Yaakov Havakook (also Ya'acov; ) is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and orientalist from

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

in Be'er-Sheva.

Biography

He gained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in oriental studies from

Tel-Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, his Master's in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from both Tel-Aviv and Be'er-Sheva Universities, an additional Master's in political science from

Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...

and graduated from . Havakook researched the cave dwellers of Southern

Mount Hebron The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron (, ), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, constituting the southern part of the Judean Mountains. The Hebron Hills are located in the southern West Bank. During the Iro ...

, between 1977 and 1982. During his research he lived with the locals in the caves, khirbas and villages, wore their clothes, ate their food, spoke their language and carried an Arabic nickname. The resulting book, ''Life in the Caves of Mount Hebron'', was published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in 1985, and is used by both the Israeli army and the Palestinian inhabitants of the caves to bolster their arguments in the ongoing dispute over who has a right to them. His study of the living circumstances among the

Negev Bedouin The Negev Bedouin (, ''Badwu an-Naqab''; , ''HaBedu'im BaNegev'') are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes (Bedouin), while some are of sub-Saharan African descent, who until the later part of the 19th century would wander between Hija ...

were published in 1985/1986.

Awards

Havakook won the Itzhak Sade award for military literature in 1999.

Books

*''Life in the caves of Mount Hebron'' (1985) (חיים במערות הר חברון) *''Mibeit Hasecar Leveit Ha'Even'' ("From the Goat Hair to Stone; Transition in Bedouin Dwellings"; Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1986) *''Islamic Terrorism: Profile of the Hamas Movement'', with Shakib Saleh (Tel Aviv, 1999)

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli anthropologists Israeli Jews Israeli orientalists Israeli writers Tel Aviv University alumni University of Haifa alumni Jewish anthropologists {{Israel-bio-stub