The Tel Azekah Excavation team is composed of an international mix of archaeologists, historians, scholars, scientists, students and volunteers, who annually travel across the globe to join us in the field.
Directors
We are lead by directors Prof. Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Manfred Oeming of Heidelberg University, together with field director Dr. Sabine Kleiman of Tel Aviv University.
Prof. Oded Lipschits serves as the Dean of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities and as a leading scholar in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University. A passionate field archaeologist and historian, he co-directs the Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition, the Ramat Raḥel Archaeological Project, and the Moẓa Expedition Project. Prof. Lipschits holds the prestigious Austria Chair in the Archaeology of the Land of Israel in the Biblical Period and is the founder and head of the renowned Ancient Israel Studies International MA Program at Tel Aviv University.
Would you like to learn more about Prof. Lipschits’ work? Check out his web pages at Tel Aviv University and Academia!
Prof. Manfred Oeming of the Faculty of Theology at Heidelberg University is the co-director of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition and The Ramat-Rahel Archaeological Project. He serves as the vice dean of the Faculty of Theology of Heidelberg University and vice president of the College for Jewish Studies at Heidelberg University.
Would you like to learn more about Prof. Oeming’s work? Check out his web pages at The University of Heidelberg, its Faculty of Theology, and fiit!
Dr. Sabine Kleiman of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near East Cultures at Tel Aviv University is the field director of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition. She is a member of the German Society for the Exploration of Palestine (DPV), the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB), Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie (WGTH), and the Israeli Archaeological Association (ILAA).
Would you like to learn more about Dr. Kleiman’s work? Check out her web pages at Academia and The Minerva Centre!
Administration, Registration, Experts and Logistics
The success of our excavation also relies on our experts, administrators and managers:
Noga Rapaport completed her MA thesis “The Iron Age II ‘Gate Complex’ at Tel Azekah”, which analyzes the entrance gate of the city in Area N1. Noga is very interested in biblical narratives, particularly the Books of Kings, and would like to explore how these texts align with or diverge from the archaeological evidence of the Iron Age II, especially as reflected in urban planning and architecture. Noga has numerous important roles: she is in charge of the financial part of the project, registration of students, and Azekah’s social media.
Efrat Sheffi is a member of our team since 2024, presently supervising area A1 (the Acropolis) for two years in a row. Efrat is the head of Azekah office and in charge of cataloguing, processing and storing the finds. She is pursuing her master’s degree and writing a thesis on “Iron Age IIc at Tel Azekah: Dating, Duration, and Characteristics”. Efrat says that “7th century BCE sits between two monumental destructions — Sennacherib in 701 BCE and Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE — and Azekah offers a rare opportunity to trace the chronology of its recovery and development, reflected in its rich Iron Age IIC assemblage and an astonishing 49 rosette-stamped handles”.
Daniel Nam coordinates the logistics and operation department of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition. Dany has completed his master’s thesis “The Early Bronze Age Occupation at Tel Azekah in Light of the Pottery Assemblage” as part of his MA studies at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on the ceramic typology of the Early Bronze Age period in the site, and how it relates to the broader regional context. Today Daniel is about to start his PhD degree, continuing to work with Azekah’s pottery assemblages.
Dr. Liora Freud of The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University is The Ceramics Expert and of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition. She has been working on publications and as the Ceramics Expert and Registrar in many projects, among them Khirbet Er-Ras, Tel-Ira, Horvat Qitmit, Horvat Uza, Tel Malhata, and Ramat-Rahel.
Would you like to learn more about Dr. Freud’s work? Check out her Academia web page!
Daria Leibin Graiver is the Registrar of The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition. She recently completed a brilliant master’s thesis on “Mollusc Shells as Material Culture in the Iron Age II of the Southern Levant” as part of her MA studies at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near East Cultures at Tel Aviv University. Therefore, she is also our shell expert in the field.
