The Neubauer Near East Paleo-climate Project
(with Dafna Langgut)
The project aimed at tracing links between past climate changes and settlement and demographic processes. This five-year project dealt with the climate of the eastern Mediterranean, including the Levant, in the Bronze and Iron Ages (ca. 3500-500 BCE). It deployed two of the strongest scientific proxies in paleo-climate research: palynology (reconstruction of past vegetation and climate based on fossil pollen identification) and the study of past isotope signature in cave formations and lake sediment cores.
Reconstructing Ancient (Biblical) Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective, with Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science, funded by the European Research Council, Advanced Grants (2009-2014)
The project was funded by the European Research Council. The Advance Grant was awarded to Israel Finkelstein (Principal Investigator) and Steve Weiner of the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Co-Investigator).
The ten tracks of the project dealt with: radiocarbon (correlating the chronology of Ancient Israel with the Mediterraenean basin), human genetics and paleodiet, geo-archaeology, palynology (as relating to paleoclimate and settlement oscillations), ceramic petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics of dimensions, epigraphy (the use of advanced computational methodologies, e.g., artificial intelligence algorithms, in the study of Iron Age ostraca), residue analysis of pottery vessels and archaeo-zoology. The project involved over 40 researchers.
Almost 100 articles have been published. See partial summary at this link
The History of the Pentateuch: Combining Literary and Archaeological Approaches (2016-2018)
The project was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. It was directed in cooperation with Profs. Konrad Schmid (Zurich), Thomas Römer and Christoph Nihan (Lausanne) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv). The project concentrated on three main themes: 1) The Cultural and Historical World behind Genesis 25–50; 2) The Historical Geography of the Priestly Document and of the Priestly Literature in the Book of Numbers; 3) Sanctuaries, Cult, and Ritual in Ancient Israel and Judah. It involved graduate students and post-docs from Europe, Israel and the USA.
Publication project of the Southern Samaria Survey
1992-1995: Publication project of the Southern Samaria Survey, with Zvi Lederman, funded by the Israel Science Foundation.
For the publication see I. Finkelstein, Z. Lederman and S. Bunimovitz, Highlandsof Many Cultures, The Southern Samaria Survey, The Sites (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University No. 14). Tel Aviv 1997. Two volumes.
Archaeological Research of Megiddo
1996-1998: Archaeological Research of Megiddo and its Hinterland, with Michael Niemann of the University of Rostock and Gunnar Lehmann of Ben-Gurion University, funded by the German-Israeli Foundation for Research and Development. The project included the excavation of Palace 6000 at Megiddo, the survey of the Megiddo Countryside and the study of textual materials related to Megiddo.
Publication: various chapters in I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin and B. Halpern (editors), Megiddo IV: The 1998-2002 Seasons (Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University No. 24), Tel Aviv 2006. Two volumes.
Petrographic Study of the Amarna Tablets
1997-2004: Petrographic Study of the Amarna Tablets, with Yuval Goren and Nadav Naaman, funded by Tel Aviv University. Over 300 Amarna tablets were examined for their mineralogy. Light was shed on questions such as the location of Alashiya, the expansion of the kingdom of Amurru, the Egyptian administration in Canaan and the location of various Canaanite rulers.
Publication: Y. Goren, I. Finkelstein and N. Naaman, Inscribed in Clay: Provenance Study of the Amarna Tablets and other Ancient Near Eastern Texts(Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University No. 23). Tel Aviv 2004.
Articles in the American Journal of Archaeology, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Near Eastern Archaeology and Tel Aviv (for details see CV).
Israel Finkelstein 