Michael Avi-Yonah (; September 26, 1904 – March 26, 1974) was an Israeli

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and historian. During his career he was a Professor of Archaeology at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and served as secretary of Israel's

Department of Antiquities A Department of Antiquities is a government department with responsibility for cultural heritage management, archaeological research and regulating antiquities trading in some countries. Many were established by British and French colonial admini ...

Biography

Born in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(today Lviv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), Avi-Yonah moved to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

with his parents in 1919 during the

Third Aliyah The Third Aliyah () refers to the third wave, or aliyah, of modern Jewish immigration to Palestine (region), Palestine from Europe. This wave lasted from 1919, just after the end of World War I, until 1923, at the start of an economic crisis in P ...

. He first studied at

Gymnasia Rehavia Rehavia Gymnasium or the Jerusalem Rehavia Gymnasium, by its Hebrew name Gymnasia Rehavia (), is a high school in the Rehavia neighborhood in West Jerusalem. History The high school's initial name was the Hebrew Gymnasium in Jerusalem. Gymnasia ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, then he went to England and studied history and archeology at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. After returning to Jerusalem, he studied at the

British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem The Kenyon Institute, previously known as the British School of Archaeology at Jerusalem (BSAJ), is a British research institute supporting humanities and social science studies in Israel and Palestine. It is part of the Council for British Resear ...

. His first archaeological excavations were at Tel el-Ajjul near

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

, and the Jerusalem Ophel. At the end of his studies, he joined the

of the British government of Palestine. He worked as a librarian and archivist. After the independence of the state of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, he became secretary of the Department of Antiquities. In 1949, he conducted excavations at

Givat Ram Givat Ram () is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew language, Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national institutions, among t ...

during the construction of the International Convention Center, where he was the first to discover a brick factory of the

Legio X Fretensis Legio X Fretensis ("Tenth legion of the Strait") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius (later to become Augustus Caesar) in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolu ...

. He participated in the first survey that preceded the

Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

excavations, and conducted a limited excavation north of

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea () also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Judaea (Roman province), ...

where he discovered an ancient

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. He was awarded the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

in 1955 for his book ''Antiquities of our land''. Avi-Yonah died in Jerusalem in 1974.

Selected bibliography

* ''Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land'' * ''Jerusalem the Holy'' * ''The Art of Mosaics'' (cowritten with Richard L. Currier) * ''Holy Land'' * ''Ancient Scrolls'' * ''History of Israel and the Holy Land'' The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule: A Political History of Palestine from the Bar Kokhba War to the Arab Conquest * ''

Views of the Biblical World ''Views of the Biblical World'' (Library of Congress Catalogue Number 59-7767) is a five-volume set of reference books published in 1959 by the International Publishing Company J-M, of Israel.International Publishing Company J-M: http://www.mbend ...

''. Jerusalem: International Publishing Company J-m Ltd, 1959. * * ''

Macmillan Bible Atlas The Macmillan Bible Atlas is a book on the geography, civilizations and cartography of the Holy Land. It describes the movements of biblical characters, trade routes and battles. It also refers to archaeological excavations; illustrations of artif ...

'' with

Yohanan Aharoni Yohanan Aharoni (; 7 June 1919 – 9 February 1976) was an Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer, chairman of the Department of Near East Studies and chairman of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. Life Born to the Ar ...

(1993) * ''Understanding the Bible: Understanding the Maccabean Revolt, 167 to 63 BCE: An Introductory Atlas''. Co-author: Shmuel Safrai. Carta Jerusalem. 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avi, Michael 1904 births 1974 deaths People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Austria-Hungary Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli librarians Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 20th-century Israeli archaeologists 20th-century Israeli historians Palestinologists Burials at Har HaMenuchot Bialik Prize recipients

Biography

Selected bibliography

See also

References