About Avraham Faust

Avraham Faust

Avraham (Avi) Faust is professor of archaeology at the Martin (Szusz) department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University. He has participated in a number of excavations and surveys in Israel and abroad, and since 2006 has directed excavations at Tel ‘Eton and surrounding surveys. In 2012/2013 he served as a visiting professor at Harvard University. Faust’s research interests include the archaeology of Israel in the Bronze and Iron Ages, focusing on settlement archaeology, urban-rural interaction, socio-economic stratification, ethnicity and processes of social complexity. He is the author of numerous books and articles covering various aspects of Israel’s archaeology from the Early Bronze Age to the Byzantine period, with special focus on the Iron Age society, including Israelite Society in the Period of the Monarchy: An Archaeological Perspective (Jerusalem: Yad Ben Zvi, 2005 [in Hebrew]), The Archaeology of the Israelite Society in the Iron Age II (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2012), Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation (Atlanta: The Society of Biblical Literature; 2012) and Israel’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance (London: Equinox, 2006), which received the Irene Levi Sala Prize, ASOR’s G.E. Wright award and the Biblical Archaeology Society Publication award.

Presenter at

Bible & Archaeology Fest XII, November 20 – 22, 2009
The Assyrian Peace: A Reexamination

Judah and Philistia experienced unparalleled economic prosperity in the 7th century BCE, which can be seen in settlement patterns (settlement growth in most regions as well as expansion into desert areas), trade (evidence for trade is abundant) and production (e.g., the olive oil production center at Ekron). This prosperity is usually attributed to the Assyrian interests in the west, and to the Assyrian peace. The lecture aims at reexamining (and challenging) the role of Assyria in the economy of the region through a closer look at the archaeological evidence and the historical records.

Selected Articles by Avraham Faust

• Pottery Talks: What Ceramics Tell Us About the Social World of Ancient Israel
• Warren’s Shaft: Yes, It Really Was Used to Draw Water

Selected Books by Avraham Faust

• Israel’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance (Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology)
• Israelite Society in the Period of the Monarchy: An Archaeological Perspective (Hebrew Edition)

Avraham Faust Online

• Website of Avraham Faust

BAS Learning Resources Featuring Avraham Faust

• Biblical Sites Unearthed (DVD Lectures)