Israel Finkelstein

Israel Finkelstein was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv

Finkelstein was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 to Zvi and Miriam Finkelstein. His great-grandfather on his mother's side, Shlomo Ellenhorn, was among the people who bought the land to found Petah Tikva in 1878. He grew up in Petah Tikva, where he attended Ahad Ha'am High School.

After serving in the IDF, he studied archaeology and geography at Tel Aviv University, where he was a student of Yohanan Aharoni. He earned his BA in 1974, his MA in 1978 and his PhD in 1983, with a thesis on the Izbet Sartah excavations.

He taught at Bar-Ilan University from 1976 to 1990 and then moved to Tel Aviv University, where he became a full professor in 1992. He headed its archaeology department and its Institute of Archaeology, and edited the journal Tel Aviv. He later became head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa.

He directed excavations at Shiloh, Megiddo and Kiriath-Jearim, and surveys in southern Samaria. His Low Chronology and fieldwork led him to challenge the biblical account of a united monarchy under David and Solomon. His books include The Bible Unearthed, written with Neil Asher Silberman.