Summer is here! That means summer vacation, trips to the beach, and (for some of us)… it’s archaeology season! Lots of archaeology digs—including many with relevance Bible history and geography—take place during late spring and summer, so it’s a good time to check in on the latest archaeology projects.

Over the years, I’ve found the BiblePlaces.com blog to be a good source of information about ongoing Bible-related archaeology projects. Their periodic news roundups provide updates on in-progress digs. A few minutes spent browsing through their archives will provide you with more links and information about current archaeology projects than you keep track of! The Biblical Archaeology Society website’s Bible History Daily section is worth following as well; it doesn’t follow individual digs as closely, but will give you a good glimpse at the trends, controversies, and major events of the Biblical archaeology world.

Many dig projects maintain blogs of their own. Some, like the Gath and Tel Burna excavations, update regularly. Others, like the Megiddo expedition, update less frequently but do periodically release dig season reports online or in print.

The archaeology of the Biblical world has evolved significantly over the last century. Early Biblical archaeologists (going all the way back to the relic-hunters of the early church!) sought to “prove” the Bible by unearthing famous artifacts or sites mentioned in Scripture. Modern archaeologists, Christian and otherwise, have shifted their focus to broadening our understanding of the people and cultures that populated the ancient Near East—and their work provides useful context (and a few controversies) for Bible scholars, pastors, and Bible readers to this day. Even if archaeology isn’t your area of interest, take a few minutes to explore the links above, and marvel that even after thousands of years, we still have much to learn about ancient Israel and her neighbors!