Mordechai E. Kislev (Hebrew: מרדכי אפרים כסלו; born: 8 May 1937) is an Israeli emeritus

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of

Life Sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the ...

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

, specializing in

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. Some of his prominent research focuses on prehistoric early

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and archaeological

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

. Other works explore the ancient landscape of the Land of Israel, as well as

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

and

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

issues.

Early life and education

Mordechai Kislev was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. He studied at

Kiryat Tiv'on Kiryat Tiv'on ( he, קִרְיַת טִבְעוֹן, also Qiryat Tiv'on) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel, in the hills between the Zvulun (Zebulon) and Jezreel valleys. Kiryat Tiv'on is situated southeast of Haifa, on the main road t ...

high school, and when he was 17, enrolled in 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 ...

and studied

for a year. In 1955 he enlisted in the

Nahal Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

, and was one of the founders of

Kibbutz Ein Gedi Ein Gedi ( he, עֵין גֶּדִי, ''lit.'' Kid Spring) is a kibbutz on the western shore of the Dead Sea in Israel. Located on the edge of the Judean desert at the site of historic Ein Gedi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Tamar Regional C ...

. Kislev continued to

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in botany (with minors:

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

). He also studied in the

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 ...

language department and for one year at the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

department in the Hebrew University, and his Ph.D was received from the Hebrew University in botany in 1972. Kislev authored the thesis: Pollination ecology of desert plants under the supervision of Prof. M. Zohary and Prof. J. Galil.

Career

Kislev was a postdoctoral researcher in archaeobotany during the years 1971-1973 at the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Institut,

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

Netherland ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and at the Institute of Archaeology,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, UK. He then joined Bar-Ilan University’s department of Life Sciences as an instructor, and a year later as a Lecturer. In 1974 he founded the archaeobotanical lab in Bar-Ilan. The lab is now run by his former students: Prof. Ehud Weiss, Dr. Yoel Melamed and Dr. Anat Schenkman-Hartmann. In 1979 he was promoted to a senior lecturer in the Life Science department and in the department of

Eretz Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

Studies. Kislev became an associate professor in 1991 and a full professor in 1998, teaching and researching in both departments. Kislev was also a member of the appointments and discipline committees in the University. He was also a teacher in the Michlalah Jerusalem College for 20 years. In 2006 he retired as an emeritus professor, and continued working there for another 12 years. On 13 June 2008 an article was published in Science magazine about germination of about 1900 years old date seed, which was excavated at Masada.

Research work

Kislev’s research interests include: archaeobotany and storage archaeoentomology, origin of cultivated plants, archaeological entomology, Torah and Science. Archaeobotany: using Archaeological findings such as

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s and

fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...

, Kislev’s lab reconstructed ancient environments, climate changes,

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

s and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

. Kislev has prepared together with his students computerized plant keys for classifying and identifying ancient seeds and fruits from the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Some of his prominent works include dating the beginning of agriculture using findings such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

and

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

. In 1979 Kislev discovered a new, extinct wheat species, Triticum parvicoccum, found only in archaeological excavations. In 1985, Kislev found charred seeds of

horse bean ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Variet ...

, dating back to the 7th millennium B.C. thus pushing back the known use of this vetch by about 2000 years. In 2006, Kislev’s team discovered an early domesticated fig in the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

, dating back to about 11,400 to 11,200 years ago. Kislev is also engaged in identifying ancient species from the Middle East that disappeared as a result of climate changes. A sub-category of this field is the identification of fruit stones from the

Roman age In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

Masada Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...

by comparing them with the varieties of olive,

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

and

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

that were preserved in the traditional

arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

agriculture in Israel. Origin of domesticated plants: Kislev traces the beginnings of plants’ cultivation as well as that of the

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

of the species involved, such as the emergence of wheat agriculture. Archaeological entomology: together with Dr. Orit Simchoni, Kislev studies the field that is influenced by the growing awareness to the usage of agriculture

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

. Kislev and Simchoni have found in archaeological site remains of a storage pest Lesser grain borer (

Rhyzopertha ''Rhyzopertha'' is a monotypic genus of beetles in the family Bostrichidae, the false powderpost beetles. The sole species, ''Rhyzopertha dominica'', is known commonly as the lesser grain borer, American wheat weevil, Australian wheat weevil, an ...

dominica). These insects feed, grow and reproduce in grains and other foods that are saved in storage houses. As a result of this study, Kislev suggests that this kind of pest was not present in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

during

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

’s time. This can explain how he managed to store large amounts of food and save the Egyptians from hunger. Torah and Science: Kislev work in this field focuses on

Halachot ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

relating to botany and zoology. The combination of Halacha and Archaeological Botany that Kislev pioneered, forms a base for new insights on the implementation of Halachot in areas such as Torah lessons,

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

s, foods and more. Notable examples are Kislev articles on

Kezayit Kezayit, k'zayit, or kezayis () is a Talmudic unit of volume approximately equal to the size of an average olive. The word itself literally means "like an olive." The rabbis differ on the precise definition of the unit: * Rabbeinu Yitzchak (the ...

(in Hebrew: כְּזַיִת) – a volume unit in Jewish law which is approximately equal to the size of a common variety of olive), as well as on 'Kakotevet' (in Hebrew: כַּכּוֹתֶבֶת) – another volume unit similar to a date variety with very large fruits). In addition, in a recent article Kislev presents an actual question dealing on the

Kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

of insects in food – what is more healthy – eating 'clean'

vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

and fruits which contain harmful insecticides, or eating them with some unseen insects.

Other professional work

Kislev is an advisory member of the

Academy of the Hebrew Language The Academy of the Hebrew Language ( he, הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית, ''ha-akademyah la-lashon ha-ivrit'') was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on t ...

and provides consultation on Hebrew Biological terms. He is also a member of the Committee on the Fauna and Flora of Israel in the

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on re ...

Publications

Prof. Kislev has authored more than 220 academic publications, eleven of them in

Science Magazine ''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, ...

. Kislev's articles were cited more than 5900 times and he has an h-index of 39.

Selected articles

* Kislev, M.E. 1982. Stem rust of wheat 3300 years old found in Israel. Science 216: 993-994. * Kislev, M.E. 1985. Early Neolithic horsebean from Yiftah'el, Israel. Science 228: 319-320. * Kislev, M.E. 1988. Pinus pinea in agriculture, culture and cult. Forschungen und Berichte zur Vor-und Frühgeschichte in Baden-Württemberg 31: 73-79. * Kislev, M.E. and Bar-Yosef, O. 1988. The legumes: the earliest domesticated plants in the Near East? Current Anthropology 29: 175-179. * Goren-Inbar, N., Feibel, C.S., Verosub, K.L., Melamed, Y., Kislev, M.E., Tchernov, E. and Saragusti, I. 2000. Pleistocene milestones on the out-of-Africa corridor at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Science 289: 944-947. * Kislev, M.E., Weiss, E. and Hartmann, A. 2004. Impetus for sowing and the beginning of agriculture: Ground collecting of wild cereals. P.N.A.S. 101(9): 2692-2695. * Nadel, D., Weiss, E., Simchoni, O., Tsatskin, A., Danin, A. and Kislev, M. 2004. Stone Age hut in Israel yields world’s oldest evidence of bedding. P.N.A.S. 101 (17): 6821-6826. * Goren-Inbar, N., Alperson, N., Kislev, M.E., Simchoni, O., Melamed, Y., Ben-Nun, A. and Werker, E. 2004. Evidence of Hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Science 304: 725-727. * Weiss, E. and Kislev, M.E. 2004. Plant remains as indicators for economic activity: a case study from Iron Age Ashkelon. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 1-13. * Kislev, M.E., Hartmann, A. and Galili, E. 2004. Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 1301-1310. * Kislev, M.E., Hartmann, A. and Bar-Yosef, O. 2006. Early domesticated fig in the Jordan Valley. Science 312: 1372-1374 and 1292. * Weiss, E., Kislev, M.E. and Hartmann, A. 2006. Autonomous cultivation before domestication. Science 312: 1608-1610. * Hartmann, A., Kislev, M.E. and Weiss, E. 2006. How and when was wild wheat domesticated? Science 313: 296. * Kislev, M.E., Hartmann, A. and Bar-Yosef, O. 2006. Response to comment on "Early domesticated fig in the Jordan Valley". Science 314: 1683a * Sallon, S., Solowey, E., Cohen, Y., Korchinsky, R., Egli, M., Woodhatch, I., Simchoni, O. and Kislev, M. 2008. Germination, genetics and growth of an ancient date seed. Science 320: 1464. * Sallon, S., Cohen, R., Egli, I., Solowey, E., Kislev, M. and Simchoni, O. 2008. Response to: Old seeds coming in from the cold. Science 322: 1789-1790. * Melamed, Y., Plitmann, U. and Kislev, M.E. 2008. Vicia peregrina: an edible early Neolithic legume. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 17 (suppl. 1): S29-S34. * Weiss, E., Kislev, M.E., Simchoni, O., Nadel, D. and Tschauner, H. 2008. Plant-food preparation area on an Upper Paleolithic brush hut floor at Ohalo II, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 2400-2414. * Alperson-Afil, N., Sharon, G., Kislev, M., Melamed, Y., Zohar, I., Ashkenazi, S., Rabinovich, R., Biton, R., Werker, E., Hartman, G., Feibel, C. and Goren-Inbar, N. 2009. Spatial patterning revealing hominin behavioral modernity at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Science 326: 1677-1680. * Kislev, M.E. 2015. * Infested stored crops in the Iron Age I granary at Tel Hadar. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences 62: 86-97. * Melamed, Y., Kislev, M., Geffen, E., Lev-Yadun, S. and Goren-Inbar, N. 2016. Acheulian fine vegetal dining at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, 780,000 years ago. P.N.A.S. 113: 14674-14679

English abstracts of selected Hebrew articles

* Kislev, M.E. 1997. Dating the fall of Abi'or cave by the botanical remains. In: Y. Eshel (ed.). Judea and Samaria Research Studies 6: XV-XVI. * Kislev, M.E. 2001. A man plant a seed from a gourd’s fruit and it develops into a watermelon (Talmud Yerushalmi, Kilayim 1: 2). BDD 12: 56-57. * Kislev, M. 2005. It's all in the eye of the beholder: reviewing the evaluation of the kezait, the volume of an olive. BDD 16: 95-96. * Melamed, Y. and Kislev, M. 2005. Remains of seeds, fruits and insects from the excavations in the village of ‘En Gedi. ‘Atiqot 49: 139. * Kislev, M. and Simchoni, O. 2007. A proposed explanation for the replacement of חותל by חותם in the Mishnah. Leshonenu 69 (1-2): III. * Kislev, M., Tabak, Y. and Simchoni, O. 2007. Identifying the variety names of fruits in the Rabbinic literature. Leshonenu 69 (3-4): V. * Kislev, M.E., Tabak-Kaniel, Y. and Simchoni, O. 2009. Identifying the plum names דורמסקן and אחון. Leshonenu 71: XII. * Kislev, M.E. and Simchoni, O. 2009. The secret of a good life at Moyat Awad – a road station on the incense road. Judea and Samaria Research Studies 18: VIII. * Kislev, M., Ziv, G. and Simchoni, O. 2009. The measure of Kakotevet Hagasa. BDD 22: 93-94. * Kislev, M.E. and Simchoni, O. 2012. The kashrut of rye matzo. BDD 26: 70-71. * Kislev, M.E. 2014. Can all Israel offer Paschal sacrifices in the limited space of the Holy Temple? BDD 29: 56. * Kislev, M.E. and Simchoni, O. 2017. The kashrut of insects in food. BDD 32: 141-142.

References

External links

Prof. Mordechai Kislev
Bar Ilan University
Interview with Prof. Kislev

Mishpacha ''Mishpacha'' ( he, משפחה, : Family) - Jewish Family Weekly is a Haredi weekly magazine package produced by The Mishpacha Group in both English and Hebrew. History The Mishpacha Publishing Group was founded in 1984 with the publication of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kislev, Mordechai Israeli scientists Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment alumni 1937 births Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Living people Archaeobotanists Kashrut People from Haifa