Yosef Garfinkel (

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 ...

: יוסף גרפינקל; born 1956) is an Israeli archaeologist and academic. He is Professor of

Prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

Archaeology 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 landsc ...

and of Archaeology of the Biblical Period at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem 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 ...

Biography

Yosef (Yossi) Garfinkel was born in 1956 in Haifa, Israel. He served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

between 1975 and 1978. He studied at

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(BA) degree in geography and archaeology in 1981, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA) degree in prehistory and Biblical archaeology in 1987, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in 1991. He is a curator of the museum of Yarmukian Culture at Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan. Garfinkel specializes in the Protohistoric era of the Near East, the period of time when the world’s earliest village communities were established and the beginning of agriculture took place. He has excavated numerous

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

and

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "Rock (geology), stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''wikt:aeneus, aeneus'' "of copper"), is an list of archaeologi ...

sites, including Gesher, Yiftahel, Neolithic Ashkelon, Sha'ar HaGolan, Tel ‘Ali and Tel Tsaf. Garfinkel is the author of 12 books and over 100 articles on ancient architecture, farming, water sources, pottery, art, religion and dance. In 2007, he began conducting excavations at the fortified city of

Khirbet Qeiyafa Khirbet Qeiyafa ( ar, خربة قيافة), also known as Elah Fortress and in Hebrew as Horbat Qayafa ( he, חורבת קייאפה), is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley and dated to the first half of the 10th ...

. This site is dated to the early 10th century BC, the period of the biblical King David. In the 2008 season an inscription was discovered written in ink on a pottery shard in a script which is probably Early Alphabetic/Proto Phoenician,. Cited in This might be the earliest

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 ...

inscription ever found, although the actual language of the inscription is still under debate. He is currently digging at Tel Lachish in search of Iron Age fortifications.

Excavations

* Tel Lachish *

* Tel Tsaf: 2004 (preliminary survey), 2006 (first season) * Sha'ar HaGolan * Yiftahel * Neolithic Ashkelon * Gesher

Published work

* Y. Garfinkel. 1992. The ''Pottery Assemblages of Sha'ar HaGolan and Rabah Stages from Munhata (Israel)''. Paris: Association Paléorient. * Y. Garfinkel. 1995. ''Human and Animal Figurines of Munhata, Israel''. Paris: Association Paléorient. * Y. Garfinkel. 1999. ''Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery of the Southern Levant''. (Qedem 39). Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University. * Y. Garfinkel, and M. Miller. 2002. ''Sha'ar HaGolan'' Vol 1. ''Neolithic Art in Context''. Oxford: Oxbow. * Y. Garfinkel. 2003. ''Dance at the Dawn of Agriculture''. Austin: Texas University Press. * Y. Garfinkel. 2004. ''The Goddess of Sha'ar HaGolan. Excavations at a Neolithic Site in Israel''. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. * Y. Garfinkel and D. Dag. 2006. ''Gesher: A Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Site in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel''. A Final Report. Berlin: Ex Oriente. * Y. Garfinkel and S. Cohen. 2007. ''The Early Middle Bronze Cemetery of Gesher. Final Excavation Report''. AASOR 62. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research. * Y. Garfinkel and D. Dag. 2008 ''Neolithic Ashkelon''. (Qedem 47). Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University. * O. Bar-Yosef and Y. Garfinkel. 2008. ''The Prehistory of Israel. Human Cultures before Writing''. Jerusalem: Ariel (Hebrew). *

References

External links

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel HomepagePrize Find: Oldest Hebrew Inscription
Biblical Archaeology Review {{DEFAULTSORT:Garfinkel, Yosef 1956 births Living people Israeli archaeologists Israeli Jews Jewish historians