by Brian Yapko, March 17, 2020
Anti-Israel polemicists frequently try to delegitimize Israel by denying its Jewish history.
Those who invoke this type of argument are either ideologues who are so invested in their anti-Israel narrative that they are unwilling to accept archaeological and historical proof that the Jews have been occupants of Israel for 3500 years, or are ignorant of the well-established history.
Ironically, those who deny the thousands of years of Jewish presence in Israel often do so in the name of a “justice” based on false facts. Like the Holocaust deniers they so closely resemble, they reveal themselves to be willing to ignore any objective, scientific fact which may interfere with their prejudice against Jews or their hatred of Israel. Simply put, to assert that Jews are not the indigenous occupants of the Holy Land is to engage in science denial.
The following photographs depict an archaeological survey of Israeli history with a focus on Jewish indigeneity. Here is a listing of the photos and their explanations below.
B.C.E. (“Before the Common Era”)
- 800 Stele Reference to Kings
- 700 Siloam Tunnel Inscription
- 500 House of YHWH Ostracon
- 400 The Elephantine Papyri
- 300 Isaiah Scroll
- 275 The Zenon Papyri
- 200 Dead Sea Scrolls
- 100 Maccabean Coins
- 4 Western Wall
C.E. (the “Common Era”)
- 10 The Magdala Stone
- 85 Arch of Titus
- 150 Jewish Tomb
- 300 Menorah Tomb
- 350 Capernaum Synagogue
- 400 Rachel’s Tomb
- 600 Nabratein Synagogue
- 700 Byzantine Synagogue
- 800 Islamic Coin
- 900 Marriage Contract
- 100 Aleppo Codex
- 1050 Karaite Jewish Letters
- 1167 Tomb of Rabbi Ben Ezra
- 1254 Tomb of Maimonides
- 1270 HaARI Synagogue
- 1400 Mount of Olives, Sephardic Tombs
- 1505 Rabbi Ovadia Tomb
- 1572 Tomb of Rabbi Isaac Luria
- 1643 Grave of Rabbi Azulai
- 1700 Hurva Synagogue
- 1744 Tomb of Rabbi Abulafia
- 1759 Etz Chaim Synagogue
- 1777 Grave of Rabbi Sharabi
- 1857 Jerusalem Windmill
- 1859 Jerusalem Plaque
- 1870 Beis Aharon Synagogue
- 1900 Ottoman Land Deed
- 1909 Tel Aviv Dunes
- 1929 Hebron Synagogue
- 1936 Peki’In
- 1948 Jerusalem: Old Jewish Quarter
- 1953 Yad Vashem
- 1967 Western Wall
- 1979 Peace Treaty
- 2013 9/11 Memorial
- 2019 Bomb Shelter
Images
STELE REFERENCE TO KINGS: 800 B.C.E.
This 9th Century B.C.E. inscription from a stele in Tel Dan, Israel is the oldest archaeological reference to the House of David, as described in the Old Testament book of Kings.
SILOAM TUNNEL INSCRIPTION: 701 B.C.E.
This is the Siloam Inscription – now housed in the archaeology museum ofIstanbul. It was written in Paleo-Hebrew in 701 B.C.E. and was found in the Siloam Tunnel of Jerusalem. It was discovered by British archaeologists in the 19th Century.
HOUSE OF YHWH OSTRACON: 500 B.C.E.
Discovered in Arad, an ancient Judean city. It is written in ancient Hebrew and is dated to the early 6th century B.C.E. It is considered to be one of the earliest references to the Temple in Jerusalem outside of the biblical accounts.
THE ELEPHANTINE PAPYRI: 400 B.C.E.
This series of ancient Jewish papyri dates back to the 5th century B.C.E. It names three persons mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Nehemiah: Darius II, Sanballat the Horonite and Johanan the high priest. The letter of 413 B.C.E. gives detailed instructions for how Jews are to properly observe Passover.
ISAIAH SCROLL: 300 B.C.E.
This is the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in Qumran in Israel. It is the oldest documentation of the Hebrew Bible.
THE ZENON PAPYRI: 275 B.C.E.
This is one of a series of papyri called the Zenon papyri, written by a Ptolemaic bureaucrat approximately 275 B.C. which describes life in Greek-occupied Judea. It includes references to a wealthy Jew named Tobiah and the Jewish custom of honoring the Sabbath
DEAD SEA SCROLLS: 200 B.C.E.
This photograph depicts some of the Dead Sea Scrolls — the oldest Hebrew Bible texts found thus far. They were discovered in Qumran, in Israel. They date from 300 B.C.E. to 100 C.E.
MACCABEAN COINS:100 B.C.E.
These silver and bronze coins date back 8 centuries before the birth of Islam and were found near the city of Modi’in, Israel. They bear names like Yehohanan, Judah, Jonathan and Mattathias, all Hasmonean/Jewish kings who ruled over Israel from 140-37 B.C.E.
WESTERN WALL: 19 B.C.E. to 4 B.C.E.
Jews at the Western Wall in the 1870s (left) and in the 2010’s (below.) It was built by Herod the Great as part of the retaining wall for the Second Temple. It is the holiest site in Judaism.
MAGDALA STONE: 10 C.E.
The Magdala stone is a carved stone block unearthed by archaeologists in a Galilean synagogue in Israel. It dates to before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (prior to 70 C.E.).
ARCH OF TITUS: 85 C.E.
Here is the bas relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome. It depicts the conquest of the Jews in Judea and the Romans’ theft of booty from the Second Temple, including its menorah. The arch dates from 85 C.E. and was built by Emperor Titus to honor his father, Vespasian’s quelling of the Jewish revolt in Judea.
JEWISH TOMB: 150 C.E.
This is the door to a Jewish tomb in Israel. It dates from between 150 and 350 C.E.
MENORAH TOMB 300 C.E. 
This is from a Jewish tomb in Rehov, Israel which is dated to about the year 300. It is noteworthy for having the menorah resting on a tripod.
CAPERNAUM SYNAGOGUE: 350 C.E.
This photograph depicts a bas relief of a Jewish star. It is from a 4th Century Synagogue in Capernaum — site of the New Testament story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes.
RACHEL’S TOMB: 400 C.E.
This is the tomb of the matriarch Rachel. It is at the northern entrance of Bethlehem and is the third holiest site in Judaism. It was largely vandalized by the Palestinians in 1996 and during the second intifada and was then restored.
NABRATEIN SYNAGOGUE: 600 C.E. 
This is the lintel of the Nabratein Synagogue (note menorah at center) which dates to approximately 600 C.E. and was destroyed in approximately 800.
BYZANTINE SYNAGOGUE: 700 C.E. 
To the right is a synagogue from the Golan Heights. It dates from the 6th to the 8th Century and was built while the Byzantines occupied the Holy Land.
ISLAMIC COIN: 800 C.E.
This Islamic coin was minted in about 800. It depicts a Jewish menorah. During the Umayyad Period of Islam, Jewish symbols were adopted as part of early Islam’s policy of tolerance.
MARRIAGE CONTRACT: 900 C.E.
This is a Jewish legal marriage document from the Karaite Jewish Community of around 900. It is maintained as part of the Cairo Genizah collection of Medieval Jewish documents at the University of Cambridge
ALEPPO CODEX: 1000 C.E.
This photograph depicts part of a Torah scroll handwritten in Tiberias in the 10th Century. During the First Crusade, the synagogue was plundered and the codex was transferred to Egypt. In 1375 it was taken to Aleppo, Syria, leading to its present name. The Codex remained in Syria for 500 years. In 1947, rioters enraged by the U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine burned down the Syrian synagogue where it was kept. The Codex was then taken to Israel in 1958. Now on display in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, the Aleppo Codex was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2015.
KARAITE JEWISH LETTERS: 1050 C.E.
This is one of hundreds of Karaite Jewish letters maintained in the Cambridge University Library. This letter, written in Judaeo-Arabic, is from Nathan b. Isaac, a Jewish resident of Jerusalem to Solomon bin David al Arisi, a Jew in Egypt.
TOMB OF RABBI BEN EZRA: 1167 C.E. 
This is the grave of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (immortalized in the Robert Browning poem “Rabbi Ben Ezra” [“Grow old along with me/The best is yet to be…”.] The rabbi died in the Holy Land in 1167 C.E.
TOMB OF MAIMONIDES: 1254 C.E. 
This is the tomb of Maimonides, perhaps the most famous and influential rabbi in Jewish history. He died in 1204. The Jews of Galilee had his body reinterred in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee in 1254.
HaARI SYNAGOGUE: 1270 C.E. 
The HaAri Synagogue in Safed, Israel was originally built by Sephardic Jews in approximately 1270. It was later renamed for the eminent Rabbi Isaac Luria in 1580.
SEPHARDIC TOMBS: 1400 C.E. 
Some of the ancient Sephardic tombs at the Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives. This is the largest, most important Jewish cemetery in the world, extending over 225,000 square feet east of the Temple Mount and containing the tombs of the notable dead of the Jewish nation over the course of 3,000 years.
RABBI OVADIA TOMB: 1505 C.E. 
Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura was born in Italy during 1445 and came to Jerusalem in 1488 where he died in 1505 and was buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat down the Mount of Olives. He described the Jewish communities of early Ottoman Palestine in a famous travelogue.
TOMB OF RABBI ISAAC LURIA: 1572 C.E. 
This is the tomb of the eminent Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria – the famous “ARI” – who lived in Safed in the Galilee. He died in 1572.
GRAVE OF RABBI AZULAI: 1643 C.E. 
This is the grave of Rabbi Abraham Azulai, who lived and died in Hebron (in the biblical and modern region of Judea) — the second holiest city in Judaism. He died in 1643.
HURVA SYNAGOGUE: 1700 C.E. 
To the right is the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem as it has been restored. It was originally built in 1700 in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. After the Arab League occupied the Jewish Quarter during the 1948 war (picture below) they destroyed it.
TOMB OF RABBI ABULAFIA: 1744 C.E. 
This is the tomb of Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia, who was born in Hebron in 1660 and died in Tiberias in 1744.
ETZ CHAIM SYNAGOGUE: 1759 C.E. 
This is the Etz Chaim synagogue in Tiberias, originally built by Rabbi Hayyim Abulafia in 1742 and rebuilt after being damaged by an earthquake in 1759.
GRAVE OF RABBI SHARABI: 1777 C.E. 
This is the grave of Rabbi Shalom Sharabi (known as “The Rashash”) a legendary Kabbalist who lived from 1720 to 1777. He was the deacon of Talmudic learning in the City of Jerusalem. He is buried on the Mount of Olives.
JERUSALEM WINDMILL: 1857 C.E. 
This is the Montefiore windmill built by Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in Jerusalem in 1857. It was intended to help promote the productivity of the Jewish farmers who lived in that area
JERUSALEM PLAQUE: 1859 C.E. 
Neighborhood plaque for Mishkenot Sha’ananim (“Peaceful Habitation”) — the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across from Mount Zion. Built in 1859–1860, it was the first Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem outside the Jewish Quarter within the Old City walls.
BEIS AHARON: 1870 C.E. 
This is the Beis Aharon (House of Aaron) synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. It was built by Hasidic Jews in 1870; destroyed by the Arab League in 1948.
OTTOMAN LAND DEED: 1900 C.E. 
This is an Ottoman land deed — one of 66 granted to Tel Aviv’s original Jewish settlers, as authorized by the Sultan in Istanbul. When Jews arrived in Ottoman Palestine, they purchased the property legally and obtained the Turkish government’s formal permission to settle in the Sultan’s lands.
TEL AVIV DUNES: 1909 C.E. 
This is Tel Aviv in 1909. It was nothing but sand dunes in an area north of Jaffa. The Jews literally built Tel Aviv from scratch.
HEBRON SYNAGOGUE: 1929 C.E. 
This was a synagogue ransacked by Palestinian Arabs in Hebron in 1929. In the Hebron Massacre, Arabs killed 60 Jews and caused considerable destruction and looting. A Jewish hospital, which had provided treatment for Arabs, was attacked and ransacked. Numerous Jewish synagogues were vandalized and desecrated. According to one account, Torah scrolls in casings of silver and gold were looted from the synagogues and manuscripts of great antiquity were pilfered from the library of Rabbi Judah Bibas. The library, founded in 1852, was partly burned and destroyed. In one instance, a rabbi who had saved a Torah scroll from a blazing synagogue later died from his burns.
PEKI’IN: 1936 C.E. 
Peki’in is a city in Israel where Jews always remained during the last 2000 years. Less fortunate Jews were exiled and spread throughout the world by hostile invading empires. But the Jews of Peki’In did not leave – that is until 1936 when they were expelled by rioting Palestinian Arabs. One elderly Jew remains to tend the ancient synagogue.
JERUSALEM: OLD JEWISH QUARTER: 1948 C.E. 
The ancient Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem before it was demolished by Arabs in 1948. During the 19 years that the Old City was in the hands of Jordanian Palestinians, all but one of the thirty-five synagogues in the Old City was either razed or pillaged and stripped. Any surviving structures of these sacred buildings were used as hen-houses or stables.
YAD VASHEM: 1953 C.E. 
Yad Vashem was established in Jerusalem in 1953 as a memorial to the 6,000,000 Jews killed in the Holocaust. Pictured is the monument to the 1,500,000 Jewish children murdered by the Nazis between 1939 and 1945.
WESTERN WALL: 1967 C.E. 
This iconic photograph depicts the Western Wall in 1967 when the old city of Jerusalem was conquered by Israel in the Six Day War. Jordan, Syria and Egypt tried to invade and destroy Israel and failed. During the years Jordan had sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem, it refused Jews any access to the Western Wall or the Old City.
PEACE TREATY: 1979 C.E. 
This is the final page of the peace treaty signed between Israel and Egypt on March 26, 1979 as brokered by the United States of America. Israel and Israelis embraced this (and the Jordanian peace treaty of 1994). Israel gave up 100% of the Sinai territories it had captured from Egypt in the 6-Day War in exchange for peace.
9/11 MEMORIAL: 2013 C.E. 
As an expression of its deep friendship with the United States, Israel built this memorial to the victims of 9/11 who were killed by Jihadist terrorists at the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.
BOMB SHELTER: 2019 C.E.
This is one of several bomb shelters at elementary schools in southern Israel. The children are taking cover from rocket attacks from Gaza — on-going attacks which specifically target Israeli civilians rather than military targets. Israel unilaterally left Gaza, taking 8,000 Israeli citizens out, with the hopes that Gazans would show they could self-govern and be at peace with Israel. Instead Israelis get Hamas-initiated rockets, incendiary balloons, and drones.
CONCLUSION
In 45 pictures, we have now explored 2800 out of 3500 years of Jewish history in the Holy Land. Obviously, thousands upon thousands of additional relics, documents and photographs exist, which further document the history of the Jews in Israel.
Given objective evidence of a Jewish presence in the Holy Land for literally thousands of years, it should be clear that Jews are the truly indigenous people of the Land of Israel. Archaeology does not lie. Carbon dating does not lie. This is clearly established history based on the science of archeology. Those who wish to ignore or recast history so they can wish away the Jews from their ancestral homeland are either delusional, science deniers, or propagandists.