Scienceגרשון גליל

Gershon Galil

Gershon Galil is an Israeli biblical scholar and historian at the University of Haifa, known for his chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah and for disputed readings of ancient Hebrew inscriptions.

born 1953Chronology of Israel's and Judah's kingsThe Mount Ebal tablet readingThe book Israel and Assyria

Occupation: historian, historian of religion, biblical scholar, exegete
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Gershon Galil was born in 1953

Gershon Galil studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received his doctorate there in 1983. His thesis proposed a new chronology for the kings of Israel and Judah, different from those of William F. Albright and Edwin R. Thiele. Brill published it in 1996.

At the University of Haifa he became a professor of biblical studies and ancient history and headed the Department of Jewish History. He also led a master's program on the Bible and an honors program. He edited and coordinated a 24-volume scientific commentary series on the Bible.

His books include Israel and Assyria, which won the Bahat Prize, and a 2007 study of lower-class families in the Neo-Assyrian period. He co-edited 2 supplement volumes of the journal Vetus Testamentum.

In recent years he announced readings of several early inscriptions, including the Mount Ebal lead tablet, which he presented as an early Hebrew text. He also announced inscriptions from the time of King Hezekiah in the Siloam Tunnel. Many scholars rejected these claims and raised concerns about method and dating.