Love at First Site

Indiana Jones made archaeology look so romantic—literally sweeping Marion off her feet and rescuing her from her damsel-in-distress-like moments in faraway places with strange sounding names. An archaeological dig, however, is more about early morning hours, grueling work, noses and shoes full of dirt, exhilarating finds and occasional disappointments. But all the dirt, sweat and toil aside, love can still blossom on a dig.

Archaeologist and emeritus professor Trude Dothan, who spent much of her nearly 50-year marriage to the late Moshe Dothan excavating in Israel, told BAR editor Hershel Shanks in 1993, that “there is nothing more romantic than being on a dig, you know. You can divorce or get married or have an affair. It can happen ... many couples do come out of excavations.”

One of those couples is Amnon and Daphna Ben-Tor. Ben-Tor was a Ph.D. candidate working as a supervisor under famed archaeologist Yigael Yadin at Hazor when he “found” his wife, also a student. Now nearly 40 years later, the emeritus professor directs the dig where he first met Daphna, now the curator of Egyptian art at the Israel Museum.