Israeli Archaeology Reflects Shifts in Society and Inclusion Over Decades

Professor Chaya Katz, a scholar at Kinneret College, recounts her personal and academic journey exploring the relationship between Israeli society and archaeology. Beginning her studies about 40 years ago at Tel Aviv University, she noted the absence of religious students and faculty in archaeology, a field dominated by secular Ashkenazi Jews from urban and labor settlement backgrounds. This observation led her to investigate how different social groups in Israel, including religious Jews and Arabs, related to archaeology beyond the scientific findings.

During Israel's first 25 years, archaeology was a central cultural and national activity, symbolizing a connection to the land and reinforcing Zionist secular pioneer ethos. Excavations at sites like Hazor and Masada attracted many volunteers, but participation was largely limited to the secular hegemonic group, excluding religious Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and Arabs. Katz's sociological research, based on dozens of in-depth interviews and historical analysis, found that these groups' avoidance of archaeology was tied to broader societal and ideological factors.

For religious Jews, faith in a divine promise to the land and preference for textual study over empirical archaeology reduced the need for archaeological validation. For Arabs, practical and political constraints, including military governance until 1966 and economic hardship, directed academic focus toward practical professions. A major turning point occurred in the mid-1970s as Israel's secular cultural dominance waned and society became more multicultural and fragmented.

Simultaneously, bureaucratic changes culminated in the 1990 establishment of the Israel Antiquities Authority, professionalizing archaeology and ending its era as a national hobby. These ideological and institutional shifts lowered psychological barriers, enabling religious and Arab students to enter archaeology studies and employment. Katz concludes that Israeli archaeology mirrors the deep social transformations of Israeli society, and its future trajectory reflects broader societal directions.

Her findings are detailed in her 2023 book, "The Changing Landscape of Israeli Archaeology: Between Hegemony and Marginalization" (Routledge). Katz's work highlights archaeology as a lens to understand Israel's evolving social fabric rather than merely an academic discipline.