1. Benjamin Mazar was a pioneering Israeli historian, recognized as the "dean" of biblical archaeologists.
14 Facts About Benjamin Mazar
1. 2.
Benjamin Mazar shared the national passion for the archaeology of Israel that attracts considerable international interest due to the region's biblical links.
3.
Benjamin Mazar is known for his excavations at the most significant biblical site in Israel: south and south west of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
4.
Benjamin Mazar developed the field of historical geography of Israel.
5.
Between 1951 and 1977, Benjamin Mazar served as Professor of Biblical History and Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
6.
Benjamin Mazar founded the Hebrew University's new campus at Givat Ram and Hadassah Medical School and Hospital at Ein Karem and led the academic development of the university into one of the leading Universities of the World.
7.
Benjamin Mazar was regarded by his students as an inspiring teacher and academic leader and many of these students are now considered leading historians and archaeologists in Israel today.
8.
Benjamin Mazar was born in Ciechanowiec, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire.
9.
Benjamin Mazar was educated at Berlin University and Giessen University in Germany.
10.
In 1936 Benjamin Mazar started the excavations of Beth Shearim, the first archaeological excavation organized by a Jewish institution, and uncovered there the large Jewish catacombs dated to the 2nd-4th centuries CE, known as the burial place of the Jewish leader Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi, the compiler of the Mishnah.
11.
Benjamin Mazar later conducted excavations at Ein Gedi and between 1968 and 1978 directed the excavations south and south-west of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, including an area he described as the Ophel, uncovering extensive remains from the Iron Age through the Second Temple period and to Jerusalem's Islamic period.
12.
In 1937, Benjamin Mazar revealed at Beit She'arim a system of tombs belonging to the Jews of Himyar dating back to the 3rd century CE.
13.
Eilat Benjamin Mazar was a frequent spokesperson for concerns regarding the archaeology of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem while Amihai Benjamin Mazar was the recipient of the 2009 Israel Prize for Archaeology.
14.
Benjamin Mazar is the brother-in-law of Israel's second and only three-term President, Yitzhak Ben Zvi.