Patron · Scholar
Yigael Yadin
1917–1984 · Israel
Israeli archaeologist who initiated and obtained the funding for the Hebrew University excavations at Athienou in Cyprus in 1971 and 1972.
Biography
Yigael Yadin initiated the Hebrew University's excavation at Athienou in Cyprus. The university's Institute of Archaeology, founded in 1970 with Yadin as its head, aimed to extend excavation to other Mediterranean cultures. Trude Dothan and Amnon Ben-Tor surveyed for a Late Bronze Age site with Yadin and Joseph Aviram, and Vassos Karageorghis, then Director of Antiquities, suggested Athienou (Bamboulari tis Koukounninas)1.
Their foreword says the excavations were to a large extent the result of Yadin's efforts: he obtained the financial backing and received the blessing of President Archbishop Makarios1. Two seasons followed, in 1971 and 19721.
Yadin was born in Jerusalem in 1917 and died there on 28 June 19846. He directed the excavations at Hazor, whose stratigraphy supplies Late Bronze Age contexts with Cypriot imports; Schreiber cites him in that role for the Cypro-Phoenician pottery from the site2.
Life and work
- 21 March 1917Born in Jerusalem (Wikidata also gives 20 March).
- 1955–1958Directed the first four seasons of the Hazor excavations (Hazor I-IV published 1958-1961); Hazor stratigraphy is cited for Cypriot imports (White Slip II, Base Ring) in Late Bronze Age contexts.
HazorDothan & Ben-Tor 1983, p. 159Schreiber 2003, pp. 103-104
- 1970The Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology was established, with the aim of extending excavation beyond Israel to other Mediterranean cultures; Yadin was its head.
- 1971–1972Dothan and Ben-Tor's foreword says the Athienou excavations are 'to a large extent, the result of the efforts of Prof. Yigael Yadin; he not only initiated the project, but also obtained the necessary financial backing and received the blessing of the late president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios'. He had joined the authors and Joseph Aviram in a preliminary survey for a Late Bronze Age Cypriot site; Karageorghis suggested Athienou (Bamboulari tis Koukounninas). Two seasons were dug in 1971 and 1972.
AthienouDothan & Ben-Tor 1983
- 28 June 1984Died in Jerusalem.
Connections
3 peopleSales, gifts & bequests
- Financed Amnon Ben-Tor
- Financed Trude Dothan
Colleagues & contacts
- Met Vassos Karageorghisprobably
Discussed in documents
- Stern (2000). Dor, ruler of the seas: Nineteen years of excavations at the Israelite-Phoenician harbor town on the Carmel CoastProposed collaborator, visited the excavations
- Killebrew (2005). Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E.Advocated the conquest theory
- Greenberg (2019). The archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From urban origins to the demise of city-states, 3700-1000 BCEInterpreted ‘Ain Samiya goblet imagery
Sources
- 1.T. Dothan, A. Ben-Tor (1983). Excavations at Athienou, Cyprus, 1971-1972. Jerusalem, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- 2.Nicola Schreiber (2003). The Cypro-Phoenician Pottery of the Iron Age. Leiden, Brill.
- 3.E. Stern (2000). Dor, Ruler of the Seas.
- 4.A. E. Killebrew (2005). Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity.
- 5.R. Greenberg (2019). The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant.
- 6.Wikidata/GND authority record: Yigael Yadin. Online