Ehud Netzer

Ehud Netzer was born in 1934 in Jerusalem

Ehud Netzer was born in Jerusalem in 1934 to Joseph and Puah Menczel, who were educators. He later changed his surname from Menczel to Netzer because the original name was often misspelled.

He earned a degree in architecture from the Technion in 1958 and spent student summers at digs led by Yigael Yadin. From 1972 to 1978 he completed a doctorate in archaeology at the Hebrew University on Herod's palaces at Herodium and Jericho.

In the 1960s he was a co-architect of the Masada excavations under Yadin, where he met his wife Devorah, and he later completed the final report on the site. After the Six-Day War he worked on restoring the Jewish Quarter, Mishkenot Sha'ananim and Yemin Moshe in Jerusalem. He began digs at Herod's winter palace in Jericho in 1968 and at Herodium in 1972.

He became a senior lecturer at the Hebrew University in 1981 and a professor in 1990. From 1985 to 1993 he led the excavations at Zippori, which uncovered a synagogue mosaic floor. In 2007 he found at Herodium a tomb he identified as that of Herod.

On 25 October 2010 he fell at Herodium during a visit and was badly hurt. He died in Jerusalem on 28 October 2010. In 2013 the Israel Museum dedicated an exhibition on Herod to his memory.