Aren Maeir

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Aren Maeir at Tell es-Safi

Aren Maeir (born 1958) is an American-born Israeli archaeologist and professor in the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University.[1] He is director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project.[2]

Biography

Aren Maeir was born in

MIT. He has been teaching at Bar-Ilan University since 1992.[3]

Archaeology and academic career

He has participated in, and directed, numerous archaeological excavations in Israel, including at the following sites:

Beth-Shean, and since 1996, at Tell es-Safi/Gath
. He is married to Adina (née Hartman), and they have three sons and four grandchildren.

His expertise lies in the Bronze and Iron Age cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, with special emphasis on those of the Ancient Levant. Among the topics that he has studied are: ancient trade; metallurgy; pottery production and provenance; scientific applications in archaeology; archaeological survey; the archaeology of Jerusalem; the Middle Bronze Age of the Levant; chronology of the 2nd Millennium BCE; the Sea Peoples and the Philistines; relations between Egypt and the Levant; ancient weapons and warfare; ancient cult and religion.

Between 2005 and 2007 he served as the Chairman of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology ([1]) at Bar-Ilan University. Along with Prof. Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, he initiated and co-directed the now defunct joint Bar-Ilan University/Weizmann Institute of Science program in Archaeological Science. He currently (2020-) is the director of the Institute of Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, co-director of the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB; aramisrael.org), director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies, and co-editor of the Israel Exploration Journal.

Since 1996 he has directed the Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath, excavating the ancient site of

Philistine Gath (one of the five cities of the Philistines mentioned in the Bible, the home of Goliath
). Over the years, he has written and edited, close to 20 volumes and published around 300 papers.

Selected works

References

  1. ^ "Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology | Bar-Ilan University". lisa.biu.ac.il.
  2. ^ Chadwick, Jeffrey (22 November 2023). "Gath of the Philistines: A Decade of Digging at an Ancient Biblical Capital". BYU Religious Education - Religious Studies Center. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  3. ^ ‘Constant surprises’ keep professor digging for more

External links