Beneath the verdant pools of Gan Ha-Shelosha lies a network of medieval tunnels that once powered the thriving sugar industry of the Mamluk Empire. Hewn into soft tufa rock along Nahal ‘Amal, the tunnels reveal how medieval engineers transformed brackish spring water into a source of mechanical energy, adapting their methods to a dry landscape. Radiometric dating and archaeological evidence suggest these channels supplied water to sugar mills, linking local ingenuity to the wider economic currents of the late medieval Mediterranean. The discovery redefines the industrial landscape of the Bet She’an Valley, highlighting an unexpected fusion of geology, hydrology, and commerce in the medieval Levant.

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur have genetically analyzed the remains of former soldiers who retreated from Russia in 1812. They detected two pathogens, those responsible for paratyphoid fever and relapsing fever, which correlate with the symptoms described in historical accounts. The study was published as a preprint on bioRxiv on July 16, 2025. It will be published in the journal Current Biology on October 24.

DNA within dried feces dating from more than 1,000 years ago provides valuable insights into the pathogens that plagued ancient Mexican peoples, according to a study published October 22, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Drew Capone of Indiana University, U.S., and colleagues.

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years took place at the Greek island of Thera (Santorini) in the Aegean Sea, but its dating during the late 17^th or 16^th century BCE remained controversial.  Volcanic ash from the eruption spread over a large area in the eastern Mediterranean region. One of the lingering questions in archeology was how this huge geological event lined up with royal Egyptian chronologies. Now, a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and University of Groningen researchers produced the first radiocarbon dates concerning King Ahmose, the Pharaoh who reunited Upper and Lower Egypt and established the New Kingdom. Their results show that the explosive eruption occurred prior to the New Kingdom during the Second Intermediate Period. The new radiocarbon dates significantly favor a “low” (i.e. younger) chronology for the beginning of the 18^th Dynasty, which is of great importance in our understanding of Egyptian relations with neighboring civilizations in the region.One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years took place at the Greek island of Thera (Santorini) in the Aegean Sea, but its dating during the late 17^th or 16^th century BCE remained controversial.  Volcanic ash from the eruption spread over a large area in the eastern Mediterranean region. One of the lingering questions in archeology was how this huge geological event lined up with royal Egyptian chronologies. Now, a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and University of Groningen researchers produced the first radiocarbon dates concerning King Ahmose, the Pharaoh who reunited Upper and Lower Egypt and established the New Kingdom. Their results show that the explosive eruption occurred prior to the New Kingdom during the Second Intermediate Period. The new radiocarbon dates significantly favor a “low” (i.e. younger) chronology for the beginning of the 18^th Dynasty, which is of great importance in our understanding of Egyptian relations with neighboring civilizations in the region.

A research team led by the University of Copenhagen has uncovered a remarkable Early Bronze Age ritual landscape at Murayghat in Jordan. The discovery can shed new light on how ancient communities responded to social and environmental change.