![Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition elevator poster Calif Science Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Dead_Sea_Scrolls_Exhibition_elevator_poster_Calif_Science_Center.jpg)
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978
Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research. The Director-General is Mr. Eli Escusido, and its offices are housed in the
Rockefeller Museum
The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), and which before then housed The Imperial Museum of Antiquities (''Müze-i Hümayun''; 1901–1917), is an archaeology museum
A museum ...
.
The Israel Antiquities Authority plans to move into a new building for the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, next to the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
.
History
The Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM) of the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
was founded on July 26, 1948, after the establishment of the State of Israel. It took over the functions of the
Department of Antiquities of the
British Mandate in Israel and Palestine. Originally, its activities were based on the British Mandate Department of Antiquities ordinances.
IDAM was the
statutory authority
A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...
responsible for Israel's antiquities and for the administration of small museums. Its functions include
curation of the state collection of antiquities, storing of the state collection, maintaining a list of registered antiquities sites, inspecting antiquities sites and registering newly discovered sites, conducting
salvage and rescue operations of endangered antiquities sites, maintaining an archaeological library (the state library), maintaining an archive.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) was created from the IDAM by the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
(Israeli parliament) in a 1990
statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
.
Amir Drori
Amir Drori ( he, אמיר דרורי; 1937–2005) was an Israeli general, founder and the first director general of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Military career
Amir Drori was born in Tel Aviv in 1937 and graduated from the IDF's Junior Com ...
became its first director. The IAA fulfilled the statutory obligations of the IDAM and in its early days was greatly expanded from the core number of workers in IDAM to a much larger complement, and to include the functions of the . The period of expansion lasted for a number of years, but was followed by a period in which diminished fiscal resources and a reduction in funding led to large cutbacks in the size of its work force and its activities.
Publications
It published the results of excavations in three journals:
*Booklet of the Department of Antiquities (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
), now defunct
*''IAA Reports'' monograph series, started in the late 1990s (English)
*''Atiqot'' (Hebrew and English), still published
*''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'' (HA-ESI; Hebrew and English), still published, online.
*''Qadmoniot: A Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible'' (Hebrew), published by
Israel Exploration Society
The Israel Exploration Society (''IES'') (Hebrew:החברה לחקירת ארץ ישראל ועתיקותיה - Hakhevra Lekhakirat Eretz Yisrael Va'atikoteha), originally the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, is a society devoted to historic ...
together with the IAA.
* Archaeological Survey of Israel. A
GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
database of tiled maps covering of the State of Israel. Descriptive texts and media of surveyed sites. A continuous project, published online only (previously in print).
The National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel
![Program of the National Campus Archaeology of the Land of Israel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Program_of_the_National_Campus_Archaeology_of_the_Land_of_Israel.JPG)
The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel is the future building of the IAA, aiming to concentrate all centralized administrative offices into one structure. The campus is planned on 20,000 square meters between the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
and the
Bible Lands Museum
The Bible Lands Museum ( he, מוזיאון ארצות המקרא ירושלים, ar, متحف بلدان الكتاب) is an archaeological museum in Jerusalem, that explores the culture of the peoples mentioned in the Bible including ancient ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
by
Architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible desi ...
.
Organizational structure
The IAA's organization consists of:
*Management
*Deputy Director for Archaeology
*IAA Regional Offices (Northern Region, Central Region, Jerusalem Region, Southern Region and
maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...
Unit)
*Excavations and Surveys Department
*Artifacts Treatment Department
*Conservation Department
*National Treasures Department
*Information Technology Department
*Publications Department
*Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit
*Archives Department
*library
*IAA Internet Sites Unit
*Finance Administration
*Planning, Coordination and Control Administration
*Administrative and Security Services Branch
*Staff Officer for Archaeology – Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria
Directors
![שוקה דורפמן](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%94_%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A4%D7%9E%D7%9F.JPG)
*
Shmuel Yeivin
Shemuel Yeivin (Hebrew: שמואל ייבין; September 2, 1896 – February 28, 1982), also spelled Shmuel, was an Israeli archaeologist and the first director of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Early life and education
Shemuel Yeivin was bo ...
, 1948–1961
*
Avraham Biran
Avraham Biran ( he, אברהם בירן, born 23 October 1909 – 16 September 2008) was an Israeli archaeologist, best known for heading excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel. He headed the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew Union College in ...
, 1961–1974
*Avraham Eitan, 1974–1988
*
Amir Drori
Amir Drori ( he, אמיר דרורי; 1937–2005) was an Israeli general, founder and the first director general of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Military career
Amir Drori was born in Tel Aviv in 1937 and graduated from the IDF's Junior Com ...
, 1988–2000
*
Yehoshua (Shuka) Dorfman, 2000–July 31, 2014
*
Yisrael Hasson
Yisrael Hasson ( he, ישראל חסון, born 27 April 1955) is an Israeli politician and former Deputy Director of Shin Bet. He served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu and Kadima between 2006 and 2014, before becoming Chairman of ...
, 2014–2020
*
Eli Escusido
Eli most commonly refers to:
* Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname
* Eli (biblical figure)
Eli or ELI may also refer to:
Film
* ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film
* ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film
Music
* ''Eli'' (Jan ...
he 2021-
Other staff
*
Levi Rahmani Levi Yizhaq Rahmani ( he, לוי יצחק רחמני, d. 3 September 2013) was an Israeli archeologist and Chief Curator of Israel Antiquities Authority, and notable for his work on tombs, ossuaries and ''ossilegia'' (bone gatherings) in the Second ...
, archeologist and Chief Curator during the 1980s
Restoration work
The IAA's six-member restoration team restores potsherds, textiles, metal objects and other objects related to the material culture of the country discovered in archaeological excavations. Unlike their peers around the world, the team in Israel is barred by Israeli law from working with human remains.
See also
*
, preserves sites from 1700 onwards not covered by the Antiquities Law
References
External links
*
Eisenbrauns- Official distributor for IAA publications in North America
The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israelon the Israel Antiquities Authority website.
{{Authority control
National archaeological organizations
Archaeology of Israel
Antiquities Authority
Organizations based in Jerusalem
Government agencies established in 1948
1948 establishments in Israel