Efraim Lev

Efraim Lev was born in 1958 in Israel

Efraim Lev was born in Israel in 1958. He studied Land of Israel studies and life sciences at Bar-Ilan University and earned a bachelor's degree in 1987. He later received a master's degree in biology and a PhD in Land of Israel studies there.

He did postdoctoral work at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine in London under Roy Porter. He has taught at the University of Haifa since 1999. He also spent research periods at institutions in Israel and abroad, including the Genizah research unit at Cambridge University Library.

His early research was in archaeobotany, including plant remains from Neanderthal meals in Kebara Cave on Mount Carmel. He later studied medieval and early modern medicine, traditional medicine in Israel and Jordan, and the arrival of Western medicine in 19th century Jerusalem. Around 2010 he began studying medical documents from the Cairo Genizah.

At the University of Haifa he became a professor in the Department of Israel Studies and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He headed the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research of the Cairo Genizah and the Department of Humanities and Arts at the Technion.