Photo of the Day 436

Tomb of the Patriarchs, Hebron, West Bank, Israel, 1985

Photograph by James L. Stanfield

The disputed West Bank territory in the Middle East is home to many archaeological sites with religious and political significance for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Here, an Orthodox Hasidic Jew walks between two Arab men at the entrance to Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs, a sacred shrine that functions as both synagogue and mosque, sometimes in the course of a single day.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Israel: Searching for the Center," July 1985, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 288

Prehistoric Human Skull, Qafzeh, Israel, 2001

Photograph by Robert Clark

This 100,000-year-old skull was found in a cave in Qafzeh, Israel, along with other fossils, including a horse tooth and burned flints. Cutting-edge techniques were used to date the fossils—revealing that modern humans left Africa much earlier than had been thought, even coexisting with Neanderthals, once believed to be our ancestors.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "How Old Is It?" September 2001, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 182

Ibex Artifact, Jerusalem, Israel, 1999

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

Archaeologists discovered this copper ibex artifact, along with 428 other ceremonial objects, in a 5,500-year-old cache in a cave in Nahal Mishmar canyon in Jerusalem, Israel. Casting objects such as this copper scepter or mace head required technical finesse and the use of materials such as arsenic-rich copper ore, which does not occur naturally within 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) of the Holy Land.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Journey to the Copper Age," April 1999, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the day 166

Ha Pisga Gardens, Tel Aviv, Israel

Photograph by James Stanfield

The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, radiates from the Saint Pierre Church, nestled in the city's Ha Pisga Gardens. Formed in 1950 by the merging of the ancient port of Jaffa with the then-suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel's largest urban center is home to more than three million people, most of the country's industrial plants, and its only stock exchange.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Israel: Searching for the Center," July 1985, National Geographic magazine)