Tiberias - City of Treasures

This site is dedicated in loving memory to Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld, Director of the Tiberias Excavation.

Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld, one of the senior archaeologists in Israel, passed away on November 16, 2006 at the age of 57. Prof. Hirschfeld was born in Beit Keshet and raised in Kiryat Tivon and in Ashkelon. In 1987 he received his PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he became a professor in 1998.
Prof. Hirschfeld was one of Israel's most active archaeologists; he was an independent researcher who published many original opinions.

Included among his excavations are the Byzantine monastery at Khirbet ed-Deir in the Judean desert, Hamat-Gader, Ramat HaNadiv, Shivta, and Ein Gedi (The Final Report for this excavation was published posthumously.) Prof. Hirschfeld also researched the Palestinian dwelling in the Roman-Byzantine period, and completed the archaeological survey of Herodium. He also posited a unique theory in the academic world about the identity of Qumran as an agricultural manor, instead of a sectarian commune.

The excavation of the ancient city of Tiberias became the crowning achievement of Prof. Hirschfeld's career. Building upon the work of two previous, unpublished excavations (Rabani, 1950's and Druks, 1960's), he expanded the scope of the excavation and discovered many important finds from Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods.

Prof. Hirschfeld passed away on the final day of the Nov. 2006 excavation season in Tiberias.

He is survived by his father, brother, sister and three daughters. He was laid to rest in the Ma’ale Hahamisha cemetery, overlooking the hills of Jerusalem.

Last Chance! Come and join us complete the excavation in Tiberias, March 2008!

Tiberias, famed as a city in the region where Jesus preached, as the capital of Herod Antipas, the seat of the Sanhedrin, and the place where the Jerusalem Talmud was written, is so rich in antiquities that archaeologists in Israel call it “the City of Treasures.”

Many exciting discoveries await in this long-term archaeological excavation at Tiberias. Come and join us!