Let the Stones Speak brings you archaeology from a biblical perspective. Host Brent Nagtegaal is on location in Jerusalem to give you the most important developments happening on the ground—and emerging from beneath it. Nagtegaal is a contributor for ArmstrongInstitute.org.
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Less than 100 meters from the southern wall of the Temple Mount, the Ophel Excavation is currently underway in one of the most important locations in all Israel. The joint project by Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology seeks to uncover the monumental remains from the late Second Temple Period (2,000 years ago) and even earlier. On today’s episode of Let the Stones Speak host Brent Nagtegaal speaks on-site in Jerusalem with excavation co-director Prof. Uzi Leibner about what has been uncovered so far and what this season’s excavation could reveal.
Host Brent Nagtegaal interviews Let the Stones Speak contributor Christopher Eames about his article in the May-June 2026 magazine, proposing the identity of this elusive queen on the scene some 3,000 years ago.
On today’s program, Dr. Van Huss explains the three areas of excavation, including further indication that an emerging monumental structure may indeed be the biblical tabernacle.
Brand-new archeological evidence he discovered at Tel ‘Eton in southern Israel supports the biblical case for King Hezekiah’s reform. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal explains the new evidence in the context of the biblical narrative.
A personal retelling of the discovery of seal impressions discovered on Dr. Eilat Mazar’s excavations
Since their unearthing in the 2010–2011 excavations of Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich, the City of David “rock-cut rooms” have generated significant interest and speculation. The unusual nature of the rooms, including apparently cultic installations, has led some to associate them with Melchizedek (known to some as “Temple Zero”), King David or even the work of a later biblical king.
While excavating Tel Azekah in the Judean lowlands in 2012, archaeologists discovered the remains of over five dozen young children. This is the first time a mass burial of children was ever discovered from the Persian Period in the land of Israel. Research about the discovery was published in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly on March 27. On today’s podcast, host Brent Nagtegaal analyzes the study and pushes back on some of the archaeologists’ claims in light of the Bible and known Judahite burial practices.
Carved into a wall of bedrock, the Siloam Inscription is the longest piece of writing ever discovered in biblical Jerusalem. The question then arises: If it’s so important, why hide the inscription inside the darkened tunnel where almost no one could read it? Prof. Ariel Cohen, from the Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, believes he may have the answer.
The earliest evidence of a grouping of iron blooms has been discovered in a shipwreck off the Carmel coast. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal interviews lead author Prof. Tsilla Eshel of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, about the discovery.
From ancient shipwrecks to an Egyptian fortress and New Kingdom Period tomb, as well as new research relating to two of Judah’s notably righteous kings—Hezekiah and Josiah—2025 brought us many new and exciting discoveries illustrating the biblical account.
Around 170 years ago, British archaeologist Sir Austin Henry Layard excavated much of Assyrian King Sennacherib’s palace in ancient Nineveh. In the royal throne room, there stood a stunning 3-meter-high carving of a majestic city that was utterly unique in all of Sennacherib’s reliefs. Atop the tallest tower in the city was one individual holding up a royal standard. Could this be a depiction of ancient Jerusalem and could the lone figure be Judah’s King Hezekiah, of whom Sennacherib boasted that he besieged as a “bird in a cage.”
Ivory was a luxury item in the ancient biblical world, associated exclusively with royalty and the rich. King Solomon sat on a throne of ivory in Jerusalem. King Ahab had a famous house of ivory in Samaria. Where did the Bible’s ivory come from? Dr. Harel Shochat from the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa answers this question in a recently published article titled “A Thousand Years of Nubian Supply of Sub-Saharan Ivory to the Southern Levant, ca. 1600–600 B.C.E.” Dr. Shochat explains how ivory was exported from Nubia, Egypt’s southern neighbor on the Nile,
Excavating the time of David and beyond at Abel Beth Maacah with Prof. Naama Yahalom-Mack
Excavators in the City of David have uncovered a massive dam built during the time of Jerusalem’s biblical kings. The dating of the reservoir to about 800 B.C.E., two hundred years after King David reigned, was determined following the publication of new carbon-14 results of the dam wall. On today’s program, Brent Nagtegaal reviews the discovery in light of biblical history.
The Bible records that King David’s grandson, King Rehoboam, fortified 15 cities in the kingdom of Judah almost 3,000 years ago. The biggest of these was Lachish, recognized as Judah’s second most important city after Jerusalem. Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University is currently excavating at Tel Lachish. Two days before the end of the excavation, Let the Stones Speak host Brent Nagtegaal sat down with Professor Garfinkel to view the massive city wall his team is unearthing.
Shiloh is famous as the location of the biblical tabernacle. Archaeological excavations have been taking place annually on the north side of the ancient tel. Excavation director Dr. Scott Stripling believes his team may have found remains from the tabernacle itself, as well as the city gate and sacrificial deposits. In this end-of-season interview, Dr. Stripling leads Let the Stones Speak host Christopher Eames through the three main areas of excavation at Tel Shiloh.
The biblical city of Ai was one of three cities that met a fiery demise when the Israelites conquered the Promised Land: “So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap …” (Joshua 8:28). Over the years, archaeologists have proposed a few sites as being biblical Ai. One such site is Khirbet al-Maqatir. Al-Maqatir was excavated by the Associates for Biblical Research for 14 seasons. This small site conforms with a number of key parameters for Joshua’s Ai. In today’s interview, which was recorded in May, Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames speaks with Abigail Van Huss, one of the site’s excava
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) safeguards the history of Israel. We’ve had the opportunity to work closely with the lAA on many projects over the years. Most recently, we’ve been working with Dr. Amit Re’em, the lAA director of Jerusalem district archaeology. Re’em is a man who has been “working, exploring, writing on ancient Jerusalem for more than 30 years.” In today’s interview, Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviews Re’em about his background in archaeology and his role at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
After three weeks of excavation, our work at Jerusalem’s royal quarter has ended. We had a successful and productive season in an area of the Ophel that has not been touched since Dr. Eilat Mazar’s 2009-2010 excavations. In today’s episode, Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviews excavation director Prof. Yosef Garfinkel about his perspective on the season and the future of the site.
Over a century of excavations at Tel Megiddo have finally unearthed a construction layer from the late seventh century B.C.E. and with it the largest assemblage of Egyptian pottery ever discovered in the southern Levant. This is at the precise time the Bible says King Josiah traveled to Megiddo to war against Egypt. On today’s program, host Brent Nagtegaal talks about the new discovery as well as the broader biblical context for King Josiah’s last stand at Megiddo.
On April 2, renewed excavation began in Jerusalem’s biblical royal quarter in preparation for reconstruction work to highlight the ancient city’s famed past. The three-to- four-week excavation is the first return to the area, known as the Ophel, since the excavations led by the late Dr. Eilat Mazar in 2009–2010. This current excavation is led by Hebrew University’s Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, staffed by the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (AIBA) and funded by AIBA alongside Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman. On today’s program, host Christopher Eames interviews aiba staff member Brent N
The Temple Mount Sifting Project has produced some remarkable finds. The discoveries are diverse—from arrowheads to astragals—and unique, including items made of gold! Each discovery, just like the sifting project itself, makes a great contribution to the archaeological record of Jerusalem. During their December interview, project co-director Zachi Dvira gave Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames an inside look at some of these finds. You can now see these for yourself in this second installment of that interview.
In a first for Israel, a tomb complex holding the bones of about 60 individuals was recently uncovered in the Negev region of southern Israel. On today’s program, Let the Stones Speak host Brent Nagtegaal speaks with Israel Antiquities Authority senior researcher and Negev expert Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini about the unique discovery.
The Bible says King Solomon possessed such quantities of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) that it became a common material, not worthy of being enumerated. From where did Solomon acquire such vast supplies of copper? Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviewed Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, director of excavations at Timna, to discuss the copper mines of Israel’s united monarchy.
In December, Let the Stones Speak co-host Christopher Eames interviewed Zachi Dvira. In this first installment of the interview, Dvira discusses the history of the project, as well as some details about where the project stands today.
