Ze'ev Herzog
Encyclopedia
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
specializing in social archaeology, ancient architecture and field archaeology. Ze’ev Herzog has been the director of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology since 2005, and serves as archaeological advisor to the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority is a government organization in Israel that manages the country's nature reserves and national parks...
in the preservation and development of National Parks at Arad and Beer Sheba.
Herzog took part in the excavations of Tel Hazor and Tel Megiddo with Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin on 21 March 1917, died 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.-Early life and military career:...
and in excavations at Tel Arad
Tel Arad
Tel Arad or 'old' Arad is located west of the Dead Sea, about 10 km west of modern Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is divided into a lower city and an upper hill which holds the only ever discovered 'House of Yahweh' in the land of...
and Tel Be'er Sheva
Tel Be'er Sheva
Tel Be'er Sheva is an archeological site in southern Israel believed to be the remains of the biblical town of Beersheba. It lies to the east of the modern city of Beersheba and to the east of the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva.-Biblical Beersheba:...
with Yohanan Aharoni
Yohanan Aharoni
Yohanan Aharoni , was an Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer, chairman of the Department of Near East Studies and chairman of the Institute of Archeology at Tel-Aviv University.-Life:...
. He directed the excavations at Tel Beer Sheba, Tel Michal and Tel Gerisa
Tel Gerisa
Tel Gerisa , also known as Napoleon's Hill, is a Middle Bronze Age archaeological site on the southern bank of the Yarkon River, in Israel....
and in 1997 began a new exploration project at Tel Yafo (ancient Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
).
Herzog is among archaeologists who say that “biblical archaeology is not anymore the ruling paradigm in archaeology and that archaeology became an independent discipline with its own conclusions and own observations which indeed present us a picture of a reality of ancient Israel quite different from the one which is described in the biblical stories.”
In 1999 Herzog’s cover page article in the weekly magazine Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
"Deconstructing the walls of Jericho" attracted considerable public attention and debates. In this article Herzog cites evidence supporting that "the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel. Perhaps even harder to swallow is the fact that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, which is described by the Bible as a regional power, was at most a small tribal kingdom. And it will come as an unpleasant shock to many that the God of Israel, Jehovah, had a female consort and that the early Israelite religion adopted monotheism only in the waning period of the monarchy and not at Mount Sinai".
Herzog is a co-author of "Has King David's Palace in Jerusalem Been Found?" which opposes claims made by Eilat Mazar
Eilat Mazar
Eilat Mazar is a third-generation Israeli archaeologist, specializing in Jerusalem and Phoenician archeology. A senior fellow at the Shalem Center, she has worked on the Temple Mount excavations, as well as excavations at Achzib. In addition to heading the Shalem Center's Institute of Archeology,...
who unearthed what she believed was King David’s palace in Jerusalem, but is now known as the "Large Stone Structure
Large Stone Structure
The Large Stone Structure is the name given to the remains of a large public building in the City of David neighborhood of central Jerusalem, south of the Old City, tentatively dated to 10th to 9th century BCE. The name was given to the structure, as a result of its proximity with another site...
"
Publications
Herzog has written a number of books and articles, including:- Beer-Sheba II: The Early Iron Age Settlements (1984)
- Excavations at Tel Michal, Israel. (1989) ISBN 9780816616220
- Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and Its Social Implications. (1997) ISBN 9789654400060
- The Arad Fortresses 1997. [Hebrew].
- Redefining the centre: the emergence of state in Judah 2004
External links
- Tel Aviv University Department of Archaeology page for Ze'ev Herzog
- The bible: no evidence, Herzog's original 1999 article in Ha'aretz newspaper (in hebrew)
- Deconstructing the walls of Jericho: biblical myth and archaeological reality, article by Ze'ev Herzog
- Has King David's Palace in Jerusalem Been Found? (complete article)