Videos by Matthew J Adams
https://www.youtube.com/c/albrightlive
Written and Produced by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew ... more https://www.youtube.com/c/albrightlive
Written and Produced by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams
Israel Finkelstein is a leading figure in the archaeology and history of Ancient Israel. Over 40 years of work and research, he has helped to change the way archaeology is conducted, the bible is interpreted, and the history of Israel is reconstructed. Matthew J. Adams, Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, sat down with Israel over several sessions to talk about how a lifetime of work has informed the story of Ancient Israel. These conversations became the series Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein.
24 Videos 2020-2021. Subscribe to get notified of new episodes!
Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein is made possible with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation. 309 views
Film and Television by Matthew J Adams
A large, shallow bowl with two handles and three projections attached to its center was found at ... more A large, shallow bowl with two handles and three projections attached to its center was found at the Early Bronze Age Ib site of Tel Megiddo East during the excavations conducted by the Jezreel Valley Regional Project. The near-complete condition of the bowl enabled the accurate identification of additional fragments of comparable vessels found at the site itself, as well as at Tel Megiddo and contemporaneous sites across northern Israel. It is proposed that the attachments were designed to mimic bull horns, a trait that aligns with the prevalent bovine symbolism in the religious and cultural expressions of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. It is postulated that the manufacturing and utilization of these vessels held ritually significant implications during an era of escalating complexity, correlating with the region's initial attempts at small-scale urban development.
Unveiling Megiddo / Armageddon - The Mother of All Tells
Kedem YouTube Channel, 2024
In this full-length video, join Prof. Israel Finkelstein and Dr. Matthew J. Adams on an eight-epi... more In this full-length video, join Prof. Israel Finkelstein and Dr. Matthew J. Adams on an eight-episode journey through the fascinating history of Megiddo—a site steeped in archaeological discovery, biblical resonance, and ancient empires. From its rise during the Early Bronze Age to its prominence in the Iron Age, this series unravels the layers of history that culminate in the eschatological battle of Armageddon.
Set against the backdrop of the Jezreel Valley, "Megiddo – The Mother of All Tells" explores the city’s central role in commerce, chariotry, fortifications, and geopolitics. Through meticulous archaeology and engaging storytelling, this series connects ancient Megiddo to broader questions of state formation, imperial dominance, and the enduring legacy of its strategic location.
Edited Books by Matthew J Adams
This is the fifth final report of the Megiddo Expedition’s work. The first four reports presented... more This is the fifth final report of the Megiddo Expedition’s work. The first four reports presented the results of the excavations in the 1992–1996, 1998–2002, 2004–2008 and 2010–2014 seasons (Finkelstein, Ussishkin and Halpern 2000; 2006; Finkelstein, Ussishkin and Cline 2013; Finkelstein and Martin 2022, respectively). This volume strays from the regular seasonal reports to focus specifically on two tombs excavated in Area H during the 2016 seasons, Burial 16/H/45 and Tomb 16/H/50. Both burials were excavated under rare circumstances, being unusually rich as well as undisturbed and therefore were excellent candidates for extensive scientific and archaeological analysis. In addition, the two burials are closely related temporally, spatially, and contextually and, therefore, benefit from being analyzed and published together.
Jezreel Valley Regional Project Studies vol. 1, 2023
This volume brings together the final reports of salvage excavations carried out in the vicinity ... more This volume brings together the final reports of salvage excavations carried out in the vicinity of Tel Qashish in the northern Jezreel Valley, Israel, from 2010 to 2013. These include the Middle and Epipaleolithic flint workshops at Tel Qashish West and Tel Qashish South, the early Early Bronze Age I settlement at Tell el-Wa‘er, the late Early Bronze Age I features and the Late Bronze Age II cultic repository at Tel Qashish, as well as some early Roman remains. Twenty-nine chapters by twenty-five authors present the context, stratigraphy, finds, and analyses of these four major aspects of the excavations.
Jezreel Valley Regional Project Studies vol. 1
The traditional approach to structuring the past is based on a rigid chronological perception of ... more The traditional approach to structuring the past is based on a rigid chronological perception of time forced upon dynamic and fluidly transforming societies. The one-dimensional nature of the chronological approach results in periods of well-defined spatiotemporal cultural entities separated by “transitional” periods. These defined cultural entities are often treated as static, though we know they were not, so that we may interpret cultural, historical, sociological, and political aspects of the society. Transition periods, however, are often treated as outliers interpreted against one or both of the periods that bracket them. In particular, they are characterized by a high variability of cultural traits, a form of "disorder" characterized by sets of old and new features, defying the clear delineation of socio-cultural boundaries.
Discussions of transitional periods, therefore, are muddled by a paradigm in which the before and after are individually defined, while the transition introduces added variability that defies allocation to one or the other distinct spatial temporal cultural groups. In short, our chronological model of periods succeeding one another is one dimensional and fails to help explain the cultural and spatial development within societies, that move much more fluidly through time. The result is the shoehorning of variable societies into periods of “transition” from one solid cultural state to another, judged according to their predecessors and successors.
To address these issues, Matthew J. Adams, Valentine Roux, and Felix Höflmayer organized a workshop which took place 16–18 May 2018 in Jerusalem at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and the Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem (Fig. 1–2). The event was supported by these institutions as well as the Institut für Orientalische und Europäische Archäologie (OREA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Twenty-eight papers were presented by forty authors and co-authors, and ample time was provided for formal and informal discussion over plentiful food and drink.
The objective of this workshop was to confront scholarly interpretations of the various transitional phases across the late 4th–3rd Millennium (Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze I, EB I to EB II, and EB III to EB IV/Intermediate Bronze Age) in the southern Levant. The focus was on the nature of the cultural-period-defining traits and their value for distinguishing between changes related to endogenous or exogenous evolution, cultural or demic diffusion. These traits include material culture, architecture, mortuary practices as well as patterns of relationships between sites and subsistence strategies.
The present volume brings together several papers which originated as presentations in this workshop and benefitted from the discussion therein.
Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein
Edited by I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin, E. Cline, M. Adams, E. Arie, N. Franklin, and M. Martin (... more Edited by I. Finkelstein, D. Ussishkin, E. Cline, M. Adams, E. Arie, N. Franklin, and M. Martin (Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology, 2013).
"This collaborative commentary on Kings explores cross-cutting aspects of Kings ranging from the ... more "This collaborative commentary on Kings explores cross-cutting aspects of Kings ranging from the analysis of its composition, historically regarded, to its transmission and reception. Ample attention is accorded sources and figures and peoples who play a part in the book. Concern is directed to its treatment in translation and role in later ancient literature. While its comment does not proceed verse by verse, the volume furnishes guidance, from contributors highly qualified to advance contemporary discussion, on the book's historical background, its literary intentions and characteristics, and on themes and motifs central to its understanding, both of itself and of the world from which it arose. It functions as a meta-commentary, offering windows into the secondary literature, but assembling data more fully than is the case in individual commentaries.
The Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature series; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2010.
"
Essays on the Social and Political Dynamics of Cosmologies in the Iron Age by Baruch Halpern
The... more Essays on the Social and Political Dynamics of Cosmologies in the Iron Age by Baruch Halpern
The birth of the West stems from the rejection of tradition. All our evidence for this influence comes from the Axial period, 800-400 BCE. Baruch Halpern explores the impact of changing cosmologies and social relations on cultural change in that era, especially from Mesopotamia to Israel and Greece, but extending across the Mediterranean, not least to Egypt and Italy. In this volume he shows how an explosion of international commerce and exchange, which can be understood as a Renaissance, led to the redefinition of selfhood in various cultures and to Reformation. The process inevitably precipitated an Enlightenment. This has happened over and over in human history and in academic or cultural fields. It is the basis of modernization, or Westernization, wherever it occurs, and whatever form it takes.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck (2009).
Articles by Matthew J Adams
An Early Bronze Age IB Ritual Bowl from Tel Megiddo East
Israel Exploration Journal, 2025
A large, shallow bowl with two handles and three projections attached to its center was found at ... more A large, shallow bowl with two handles and three projections attached to its center was found at the Early Bronze Age Ib site of Tel Megiddo East during the excavations conducted by the Jezreel Valley Regional Project. The near-complete condition of the bowl enabled the accurate identification of additional fragments of comparable vessels found at the site itself, as well as at Tel Megiddo and contemporaneous sites across northern Israel. It is proposed that the attachments were designed to mimic bull horns, a trait that aligns with the prevalent bovine symbolism in the religious and cultural expressions of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. It is postulated that the manufacturing and utilization of these vessels held ritually significant implications during an era of escalating complexity, correlating with the region’s initial attempts at small-scale urban development.
Near Eastern Archaeology 88.2, 2025
This article deals with Middle Bronze Megiddo, emphasizing its importance for understanding this ... more This article deals with Middle Bronze Megiddo, emphasizing its importance for understanding this period at the site, and in the entire southern Levant in general. We focus on new evidence for exceptional accumulation of layers for the earliest Middle Bronze layer, radiocarbon dated to the early twentieth century BCE, and for the first fortification system also dated to the twentieth century BCE. We also deal with the complex history of the fortifications, including gates, and the phenomenon of intramural burials, some of them of monumental nature.
Near Eastern Archaeology 88.2, 2025
This and the next special issues of Near Eastern Archaeology are dedicated to one of the most ico... more This and the next special issues of Near Eastern Archaeology are dedicated to one of the most iconic sites in the ancient Near East—Megiddo. We are delighted to serve as guest editors for these volumes, which coincide with two momentous milestones: the centennial of the beginning of the University of Chicago’s pioneering excavations at Megiddo (1925–1939) and a third-of-a-century of Tel Aviv University’s renewed investigations at the site (launched in 1992 and ongoing today). Both endeavors have profoundly shaped modern scholarship on the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant and eastern Mediterranean, and this two-part publication offers an opportunity to reflect on Megiddo’s legacy while also looking forward to new questions and methods that will drive research in the coming decades.
Ägypten und Levante, 2025
Megiddo is the most prominent example of urban centres restored by the Assyrians in the Levant du... more Megiddo is the most prominent example of urban centres restored by the Assyrians in the Levant during the late 8 th and 7 th centuries BCE. Past excavations revealed the remains of a city with a distinct orthogonal plan and large administrative structures functioning as the capital of a Neo-Assyrian province. The social composition and duration of its existence, specifically after the Assyrian withdrawal, are disputed. Due to the extensive exposure of the surface layers in the 1920s, it was believed that almost no undisturbed remains were left for modern field research. However, recent excavations in the northwestern sector of the mound have unearthed a sequence of layers, dated to the later phases of the Iron Age, that allow a high-resolution study of the city's development and the identity of its inhabitants in the post-732 BCE era. Especially noteworthy among the finds are the significant quantities of imported Egyptian and East Greek pottery .
Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, 2025
The encounter between Josiah and Necho at Megiddo in 609 BCE (2 Kings 23,29) was a fateful event ... more The encounter between Josiah and Necho at Megiddo in 609 BCE (2 Kings 23,29) was a fateful event in biblical period history and theology. Yet, the archaeology of the site failed to supply information about this affair. Here we describe the finds of several post 732 BCE layers recently unearthed at the site, with special attention to Level X-3 of the late 7 th century. The finds in this layer include an exceptional number of Egyptian-made pottery vessels as well as a significant number of East Greek pottery, usually interpreted as representing Greek mercenaries in the service of the 26 th Dynasty. These finds shed light on the population of Egyptian-governed Megiddo and hence on the background of the 609 BCE event.
‘Atiqot, 2025
The Greek name for the pig is ὕς, once called θῦς from the verb θῦειν, that is, 'to sacrifice' (V... more The Greek name for the pig is ὕς, once called θῦς from the verb θῦειν, that is, 'to sacrifice' (Varro, Rust. 4.9) Excavations in the Roman cemetery near the Legio VI Ferrata base, dated to the secondthird centuries CE, exposed a pit containing the remains of at least 13 domestic pigs represented primarily by mandibles. This study presents new evidence of the role of pigs in Roman military ceremonies, specifically in funerary practices, based on comparable archaeological data and historical and iconographic evidence. The discovery provides valuable insights into the role of pigs in Roman burial practices, suggesting that this was not a cemetery deposition but part of a funerary activity, shedding light on burial practices within the Roman colonies in the Levant, particularly of Roman legions in the province of
Megiddo VII: The Shmunis Excavations of a Monumental Middle Bronze Tomb and Its Environs, 2025
Documents the results of archaeological excavations at Megiddo in northern Israel, concentrating ... more Documents the results of archaeological excavations at Megiddo in northern Israel, concentrating on two tombs excavated in 2016: a monumental chamber tomb from Middle Bronze III and a simpler pit burial from Late Bronze I"-Provided by publisher.
Megiddo VII The Shmunis Excavations of a Monumental Middle Bronze Tomb and Its Environs, 2025
This is the fifth final report of the Megiddo Expedition’s work. The first four reports presented... more This is the fifth final report of the Megiddo Expedition’s work. The first four reports presented the results of the excavations in the 1992–1996, 1998–2002, 2004–2008 and 2010–2014 seasons (Finkelstein, Ussishkin and Halpern 2000; 2006; Finkelstein, Ussishkin and Cline 2013; Finkelstein and Martin 2022, respectively). This volume strays from the regular seasonal reports to focus specifically on two tombs of special importance excavated in Area H during the 2016 seasons: Tomb 16/H/50, a monumental masonry-constructed chamber tomb that dates to the Middle Bronze III (Level H-16) and Burial 16/H/45, a simple pit burial that dates to the Late Bronze I (Level H-15). Both burials were excavated under rare circumstances; they were unusually rich and undisturbed and were therefore excellent candidates for extensive archaeological and archaeological-science analyses. Analyzing and publishing the two burials together offers added benefits since the two were closely related temporally, spatially and contextually.
The Four-Chambered Gate at Megiddo
Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 2024
Work at Megiddo in 2018 shed light on Gate 3165 of Stratum VIA (late Iron I) and the six-chambere... more Work at Megiddo in 2018 shed light on Gate 3165 of Stratum VIA (late Iron I) and the six-chambered Gate 2156 of Strata VA-IVB and IVA (late Iron IIA and early Iron IIB). The disputed question of the number of gates which post-date Gate 2156 was only briefly discussed. Continued investigation of the gates' area in 2022 assembled information for the existence of a four-chambered Gate 500b, described by the University of Chicago excavator as a construction error, which was replaced by the two-chambered Gate 500a. The new data is presented here.
Bulletin of ASOR, 2024
The 2017 salvage excavation conducted at the site of Lajjun within Kibbutz Megiddo, Israel, revea... more The 2017 salvage excavation conducted at the site of Lajjun within Kibbutz Megiddo, Israel, revealed layers of refuse, primarily ceramics, constituting a household midden with finds indicating a 12th-century date and a Frankish cultural affinity. The midden can be associated with the occupation of the ancient settlement of Lajjun by Frankish settlers intermittently in the 12th and 13th centuries C.E., representing a first archaeological window into the Frankish activity at the site and complementing the historical data on the village known from Crusader sources as Le Lyon (Lajjun).
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2023
This paper provides a social and geographic account of al-Lajjun (Jenin Sub-district), a prominen... more This paper provides a social and geographic account of al-Lajjun (Jenin Sub-district), a prominent Palestinian village during the British Mandate period (1918–1948). It portrays a countryside in renewal, encapsulated in the story of Umm al-Fahm’s expansion and Lajjun’s resettlement. In contrast to existing scholarship, the present work contextualizes the site within the wider diachronic, longue durée, history of the region, and the synchronous, shifting pattern of settlements in Marj ibn ‘Amir (Jezreel Valley), Bilad al-Ruha (Ramot Menashe), and Wadi ‘Ara (Nahal ‘Iron). It focuses on the development of the physical outlines of the (re) new(ed) village, with the development of three “Lajjuns” reflecting its founders’ Hebronite/Khalīlī patterns of settlement. Furthermore, it explores Lajjun’s diversified economy and its metamorphosis from a derelict hamlet into a hub of utilities and transportation infrastructure of regional importance under the British Mandate of Palestine (1920–1948).
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Videos by Matthew J Adams
Written and Produced by Israel Finkelstein and Matthew J. Adams
Israel Finkelstein is a leading figure in the archaeology and history of Ancient Israel. Over 40 years of work and research, he has helped to change the way archaeology is conducted, the bible is interpreted, and the history of Israel is reconstructed. Matthew J. Adams, Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, sat down with Israel over several sessions to talk about how a lifetime of work has informed the story of Ancient Israel. These conversations became the series Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein.
24 Videos 2020-2021. Subscribe to get notified of new episodes!
Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein is made possible with a grant from the Shmunis Family Foundation.
Film and Television by Matthew J Adams
Set against the backdrop of the Jezreel Valley, "Megiddo – The Mother of All Tells" explores the city’s central role in commerce, chariotry, fortifications, and geopolitics. Through meticulous archaeology and engaging storytelling, this series connects ancient Megiddo to broader questions of state formation, imperial dominance, and the enduring legacy of its strategic location.
Edited Books by Matthew J Adams
Jezreel Valley Regional Project Studies vol. 1
Discussions of transitional periods, therefore, are muddled by a paradigm in which the before and after are individually defined, while the transition introduces added variability that defies allocation to one or the other distinct spatial temporal cultural groups. In short, our chronological model of periods succeeding one another is one dimensional and fails to help explain the cultural and spatial development within societies, that move much more fluidly through time. The result is the shoehorning of variable societies into periods of “transition” from one solid cultural state to another, judged according to their predecessors and successors.
To address these issues, Matthew J. Adams, Valentine Roux, and Felix Höflmayer organized a workshop which took place 16–18 May 2018 in Jerusalem at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and the Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem (Fig. 1–2). The event was supported by these institutions as well as the Institut für Orientalische und Europäische Archäologie (OREA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Twenty-eight papers were presented by forty authors and co-authors, and ample time was provided for formal and informal discussion over plentiful food and drink.
The objective of this workshop was to confront scholarly interpretations of the various transitional phases across the late 4th–3rd Millennium (Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze I, EB I to EB II, and EB III to EB IV/Intermediate Bronze Age) in the southern Levant. The focus was on the nature of the cultural-period-defining traits and their value for distinguishing between changes related to endogenous or exogenous evolution, cultural or demic diffusion. These traits include material culture, architecture, mortuary practices as well as patterns of relationships between sites and subsistence strategies.
The present volume brings together several papers which originated as presentations in this workshop and benefitted from the discussion therein.
The Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature series; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2010.
"
The birth of the West stems from the rejection of tradition. All our evidence for this influence comes from the Axial period, 800-400 BCE. Baruch Halpern explores the impact of changing cosmologies and social relations on cultural change in that era, especially from Mesopotamia to Israel and Greece, but extending across the Mediterranean, not least to Egypt and Italy. In this volume he shows how an explosion of international commerce and exchange, which can be understood as a Renaissance, led to the redefinition of selfhood in various cultures and to Reformation. The process inevitably precipitated an Enlightenment. This has happened over and over in human history and in academic or cultural fields. It is the basis of modernization, or Westernization, wherever it occurs, and whatever form it takes.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck (2009).
Articles by Matthew J Adams