Amihai "Ami" Mazar ( he, עמיחי מזר; born November 19, 1942) is an Israeli

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

. Born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, Israel (then the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

), he has been since 1994 a professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, holding the

Eleazer Sukenik Eleazar Lipa Sukenik (12 August 1889, in Białystok – 28 February 1953, in Jerusalem) was an Israeli archaeologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is best known for helping establish the Department of Archaeology at the ...

Chair in the Archaeology of Israel. His ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible'' is a widely used textbook for Israelite archaeology in universities. Mazar's work has resulted in the Modified Conventional Chronology being the most widely accepted framework for the Israelite chronology during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

period. Mazar is married with three children and resides in

. He is the nephew of

Benjamin Mazar Benjamin Mazar ( he, בנימין מזר; born Binyamin Zeev Maisler, June 28, 1906 – September 9, 1995) was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists. He shared the national passion for the archaeology ...

, one of the first generation of pioneering Israeli archaeologists after Independence, and cousin to the late archaeologist

Eilat Mazar Eilat Mazar ( he, אילת מזר; 10 September 195625 May 2021) was an Israeli archaeologist. She specialized in Jerusalem and Phoenician archaeology. She was also a key person in Biblical archaeology noted for her discovery of the Large Ston ...

Archaeological excavations

Amihai Mazar has directed archaeological excavations at a number of sites in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The ...

that include: * Tell Qasile * Timnah (Tel Batash) – from 1977–1989 * Bull Site – from 1978-1981 *

Bet She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is b ...

– from 1989–1996 * Rehov (Tel Rehov) – from 1997-2012 Amihai Mazar was one of the first archaeologists to normalize the use of

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was de ...

in Levantine and Mediterranean sites more broadly, starting with his work at Tel Rehov.

Ancient beehives

While excavating the ancient city of Rehov Mazar discovered 30 intact hives, dating from c. 900 BCE, a time when the city had about 2,000 residents. The beehives, made of

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

and unbaked

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

, were found in orderly rows and may be the oldest complete beehives ever discovered.

Awards

In 2009, Prof. Mazar was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in archaeology.

Publications

Books

* ''Excavations at Tell Qasile, Part One. The Philistine Sanctuary: Architecture and Cult Objects'' (Qedem 12). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1981. * ''Excavations at Tell Qasile, Part Two. Various Finds, The Pottery, Conclusions, Appendices'' (Qedem 20). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1985. * ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000–586 B.C.E.'', Anchor Bible Reference Library, Doubleday, 1990. (Hbk) (Pbk) * ''Timnah – A Biblical Town in the Sorek Valley''. Winona Lake 1995 (with G. L. Kelm). * ''Timnah (Tel Batash) I: Stratigraphy and Architecture'' (Qedem 37). Jerusalem 1997. * ''Timnah (Tel Batash) II: The Finds from the First Millennium BCE'' (Qedem 42). Jerusalem 2001 (with N. Panitz-Cohen). * ''Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996, Volume I. From the Late Bronze Age IIB to the Medieval Period''. Jerusalem 2006. * ''Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996, Volume II: The Middle and Late Bronze Age Strata in Area R'', (editor with Robert Mullins). Jerusalem 2007. * ''The Quest for the Historical Israel'', (Archaeological and Biblical Studies 17) (with

Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein ( he, ישראל פינקלשטיין, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Fin ...

, editor Brian B. Schmidt), Atlanta 2007.

Articles

* "The Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean", ''Eretz-Israel'' 21 (1990), pp. 197–211 (in Hebrew). * "Temples of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages and the Iron Age", in Kempinski, A. & Reich, R. (eds), ''The Architecture of Ancient Israel from the Prehistoric to the Persian Periods – in Memory of Immanual (Munya) Dunayevsky'', Jerusalem:

IES The initialism IES may refer to: Government organizations * Indian Economic Service * Indian Education Service, in British India * Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission * Institute of Education Sciences of the ...

, (1992), pp. 161–187. * "The Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean in 1989–1990", in Biran, A. & Aviram, J. (eds), ''Biblical Archaeology Today, 1990 – Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Biblical Archaeology'', Jerusalem, 1990, Jerusalem:

, (1993), pp. 606–619. * "Beth Shean in the Iron Age: Preliminary Report and Conclusions of the 1990–1991 Excavations", '' IEJ'' 43.4 (1993), pp. 201–229. * "Four Thousand Years of History at Tel Beth-Shean", ''Qadmoniot'' 27.3-4 (1994), pp. 66–83 (in Hebrew). * "Four Thousand Years of History at Tel Beth-Shean – An Account of the Renewed Excavations", '' BA'' 60.2 (1997), pp. 62–76. * "The Excavations at Tel Beth Shean during the Years 1989-94", in Silberman, N.A. & Small, D. (eds), ''The Archaeology of Israel – Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present'', SOT Supplement Series 237 Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, (1997), pp. 144–164. *“Iron Age Chronology: A Reply to I. Finkelstein” Levant (1997), pp. 157-167 *"The 1997-1998 Excavations at Tel Rehov: Preliminary Report" Israel Exploration Journal (1999), pp. 1-42 *“The Debate over the Chronology of the Iron Age in the Southern Levant” in (eds. Levy & Higman) The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text, and Science (2005), pp. 15-30. *(with Christopher Bronk Ramsay) "14C Dates and the Iron Age Chronology of Israel: A Response", Radiocarbon (2008), pp. 159-180 *(with Christopher Bronk Ramsay) "A Response to Finkelstein and Piasetzky's Criticism and 'New Perspective'", Radiocarbon (2010), pp. 1681-1688 *“Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy” in (eds. Kratz & Spieckermann) One God - One Cult - One Nation: Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives (2010), pp. 29-58 *“The Iron Age Chronology Debate: Is the Gap Narrowing? Another Viewpoint” Near Eastern Archaeology (2011), pp. 105-111 *(with Sharen Lee & Christopher Bronk Ramsay) "Iron Age Chronology in Israel: Results from Modelling with a Trapezoidal Bayesian Framework", Radiocarbon (2013), pp. 731-740 *“Archaeology and the Bible: Reflections on Historical Memory in the Deuteronomistic History” in (ed. Maier) Congress Volume Munich 2013 (2014), pp. 347-369.

External links

Hebrew University Departmental Page for Amihai Mazar
– includes a link to a summary of publications
Tel Rehov Excavations
– page includes volunteer information, preliminary reports and an image gallery.

– A short video clip produced by an independent documentary film group concerning the discovery of the beehives at Tel Rehov, including an interview with Dr. Mazar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazar, Amihai 1942 births Living people 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists 20th-century Israeli non-fiction writers 21st-century Israeli non-fiction writers Israeli Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in archaeology recipients Israeli archaeologists People from Haifa Beit She'an