Yaakov Havakook (also Ya'acov; he, יעקב חבקוק) is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and orientalist from

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

in Be'er-Sheva.

Biography

He gained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in oriental studies from

Tel-Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, his Master's in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

from both Tel-Aviv and Be'er-Sheva Universities, an additional Master's in political science from

Haifa University The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

and graduated from . Havakook researched the cave dwellers of Southern

Mount Hebron The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron ( ar, جبل الخليل, translit=Jabal al-Khalīl, he, הר חברון, translit=Har Hevron), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, comprising the southern part of the J ...

, between 1977 and 1982. During his research he lived with the locals in the caves, khirbas and villages, wore their clothes, ate their food, spoke their language and carried an Arabic nickname. The resulting book, ''Life in the Caves of Mount Hebron'', was published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in 1985, and is used by both the Israeli army and the Palestinian inhabitants of the caves to bolster their arguments in the ongoing dispute over who has a right to them. His study of the living circumstances among the

Negev Bedouin The Negev Bedouin ( ar, بدو النقب, ''Badū an-Naqab''; he, הבדואים בנגב, ''HaBedu'im BaNegev'') are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab people, Arab tribes (Bedouin), who until the later part of the 19th century would wande ...

were published in 1985/1986.

Awards

Havakook won the Itzhak Sade award for military literature in 1999.

Books

*''Life in the caves of Mount Hebron'' (1985) (חיים במערות הר חברון) *''Mibeit Hasecar Leveit Ha'Even'' ("From the Goat Hair to Stone; Transition in Bedouin Dwellings"; Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1986) *''Islamic Terrorism: Profile of the Hamas Movement'', with Shakib Saleh (Tel Aviv, 1999)

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli anthropologists Israeli Jews Israeli orientalists Israeli writers Tel Aviv University alumni University of Haifa alumni Jewish anthropologists {{Israel-bio-stub