Tell el-Ful

• Albright's first important excavation came in 1922, when he discovered a mound four miles away from Jerusalem called Tell el-Ful. After further research, Albright concluded that Tell el-Ful was the site of Gibeah, the ancient city where Israel's first king, Saul, had reigned. Albright also correctly identified the ruins of the palace of Saul. After doing some excavation at other sites, Albright returned to the Tell el-Ful mound for more work in 1934.
  
  

Tell Beit Mirsim

• Albright's second discovery of importance came at Tell Beit Mirsim, a site that he excavated from 1926 to 1932 and that he identified as the ancient Canaanite city of Debir. A detailed description of his findings there was published in multiple magazines and also helped confirm events described in the Bible like Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan. Albright's work at Tell Beit Mirsim and his other discoveries around the same time brought more attention to Palestinian archaeology.
  
  

Dead Sea Scrolls

• Arguably his biggest and most famous achievement, Albright authenticated the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Palestine in 1947. In 1948, after John C. Trever identified the Isaiah scroll, Albright confirmed that this scroll was the oldest Hebrew manuscript. While many dismissed the Scrolls as illegitimate, Albright continued to defend them publicly like he did in 1950 when historian Solomon Zeitlin confronted him in a public debate focusing on the authenticity of the Scrolls.
  
  

Legacy

• Throughout his career, Albright had an impact on the domain of archaeology. He was the editor of the American School of Oriental Research's Bulletin for close to 40 years, in addition to editing Anchor Bible volumes. Albright was also the author of over 1,100 articles and books. He was the innovator of a new technique in archaeology called pottery chronology, a technique in which archaeologists determine the age of different pottery types and use that knowledge to help them find out more about pottery types at other sites. Albright received many awards and honors, including the title "Worthy One of Jerusalem," an award previously given only to Israelis. After his death in 1971, many scholars followed up on Albright's work and continued to study in the fields he had researched in.