Israel Finkelstein
Professor of Archaeology
Archaeological Field Work
| 1971 | Educational excavation at Tel Beer-sheba, under Prof. Y. Aharoni |
| 1972-74 | Archaeological surveys in Sinai, under Dr. Z. Meshel |
| 1973-78 | Area Supervisor, Aphek excavations |
| 1976-78 | Field Director, the Izbet Sartah excavations |
| 1976-78 | Director of the archaeological survey of Byzantine monastic remains in Southern Sinai |
| 1977 | Director of the rescue excavations at the mound of ancient Bene-Beraq |
| 1979-80 | Co-director of the Tel Ira excavations |
| 1980-87 | Director of the Land of Ephraim Survey |
| 1981-84 | Director of the Shiloh excavations |
| 1985-86 | Director of the Kh. ed-Dawwara excavations |
| 1987 | Director of the Dhahr Mirzbaneh excavation |
| 1992-present | Co-director, the Megiddo Excavations |
| 1995, 1999 | Co-director, the Megiddo Regional Survey |
Current Projects
- Co-director of the Megiddo Expedition
- Mineralogical and Chemical Study of the Amarna Tablets
Selected Publications
Books
- Finkelstein, I., and Silberman N.A. 2001. The Bible Unearthed, Archaeolgy's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origins of Its Sacred Texts. New York.
- Finkelstein, I., Ussishkin, D. and Halpern, B. (eds.). 2000. Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons. (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University) Tel Aviv.
- Finkelstein, I. 1995. Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in Bronze and Iron Ages. (Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology 6). Sheffield.
- Finkelstein, I. and Na'aman, N. eds. 1994. From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel. Jerusalem.
- Finkelstein, I., Lederman, Z. and Bunimovitz, S.1993. Highlands of Many Cultures The Southern Sumaria Survey: The Sites. (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University) Tel Aviv.
- Finkelstein I. ed. 1993. Archaeological Survey in the Hill Country of Benjamin. Jerusalem.
- Finkelstein, I. ed. 1993. Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site . (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University No. 10). Tel Aviv.
- Finkelstein, I. 1988. The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement. Jerusalem.
- Finkelstein, I. 1986. Izbet Sartah: An Early Iron Age Site Near Rosh Haayin, Israel. (BAR International Series 299). Oxford.
The Bible Unearthed
Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
Is the Bible true? For the last hundred and fifty years a war has been waged over the historical reliability of the Hebrew scriptures. Recent dramatic discoveries of biblical archaeology have cast serious doubt on the familiar account of ancient Israel and the origins of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Though the Bible credits Abraham as the first human to realize there is only one God, we now know that there is no evidence for monotheism for many centuries after the reported time of Abraham. Nor is there any archaeological evidence for the Exodus, for Joshua's conquest of Canaan, or for the vast "united monarchy" of David and Solomon.
In The Bible Unearthed two leading scholars, an archaeologist and a historian, combine a tour of the field of biblical archaeology with an explanation of how and why the Bible's historical saga differs so dramatically from the archaeological finds. They explain what the Bible says about ancient Israel and show how it diverges sharply from archaeological reality. They then offer a new version of the history of ancient Israel, bringing archaeological evidence to bear on the question of when, where, and why the Bible was first written.
As to why the answers are so new, Finkelstein and Silberman draw on evidence from decades of archaeological work and dozens of digs in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, to explain that the key early books of the Bible were first codified in the seventh century BCE, hundreds of years after the core events of the lives of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, and the conquest of Canaan were said to have taken place. Yet the ultimate message of The Bible Unearthed is not just a correction of the record, but an explanation of the origins of the Bible.
