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Eilat Mazar

Eilat Mazar was an Israeli archaeologist who worked on Jerusalem and Phoenician archaeology and uncovered the Large Stone Structure in the City of David.

1956 to 2021The Large Stone StructureExcavations in the City of DavidThe bulla of HezekiahPhoenician archaeology at Achziv

Born: 10 September 1956, Jerusalem
Died: 25 May 2021, Jerusalem
Occupation: anthropologist, archaeologist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Eilat Mazar was born in 1956 in Jerusalem

Eilat Mazar was born in Jerusalem on 10 September 1956. She was the daughter of Uri Mazar and the granddaughter of archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, a former president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Archaeologist Amihai Mazar was also a relative.

She earned a BA at the Hebrew University and joined the excavation team of Yigal Shiloh in 1981. She received her PhD from the Hebrew University in 1997, with a thesis on Phoenician culture based on her digs at Achziv.

Mazar was a senior fellow at the Shalem Center and headed its Institute of Archaeology. In 2005 she uncovered the Large Stone Structure and suggested it was King David's palace, a view other scholars questioned. She later reported finds such as a city wall she dated to the 10th century BCE, the Ophel gold hoard and a royal bulla of Hezekiah.

She was among the founders of a public committee to prevent the destruction of antiquities on the Temple Mount. She was married twice and had 4 children. She died on 25 May 2021 and was buried in Nir Etzion.