The École is situated close to the Old City of Jerusalem, near the Damascus Gate, on the site of a 5th-century Byzantine basilica, built where Christian tradition venerated the martyrdom of St Stephen the protomartyr: hence the name of the convent, Saint-Etienne (St Stephen), given to the religious community of Dominicans who run the École Biblique.
Since its creation, the École Biblique has helped to pioneer biblical exegesis and archaeological research in Israel and the neighboring regions. It has acquired great scholarly renown in the fields of epigraphy, Semitic linguistics, Assyriology, Egyptology, as well as in ancient history, geography, and ethnography.
