Prof. Aren M. Maeir – Whatever happened to the Philistines?!
Our guest, Aren Maeir is an American-born Israeli archaeologist and professor at Bar Ilan University. He is director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project.
He has participated in, and directed, numerous archaeological excavations in Israel, including at the following sites: Jerusalem, Hazor, Yoqneam, Tell Qasile, Beth-Shean, and since 1996, at Tell es-Safi/Gath. He is married to Adina (née Hartman), and they have three sons and three grandchildren.
His expertise lies in the Bronze and Iron Age cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, with special emphasis on those of the Ancient Levant. Among the topics that he has studied are: ancient trade; metallurgy; pottery production and provenance; scientific applications in archaeology; archaeological survey; the archaeology of Jerusalem; the Middle Bronze Age of the Levant; chronology of the 2nd Millennium BCE; the Sea Peoples and the Philistines; relations between Egypt and the Levant; ancient weapons and warfare; ancient cult and religion.
Since 1996 he has directed the Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath, excavating the ancient site of Tell es-Safi, which is identified as Canaanite and Philistine Gath (one of the five cities of the Philistines mentioned in the Bible, the home of Goliath). Over the years, he has written and edited, close to 20 volumes and published around 300 papers.