Sample Sources

The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.

Ancient, weathered papyrus manuscript with lines of Greek text, featuring some holes and missing sections at the bottom.

Date Orchard Contract

This contract comes from a cache of letters belonging to a woman named Babatha, found in the Cave of Letters in the Judean desert. The contract concerns crops from the three date-palm orchards of…

Hand-drawn illustration of a roughly rectangular shape with lines of Semtic script inside it, with several geometric symbols resembling connected circles and lines scattered throughout the text. The numbers 1 through 13 are written vertically on the right side, outside the rectangle, numbering the lines.

Bronze Amulet against Disease (Drawing)

This amulet was found rolled up and was probably worn around the neck. It is inscribed with thirteen lines of text in Palestinian Aramaic and incorporates Greek charaktēres, or magical symbols.

Ancient stone building with small windows and doorways, constructed from large, rough-hewn rocks, surrounded by trees. The structure has multiple levels and is partially covered by a thatch roof.

Katzrin House

Exterior Reconstruction. © Todd Bolen / BiblePlaces.com.

Drawing of a round building with rectangular niches cut into the ground floor and a large turret on left side.

Upper Herodium

Reconstruction. Netzer Archives, The Herodium Expedition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ancient stone ruins of a large hall with mosaic floors and carved columns, open to the sky, surrounded by trees and hills in the background. At the near end of the hall is a two-legged table flanked by the remains of animal statues. At the far end is a doorway between two niches with triangular tops.

The Sardis Synagogue

Synagogue Interior. © Z. Radovan / Bible Land Pictures.

A fresco depicts a decorated arch with a scallop shell niche, flanked by ornate columns. Above, symbols include a menorah, a lulav and etrog, a structure with columns and doors, a figure with a knife, and a ram.

Torah Shrine, Dura-Europos

© Z. Radovan / Bible Land Pictures.

Ancient mosaic depicting three zodiac signs: Libra with scales, Scorpio with a scorpion, and Sagittarius as a centaur archer. Hebrew inscriptions and decorative patterns frame the figures.

Helios-Zodiac Mosaic Detail, Sepphoris

© Z. Radovan / Bible Land Pictures.

A stone mausoleum with a conical roof stands surrounded by rocky terrain, snow, and scattered trees, with ancient ruins visible nearby.

Absalom’s Tomb

© Todd Bolen / BiblePlaces.com.

Glass bowl with an uneven surface.

Grooved Glass Bowl

Photograph by Tomer Balilti © MUSA, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv.

A vintage wooden olive press with a large screw mechanism stands outdoors on a stone base, with trees and a wooden building in the background.

Olive Presses

Screw Press. © PhotoStock-Israel / Alamy Stock Photo.

A painting shows a figure in a white robe anointing the head of another figure standing among several others, all dressed in robes, against a background with a decorated border.

Fresco Depicting Jewish Dress

© Z. Radovan / Bible Land Pictures.

Ancient mural showing women in robes standing beside a river lined with reeds. Two hold a child, and others carry objects. A nude woman in jewelry stands in the river holding a child.

Pharaoh’s Daughter Wall Painting, Dura-Europos

This panel from the Dura-Europos synagogue in Syria depicts Pharaoh’s daughter drawing Moses from the Nile.