winepress under a tree, a dam build in the center of a canyon, or scatterings of flint tools—all teaching us about ancient human activities in our region.

We are capable of caring for the remains, learning about them and respecting their creators. We should protect these testimonies of our past and preserve the historical knowledge stored in them.

The Israel Antiquities Authority website presents a wealth of serious and uncompromising archaeological work led by the Authority’s personnel, including the archaeologists, preservationists, conservationists, laboratory technicians, curators, publishing editors and producers, guides in archaeological centers, computer and data people and the administration staff – all working together for the achievement of one purpose: preserving Israel’s antiquities for us and future generations.

The website is dynamic, being updated regularly with new contents. It contains information about the Authority’s activities: excavations, new discoveries and new finds, conservation and development work, research and new publications. The website’s team is attentive to your references, comments and requests and will do its utmost to facilitate the public’s journey throughout the labyrinth of news and information.

The IAA website development included the development of two additional websites: the online edition of “Hadashot Arkheologiyot–ESI Online” and the preservation website “Preservation of the Architectural Heritage in Israel”, dealing with conservation activities undertaken by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Along these new websites, we would like to mention the four-year old Jerusalem Archaeological Park website, dedicated to the archaeology of Jerusalem and the Friends of the IAA website.

We aspire for the IAA’s website to reveal some of the active archaeological research conducted in Israel to the public and to raise our awareness concerning issues of antiquities preservation.

You are invited to write to us in every matter while using the “contact us” form.

If you’re interested in volunteering to the Mosaics Circle of Antiquities Trustees, please do so using the interactive form in the website.

Sincerely yours,
Yuval Baruch, Rachel Kudish-Vashdi and Liat Ayzencot - The Israel Antiquities Authority


Project Managers
Yuval Baruch
Liat Ayzencot

Writing and Editing
Rachel Kudish-Vashdi
Yuval Baruch

Responsible for the Project
Dr. Uzi Dahari, Deputy Director of Archaeology

Technological Counceling
David Gabay, Director of IT
Arcadi Mutter, System Analyst

Website Design and Development
EagleShade Interactive Production House
Liat Ayzencot - Project Manager
Tamir Mordo - Senior Developer
Ido Gedassi - Developer
Ilan Dray - Designer

English Translations
Harriet Menahem
Don Glick
Rachel Kudish-Vashdi
Eduard Lewin

Illustrations
The plans and photographs integrated into the site were prepared by the surveying, drafting and photography teams of the Antiquities Authority and the Archaeological Staff Officer of Judea and Samaria.

Special Thanks
Lilach Ben Eliyahoo, Hava Katz, Ruty Shem-Tov, Nurit Feig, Dina Avshalom-Gorni, Baruch Brandl, Orit Shamir, Osnat Goez, Hana Ohaion, Sabina Dinstein, Leticia Barda