The Changing Landscape of Israeli Archaeology

EDGAR HIRSCHBEIN/THE PRITZKER FAMILY NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION, THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL

Archaeology has often been used by peoples and nations as a tool for the construction of identity, since the finds—revealed from the depths of the earth—serve as tangible evidence of the past and thus connect the past to the present.

Israeli society has also used archaeological findings in political and social discourse. During the first two decades after the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, archaeology played a major role in the public sphere. Many excavations were initiated, and hundreds of volunteers spent their free time helping with them. Digs and lectures were widely covered by the media. The flourishing of archaeology in the 1950s and 1960s must be seen in the context of the secular “national religion” that aspired to create a shared, unitary system of values based on the Zionist ideal or vision (commonly termed “secular Zionism”). Finds that illustrated the Jewish history of the land (mainly from the biblical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods) were an essential tool through which this vision was realized. Several new governmental entities were established and some older ones were officially sanctioned to pursue those goals.

Already in July 1948, the Israeli Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM) was formed. Among its main tasks was to protect archaeological sites, inspect archaeological discoveries made during construction works, and perform salvage excavations. However, the department’s employees believed their role was not only to preserve the country’s antiquities, but also to educate youth and adults alike to love the country and to strengthen their ties to the land by exposing the remains of its past. The central means by which they harnessed the public to meaningful archaeological activity was by establishing the Friends of Antiquities. This group was made up of local volunteers who were interested in archaeology, and who served as unofficial assistants to the employees of the Department of Antiquities.

Another body that used archaeology to shape national identity among the general public during those early years was the Israel Exploration Society, established already in 1913. The congresses it organized were attended by hundreds of listeners, most of whom were secular Zionists. For them, the framework of the conferences, attended by state leaders—the president, the prime minister, and other government officials—was an expression of the unmediated connection between the past and the present.

Archaeology was in some ways a national hobby during those early decades, serving as a tool for strengthening the connection to the land and the renewed Jewish state. The ethos of the land that originated in pioneering Zionism led to archaeology becoming an additional public expression of the “religion of the soil,” which was a central component of the Zionist ideology. The participants in these activities were all members of one hegemonic group in Israeli society—secular Zionist Jews, who were the residents of large cities and collective agricultural settlements (kibbutzim). Noticeably absent from these activities were two major groups within Israeli society, namely the religious Jewish community and Israel’s Palestinian citizens.

This political and cultural hegemony of secular “Israeliness” began to crumble in the mid-1970s, alongside the slow strengthening of groups previously located on the margins of Israeli society. The cultural and political system in which Zionist values had previously been emphasized was replaced by a multicultural society, consisting of communities with distinct identities. As a result, archaeology lost much of its ideological importance. An expression of this can be seen in the Friends of Antiquities volunteers, who ceased most of their activities by the end of the 1970s. Alongside these ideological changes, two other processes affected the development of Israeli archaeology, beginning in the mid-1980s and especially since the 1990s.

The first change came in 1990 with the establishment of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which replaced the IDAM. The new body, which was independent in budgetary matters, personnel recruitment, and even donor fundraising, enabled a significant increase in personnel, archaeological activity, and site supervision. For many years, the number of professional archaeologists had been relatively low. The staff at the IDAM was limited (it had less than 60 employees in its final days), and some of the supervisory work was carried out by Friends of Antiquities volunteers, who by definition were not professional archaeologists. During its first 20 years, the IAA carried out about 4,300 salvage excavations, compared with about 900 conducted by the IDAM between 1970 and 1990.

The second process was related to the rising number of degree holders in archaeology and especially those with advanced degrees. The sharp increase in the number of excavations led to a demand for professional archaeologists to manage them, a demand that was met by the simultaneous increase in archaeology graduates who had strong academic qualifications. Initially, the majority of graduates were still secular students. Over time, however, the development of the Department of Land of Israel Studies (later Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology) at Bar-Ilan University, a religious institution, led to a significant increase in observant graduates. At other universities, Arab students also began graduating, albeit in smaller numbers.

One can conclude, therefore, that as long as archaeology was the “national hobby” of the secular Zionists, this identification formed a psychological barrier that deterred both observant Jews and Israel’s Palestinian citizens from entering the field, which seemed less relevant to their identities and ideals. It was only when Israeli archaeology became professionalized that a change in the Israeli archaeological landscape was possible. Only then could archaeology graduates who were Palestinian citizens of Israel, observant Jews, or new immigrants begin to integrate into the field in an equal manner.

Today, all groups within Israeli society take part in archaeological activities. IAA employees come from all sectors of society. Students from secular, religious, and Arab backgrounds also participate in the IAA’s educational programs. Within the Israeli academy, however, there remains a notable lack of tenure or tenure-track faculty who are Palestinian citizens of Israel. Hopefully, this disparity, too, will shrink in the years to come.

Archaeology has often been used by peoples and nations as a tool for the construction of identity, since the finds—revealed from the depths of the earth—serve as tangible evidence of the past and thus connect the past to the present. Israeli society has also used archaeological findings in political and social discourse. During the first two decades after the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, archaeology played a major role in the public sphere. Many excavations were initiated, and hundreds of volunteers spent their free time helping with them. Digs and lectures were widely covered by the […]