If you’re new to my yearly top ten list, here are my criteria:Most of these are familiar from the previous 2025 lists. PaleoJudaica has posted on almost all of those too. See previous lists for linksHere are my criteria:
1. These discoveries must be directly related to people, places or events mentioned in Scripture, or to the composition of Scripture itself. For example, in October 2025 Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III had reopened to the public following a 20-year restoration project. Many scholars identify Amenhotep III as the pharaoh ruling during the period of the Israelite conquest. It was an important announcement of a significant site, but it was not a discovery, so it was not considered for this list.
2. They must be discoveries or new studies about discoveries, as opposed to announcements.
3. I only consider discoveries/studies that have been publicized through an official announcement by a Ministry of Antiquities or from a licensed archaeological dig with the expectation that a peer-reviewed article will follow, or ones that are published in peer-reviewed or other reputable journals.
Here then are the top ten discoveries in biblical archaeology in 2025.
Bryan does list two new ones, though: "10. Ancient Necropolis Unearthed at Colossae (Oct. 2025)" and "8. Moabite Inscription Unearthed at Jericho (July 2025)." The latter is of considerable interest (as Todd Bolen flags), since it has not been on any other list. Unfortunately, if you go to the linked Interim Report that publishes it (and you have to have an Academia.edu account to get that far), the promised publication note by Émile Puech on pp. 97-99 is not included.
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