The end of the year marks a time to look back and reflect, and since our interest here is the biblical world, I am continuing our tradition of highlighting the most important discoveries and stories related to biblical archaeology this year.Todd's annual list is always the most comprehensive. PaleoJudaica has posted on many, but by no means all of these 2025 stories.Our survey begins with a ranked list of the top 10 discoveries of the year. Ranking discoveries is difficult and highly subjective and thus to be discouraged, but the attempt may be justified in the interest of provoking more consideration of what is most important and why.
In addition to the top 10, I have identified the most controversial stories of the year and other noteworthy stories from Jerusalem, Israel, Mesopotamia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Then we consider the top stories related to tourism and technology. Many significant books and digital resources were released in 2025, and some of those are noted. This annual roundup concludes by remembering scholars we lost this year and other top 10 lists of interest.
Ovelapping PaleoJudaica posts, limited to his main top-ten list: on Jerusalem's Siloam dam, see here; on the late-notice from the Assyrian taxman excavated in Jerusalem, see here; on the pottery evidence for Egyptians at Megiddo in Josiah's time, see here; on the three recently excavated shipwrecks at Tel Dor, see here; on the possible tomb of an Assyrian official excavated in Northern Israel, see here; on the Sifting Project's recovery of a Hebrew bulla bearing a possibly biblical name, see here; on the ancient garden excavated at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, see here; and on Jerusalem's Hasmonean-era city wall, see here and here.
PaleoJudaica's top-ten list is coming tomorrow. Watch this space!
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