BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Archaeologist Vassilios Tzaferis Passes Away

Bible and archaeology news

Vassilios Tzaferis

Greek archaeologist and Biblical Archaeology Review author Vassilios Tzaferis passed away on January 1, 2015, at the age of 78. Tzaferis, a former Greek Orthodox monk, ran excavations at a number of sites, including Ashkelon, Beth Shean, Capernaum, Kursi, Tel Dan and in Jerusalem. His BAR article “Crucifixion—The Archaeological Evidence” (January/February 1985) detailed his excavation of Second Temple tombs in Jerusalem, one of which contained the remains of a crucified man in his 20s.

Tzaferis, who wrote extensively about monks and monasteries in the Byzantine period, served as director of excavations and surveys at the Israel Antiquities Authority from 1991 to 2001 and was a member of the Supreme Archaeological Council in Israel.

Biographies of Tzaferis can be read in Greek and in Hebrew.

Below is a list of Tzaferis’s BAR articles:

“Crucifixion—The Archaeological Evidence,” Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1985.

“A Pilgrimage to the Site of the Swine Miracle,” Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1989.

“Sussita Awaits the Spade,” Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1990.

John F. Wilson and Vassilios Tzaferis, “Banias Dig Reveals King’s Palace,” Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1998.

“The Monastery of the Cross: Where Heaven and Earth Meet,” Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2001.

“Archaeological Views: From Monk to Archaeologist,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2006.

“Inscribed ‘To God Jesus Christ,’” Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2007.

“ReViews: Ancient Christianity as Reflected in Its Churches,” Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2013.

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