Inside BAR

Most Israelis grow up learning about archaeology much as children in Washington, D.C., grow up learning about the U.S. Government. Family outings in Israel often mean trips to Herodium or Megiddo, just as family outings in Washington include visits to the FBI Building or to Capitol Hill to see Congress in session. But few Israeli youngsters have as their escort to sites like Beth She’arim and Tell Qasile an uncle who is one of the country’s leading archaeologists. Amihai Mazar was just born lucky. From the age of six he was exploring the excavations of his uncle Benjamin Mazar, and at 15 he joined the team at Beth She’arim.

Now an established and respected archaeologist himself, native-born Amihai Mazar represents a new generation of Israeli archaeologists. In “BAR Interviews Amihai Mazar—A New Generation of Israeli Archaeologists Comes of Age,” by BAR editor Hershel Shanks, Mazar confronts the problems he and his colleagues face as their profession becomes increasingly specialized. He also gives fascinating accounts of his discovery of a unique Philistine temple and of his work surveying the ancient system of tunnels, pools and aqueducts that brought water to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount from faraway springs. The younger Mazar is currently excavating at Timnah (Tel Batash), a Philistine city in the Shephelah.