Beno Rothenberg ( he, בנו רותנברג, October 23, 1914, in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
- March 13, 2012, in
Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...
, Israel) was an Israeli archaeologist, photographer and one of the founders of
archaeometallurgy Archaeometallurgy is the study of the past use and production of metals by humans. It is a sub-discipline of archaeology and archaeological science.
Uses
Archaeometallurgical study has many uses in both the chemical and anthropological fields. Ana ...
.
Early life and education
Beno Rothenberg was born in a wealthy hassidic
Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main on October 23, 1914. He
emigrated
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to Israel with his family in 1933. He initially studied mathematics and philosophy at the
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
of Jerusalem and later at the
University of Frankfurt, where he received his Ph.D. in 1961.
After three years he joined the
Hagana
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...
. In 1945 he bough a photocamera and became a press photographer.
During the Second World War he served with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
Meteorological Service in Egypt. During the
1948 War of Independence he was assigned to an armed brigade under
Yitzhak Sadeh
Yitzhak Sadeh ( he, יצחק שדה, born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. ...
as a photographer.
Rothenberg took about 32,000 photos from 1947 to 1957. The photos are now in the Meitar Collection at the
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא ...
.
Scientific work
His photography led him to work with American archaeologist
Nelson Glueck
Nelson Glueck (June 4, 1900 – February 12, 1971) was an American rabbi, academic and archaeologist. He served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death, and his pioneering work in biblical archaeology resulted in the disco ...
in the 1950s surveying biblical sites for
King Solomon's mines. He became an expedition supervisor and an administrator of the field team. His first major work was a survey of the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
in 1956. He later worked with
Yohanan Aharoni
Yohanan Aharoni (Hebrew:יוחנן אהרוני)(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 Unive ...
. Rothenberg went on to lead excavations uncovering the expansive ancient copper mines at
Timna Valley
The Timna Valley (תִּמְנָע, ) is located in southern Israel in the southwestern Arava/Arabah, approximately north of the Gulf of Aqaba and the city of Eilat. The area is rich in copper ore and has been mined since the 5th millennium ...
in the
Negev desert, dating to the 11th-12th centuries BCE. Expedition found a "vast ancient industrial landscape around" there, that disputed the prevailing view that the mines were founded by King Solomon.
Rothenberg also led the major
Arabah
The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
Expedition surveying ancient mining and smelting sites in the Sinai Peninsula. His research revealed the scale of metallurgy in this region in antiquity.
In 1973, Rothenberg together with
Mortimer Wheeler
Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...
founded the
Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies in London to support his work. He partnered with academic institutions in the UK and Germany, establishing
archaeometallurgy Archaeometallurgy is the study of the past use and production of metals by humans. It is a sub-discipline of archaeology and archaeological science.
Uses
Archaeometallurgical study has many uses in both the chemical and anthropological fields. Ana ...
as an academic field. In 1968, Rothenberg joined American
Theodore Wertime, "on a long reconnaissance journey through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan in search of the origins of
pyrotechnology".
[Arab, Roya, and Thilo Rehren]
"The pyrotechnological expedition of 1968."
Proceedings of International Conference, Persia's Ancient Splendour, Mining, Handicraft and Archaeology, Stöllner T., Slotta R. and Vatandoust, A.(eds.), Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum. 2004.
Rothenberg trained many students who became leaders in archaeometallurgy. He lectured into his 90s, and gave last lecture in 2008, at 94. Rothenberg died in Ramat Gan at the age of 97, on March 13, 2012.
Publications
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References
External links
Beno Rothenberg's archive"Photography has taught me two things" article by
Ruth Oren
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothenberg, Beno
1914 births
2012 deaths
People from Frankfurt
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
Israeli archaeologists
Israeli photographers
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
20th-century archaeologists
Archaeometallurgists