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Just Past?: The Making of Israeli Archaeology
The land of Israel is rich in history and material culture and has long been the location of extensive archaeological excavation. 'Just Past?' examines the origins of Israeli archaeology in the 1950s and 1960s. Drawing on previously unpublished documentary material, the study offers a history of intriguing finds, failures and dreams. 'Just Past?' covers a range of topics, from the 1948 war to the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, issues of foreign aid, and the political circumstances behind the decision to start excavations at Masada. Highlighting the centrality of politics to archaeology in Israel/Palestine, 'Just Past?' presents an assessment of the origins of Israeli archaeology which will be invaluable to students and scholars of history and archaeology.
382 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2005
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May 2, 2025
Raz Kletter’s Just Past? peels back the layers of early Israeli archaeology to reveal an ambitious national effort that fused scholarship with state-building. As Israel emerged in 1948, so too did a unique archaeological ethos driven by Zionist urgency and intellectual fervor. The pioneers of this discipline—Yeivin, Mazar, Yadin—saw archaeology not only as science but as civic and spiritual restoration. They understood that uncovering ancient Judean cities and synagogues helped root a newly sovereign people in a continuous and legitimate past.
Israel's leaders were not passive observers: Ben-Gurion questioned the very name "Palestine," arguing it was a colonial invention without substance, and insisted on calling the land “Eretz Yisrael” in all scholarly and public discourse. The state’s founders believed deeply that a nation reborn must also reclaim its historical foundations—brick by brick, sherd by sherd, inscription by inscription.
The book brims with remarkable stories and fascinating characters. In one incident, army posts were camouflaged inside an ancient tomb at Megiddo during the War of Independence. A Byzantine mosaic at Selbit was “rediscovered” thanks to a soldier-photographer. In Ramla, bulldozers cut through ancient ruins even as the IDAM scrambled to stop the damage.
In Tsfat, a sacred Mamluk tomb was repaired in a joint civilian-military effort. At Ashdod, watermelons were once grown atop ancient layers of Philistine architecture. A British clergyman handed over a mysterious "holy rock" that no one knew how to classify. Moshe Dayan reportedly used his military status to “rescue” artifacts into his personal collection. Meanwhile, the IDAM operated on a shoestring, often relying on relief workers or even prison labor. In one budget year, 8,926 work-days were donated by the Ministry of Labor’s employment department.
When a Roman-era tomb was found under a sewage pit in Netanya, the salvage dig was completed before the ink dried on Israel’s first official excavation permit. And throughout it all, archaeologists camped on site, dug through heat and politics, and tried to sort sherds from the shifting sands of ideology.
The book’s message is both unflinching and triumphant. Kletter writes, “We all turn history into myth and ritual and into symbols that give meaning to life.” In Israel, this was not a cynical manipulation but a generative act of faith.
Early Israeli archaeology was bold, naive, chaotic, and at times flawed—but it was glorious in its intent. The archaeologists of the young state were cultural engineers, laying intellectual infrastructure alongside roads and aqueducts. Their work said, in essence: Here lies our proof, inscribed in basalt and baked clay, that our claim to this land is older than exile and deeper than narrative. They did not merely reconstruct history—they resurrected it. And as one reads Kletter’s chronicle, the soil itself seems to whisper a Zionist psalm: we have returned not to borrow time, but to reclaim it.
Israel's leaders were not passive observers: Ben-Gurion questioned the very name "Palestine," arguing it was a colonial invention without substance, and insisted on calling the land “Eretz Yisrael” in all scholarly and public discourse. The state’s founders believed deeply that a nation reborn must also reclaim its historical foundations—brick by brick, sherd by sherd, inscription by inscription.
The book brims with remarkable stories and fascinating characters. In one incident, army posts were camouflaged inside an ancient tomb at Megiddo during the War of Independence. A Byzantine mosaic at Selbit was “rediscovered” thanks to a soldier-photographer. In Ramla, bulldozers cut through ancient ruins even as the IDAM scrambled to stop the damage.
In Tsfat, a sacred Mamluk tomb was repaired in a joint civilian-military effort. At Ashdod, watermelons were once grown atop ancient layers of Philistine architecture. A British clergyman handed over a mysterious "holy rock" that no one knew how to classify. Moshe Dayan reportedly used his military status to “rescue” artifacts into his personal collection. Meanwhile, the IDAM operated on a shoestring, often relying on relief workers or even prison labor. In one budget year, 8,926 work-days were donated by the Ministry of Labor’s employment department.
When a Roman-era tomb was found under a sewage pit in Netanya, the salvage dig was completed before the ink dried on Israel’s first official excavation permit. And throughout it all, archaeologists camped on site, dug through heat and politics, and tried to sort sherds from the shifting sands of ideology.
The book’s message is both unflinching and triumphant. Kletter writes, “We all turn history into myth and ritual and into symbols that give meaning to life.” In Israel, this was not a cynical manipulation but a generative act of faith.
Early Israeli archaeology was bold, naive, chaotic, and at times flawed—but it was glorious in its intent. The archaeologists of the young state were cultural engineers, laying intellectual infrastructure alongside roads and aqueducts. Their work said, in essence: Here lies our proof, inscribed in basalt and baked clay, that our claim to this land is older than exile and deeper than narrative. They did not merely reconstruct history—they resurrected it. And as one reads Kletter’s chronicle, the soil itself seems to whisper a Zionist psalm: we have returned not to borrow time, but to reclaim it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review