Strata: Milestone: Trude Dothan (1922–2016)

Professor Trude Dothan, among the pantheon of Israeli archaeologists whose intensive research in Philistine and Mediterranean studies dramatically broadened the scope of Israeli archaeology, passed away after a long illness on January 28, 2016. Trude’s groundbreaking scholarship and her professional leadership role at a time long before there was a strong woman’s movement had a profound and lasting impact not only on her students and colleagues, but on the discipline of the Archaeology of ancient Israel.

Born in Vienna in 1922, Trude came to Palestine with her parents in 1925. Beginning her archaeological studies at the Hebrew University in the 1940s, she earned an M.A. and then her Ph.D. writing on The Material Culture of the Philistines. Published in 1982, it remains one of the primary resources for the study of the Philistines and other Sea Peoples. Appointed the Eliezer L. Sukenik Professor of Archaeology in 1985, Trude also was the first director of the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Biblical Archaeology at the Hebrew University.