Dig Deep: Archaeological Discoveries

with Dr. Joe Uziel

Dr. Joe Uziel is the head of the Dead Sea Scrolls Unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority. The unit is responsible for the conservation, documentation, research, and presentation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Uziel completed his PhD at Bar Ilan University on the Middle Bronze Age in the southern coastal plain, and now focuses his research on the history and archaeology of Jerusalem, from its earliest urban establishment some 4,000 years ago until late antiquity. Hr has advanced methods applied in the field, using new technologies in order to learn about Jerusalem's ancient population. Uziel and his teams have conducted excavations in the past decade in the City of David, Davidson Center, and Western Wall Tunnels, in which buildings dating from the First Temple period, the main street of Second Temple Jerusalem, and a Roman theater-like structure, the first such building to be discovered in Jerusalem, were discovered.

This lecture will take us on a whirlwind tour through the archaeology of Israel, giving listeners a short background on the various periods and examining the people of various cultures and diverse religions that inhabited the land throughout its history, with an emphasis on the historical periods which make Israel's archaeology unique, namely, the periods of the biblical texts. The lecture will focus on snapshots of important sites and findings through which the land's history will be unveiled.