Archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar and several of her prominent finds. (Hebrew University/Ouria Tadmor)
Leading biblical archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, 64, died on Tuesday after a long illness.
Known for her discovery of “King David’s palace” in the City of David and biblically tied artifacts and constructions, Mazar was the scion of an Israeli archaeological dynasty. She led excavations in several sites, including most notably in two locations in the City of David ridge: above the Gihon spring and in the “Ophel” on the lower slope of the Temple Mount or Al-Aqsa compound.
Mazar was a field archaeologist, a scholar and a lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem where she completed all her degrees. Her finds include some of the earliest known artifacts in the ancient city, dating as far back as the 12th and 11th centuries BCE, according to Mazar, who proposed they provide scientifically excavated evidence of the biblical united monarchy.
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Hershel Shanks, founder and longtime editor of the popular magazine
Biblical Archaeology Review, has died. Shanks passed away at his home in Washington, D.C., February 5, 2021, at the age of 90.
Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States into a Jewish family, Shanks initially chose a career as a lawyer. He discovered a new passion for biblical archaeology during a sabbatical in Israel in 1973. Fascinated by archeological finds in Jerusalem, Shanks wrote a book,
The City of David: A Guide to Biblical Jerusalem (1973), which was well-received. The Tel Aviv newspaper
Haaretz called Shank’s book “fascinating in an armchair; indispensable on the site.”
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Hershel Shanks, whose magazine uncovered ancient Israel, dies at 90
The magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, which Shanks commanded for over 40 years until his retirement in 2017, popularized what was a rather arcane, technical and exclusive subject and made it digestible for tens of thousands of readers.
by Joseph Berger
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- Hershel Shanks was neither an archaeologist nor a biblical scholar when the notion of creating a popular magazine devoted to biblical archaeology began to germinate in his mind; he was a real estate lawyer in Washington. But in 1972 he took a yearlong hiatus and traveled with his wife and two daughters to Israel, where he became captivated by the wealth of archaeological digs.
Hershel Shanks, Whose Magazine Uncovered Ancient Israel, Dies at 90
For more than 40 years at Biblical Archaeology Review, Mr. Shanks simplified esoteric scholarly articles and crowned them with tantalizing headlines.
Hershel Shanks in 1972 in Hezekiah’s Tunnel, beneath the City of David in Jerusalem. Mr. Shanks became fascinated with biblical archaeology while visiting Israel that year and later founded a magazine devoted to the subject.Credit.Biblical Archaeology Society
Published March 7, 2021Updated March 13, 2021
Hershel Shanks was neither an archaeologist nor a biblical scholar when the notion of creating a popular magazine devoted to biblical archaeology began to germinate in his mind; he was a real estate lawyer in Washington. But in 1972 he took a yearlong hiatus and traveled with his wife and two daughters to Israel, where he became captivated by the wealth of archaeological digs.