Dr. Eilat Mazar, one of the most prominent scholars of ancient Jerusalem and an expert on Phoenician culture, passed away on May 25, 2021, at the age of 64, after a long struggle against an illness. For many years, Eilat had been a research fellow with the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and conducted excavations on its behalf at the Phoenician cemetery at Achziv and in Jerusalem’s City of David and Ophel. She also published the large-scale excavations of her grandfather, the late Professor Benjamin Mazar, president of the Hebrew University and one of the founders of Israeli archaeology, at the foot of the Temple Mount’s southern wall.
Eilat’s doctoral dissertation at the Hebrew University was about Phoenician culture. Her excavations at Achziv contributed significantly to the understanding of Phoenician burial practices and culture along the northern coast of Israel. However, most of Eilat’s recent archaeological activities were concentrated in Jerusalem. Eilat published with her grandfather, Benjamin Mazar, the first report of his 1968–1978 excavations in the Ophel area of ancient Jerusalem, southwest of the Temple Mount. This volume also included the results of excavations conducted by Eilat between 1986 and 1988 in the southeastern part of the Opel, where the remains of a city wall and a gate were uncovered, which she dated to the days of King Solomon.
After her grandfather passed away in 1995, Eilat launched a long and complex project to complete the publication of his original Ophel excavations. To date, four additional volumes dealing with remains from the Herodian to Byzantine periods have appeared.
Alongside working on publications, Eilat returned to the field and conducted several excavations in the City of David and the Ophel. In the City of David, she uncovered an impressive building that she identified as King David’s palace and a section of the eastern wall of the City of David she dated to the days of Nehemiah. In her Ophel excavations, she revealed more sections of the fortification and near by buildings. Some important finds include an Akkadian inscription on a clay tablet from the Late Bronze Age, a Canaanite inscription on a pithos, and many seal impressions (bullae), including one with the name of King Hezekiah (see “Define Intervention”) and another possibly with the name of the prophet Isaiah, as well as a seventh-century C.E. gold medallion decorated with a seven-branched menorah and other Jewish symbols.
Eilat’s excavations in the City of David and the Ophel have been published in academic volumes and articles in scientific journals, as well as popular monographs in which she presented her Jerusalem discoveries to the general public. Eilat collaborated with many researchers and also gave a stage, often for the first time, to younger students who worked under her supervision.
Eilat made many appearances in the media. Although she often presented opinions and interpretations that provoked criticism, sometimes harshly, mainly because of the conservative line she took regarding the confirmation of the Bible through the findings of her excavations, she always presented them with integrity, pride, tenacity, and great talent.
With love and appreciation, those of us at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University bid farewell to Eilat and her extraordinary character. We are confident that her achievements and great contributions to the study of the Phoenicians and ancient Jerusalem will occupy the research community for many years to come.
Eilat left behind three sons, a daughter, and a sister, who treated her devotedly in her last months.
Dr. Eilat Mazar, one of the most prominent scholars of ancient Jerusalem and an expert on Phoenician culture, passed away on May 25, 2021, at the age of 64, after a long struggle against an illness. For many years, Eilat had been a research fellow with the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and conducted excavations on its behalf at the Phoenician cemetery at Achziv and in Jerusalem’s City of David and Ophel. She also published the large-scale excavations of her grandfather, the late Professor Benjamin Mazar, president of the Hebrew University and one of the […]
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