Evidence for the material culture of ancient Israel comes mostly from artifacts and archaeology and attests to the influence of the great empires that surrounded Israel.
Though few musical instruments have survived from the biblical period, the archaeological record includes numerous depictions of people performing music, song, and dance.
Tel Dan Stela, late 9th century BCE. This Aramaic inscription of Hazael, king of Damascus, found at the city of Dan in northern Israel, mentions a king of the “House of David,” meaning a king from…
This ketubah (marriage contract) from Damascus, signed on the 21st of Shevat 5466, or February 5, 1706, features a text set within an arch, and flanked on both sides and above with green and orange…
Fanny Hensel (1805–1847), the granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and financier Daniel Itzig, and sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, was born in Hamburg into a wealthy…