# overview
I am fascinated by ships and the sea and how cultures interacted through them. My regional focus is mainly, although not solely, the eastern Mediterranean during its earlier formative period. The cultic use of ships--or their facsimiles--many of which never saw water beneath their hulls, intrigues me. Due to the paucity of actual shipwrecks from the times that most interest me, I have focused on the interpretation of ancient ship iconography. Around the turn of the millennium I became interested in the potential of deep-submergence archaeology.

My recent field projects reflect these interests. In 2002 I directed a paleo-environmental study of three possible Phoenician anchorages in Portugal. In 2003-2006, I directed the Canadian team of a joint Canadian-Greek expedition in search of fleets lost during the Persian War in the early fifth century B.C. and in 2007-2009 I led the Danaos Project, a deep-water survey studying the Crete-to-Egypt trade route in antiquity. Following a long fascination with the culture of Easter Island, in March 2012 I organized the first maritime remote-sensing survey of the crater lake of Rano Raraku and a survey of maritime aspects of the Rapanui Culture, in collaboration with Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg's Easter Island Statue Project. Most recently, under the aegis of the Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project and with the goal of better understanding the maritime dimensions of the port of Jaffa, Israel, I directed The 2014 Ioppa Maritima Project, which combined a geoarchaeological/geophysical land survey together with a deep-water Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) examination of multibeam survey anomalies at depths of 50-250 meters.

My fifth book (2013) deals with a wooden ship-cart model discovered in 1920 by W.M.F. Petrie at Gurob, in middle Egypt. The prototype of the Gurob model was clearly an Aegean-style galley--probably a pentakonter of a type used by both the Mycenaeans and the Sea Peoples. This model is the most detailed known representation of this galley type, for which no actual ships have been discovered. Put simply, if Helen's face launched a thousand ships, this is the most detailed existent example of that ship type.

My sixth and most recent (2015) book is a short guide to seafaring on the Sea of Galilee in antiquity.

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Hebrew University of Jerusalem - (Jerusalem, Israel)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Hebrew University of Jerusalem - (Jerusalem, Israel)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Hebrew University of Jerusalem - (Jerusalem, Israel)

# awardsAndHonors[].label
Meadows Professor of Biblical Archaeology

# awardsAndHonors[].label
Glasscock Internal Faculty Residential Fellow

# publications[].label
The Excavations of an Ancient Boat in the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret)

# publications[].label
Were the sea peoples Mycenaeans? The evidence of ship iconography

# publications[].label
The Danaos Project, 2008_ Reconstructing the Crete to Egypt Route

# publications[].publisher
Association of Employees of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research

# publications[].label
Understanding the Boat from the Time of Jesus: Galilean Seafaring

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition

# publications[].label
The 2014 Ioppa Maritima Project: The Land Survey

# publications[].label
The INA/CMS Joint Expedition to Tantura Lagoon, Israel: Report on the 1994-1995 Seasons of Excavation

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Ship Construction in Antiquity

# publications[].label
Underwater Work Carried out by the Israel Department of Antiquities

# publications[].label
News: Underwater  work  carried out by the  Israel Department of Antiquities

# publications[].label
Ahhoteps Silver Ship Model: The Minoan Context

# publications[].label
On Sea-Going Vessels Depicted in Egyptian Art. (in Hebrew)

# publications[].label
The ships of the Sea Peoples (UNA, 10.3: 187220): additional notes

# publications[].label
"Rafts by Sea to Jaffa" (2 Chronicles 2, 16): The 2014 Ioppa Maritima Project

# publications[].label
'He Went Down to Joppa and Found a Ship Going to Tarshish' (Jonah 1:3): Landscape Reconstruction at Jaffa and a Potential Early Harbour

# publications[].label
Archaeological Views: Archaeology Under the Sea

# publications[].label
Shipwreck Fall_ The 1995 INA/CMS Joint Expedition to Tantura Lagoon, Israel

# publications[].label
Finds from the Late Canaanite (Bronze) period, 14th-13th century BCE

# publications[].label
Towards a Global Public-Private Protection Model

# publications[].label
Paddled and Oared Ships Before the Iron Age

# publications[].label
Nautical Archaeological Inspection of the Israel Department of Antiquties

# publications[].label
Tribute: Yaakov "Yak" Kahanov (1947-2016)

# publications[].label
The Palaeo-Environmental Contexts of Three Possible Phoenician Anchorages in Portugal

# publications[].label
A CONCISE NAUTICAL HISTORY OF DOR TANTURA

# publications[].label
A ship graffito from Khirbet Rafi (Israel)

# publications[].label
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF NAPOLEON AT TANTURA, ISRAEL

# publications[].label
AN ANCIENT WORKBOAT FROM THE SEA-OF-GALILEE, ISRAEL

# publications[].label
The Sea of Galilee Boat, An Extraordinary 2000 Year Old Discovery

# publications[].label
ShfifonsEarly Bronze Age Anchor-Shaped Cult Stones from the Sea of Galilee Region

# publications[].publisher
Institut de Thracologie de l'Acadmie Bulgare des Sciences

# publications[].label
Graffito of a War Galley from Horvat Rafi (in Hebrew)

# publications[].label
The Kinneret Boat: The Discovery and Excavation

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition

# publications[].label
4TH INTERNATIONAL-SYMPOSIUM ON SHIP CONSTRUCTION IN ANTIQUITY, ATHENS

# publications[].label
Apparatus for use in underwater archaeological excavations: Concerning a lead ingot fragment from 'ha- Hotrim, Israel

# publications[].label
Notes and News: An Underwater Salvage Excavation near Kibbutz Ha-hotrim, Israel

# publications[].label
On the Interpretation of Watercraft in Ancient Art

# publications[].label
Hahotrim, Israel_ A Late Second-Millennium BC Group of Metal Scrap Artefacts

# publications[].label
Technology Before its Time_  A Byzantine Shipwreck from Tantura Lagoon

# publications[].label
The Tantura B Shipwreck: The 1996 INA/CMS Joint Expedition to Tantura Lagoon

# publications[].label
Underwater Salvage Excavation at ha-Hotrim, 1980

# publications[].label
Is Cyprus Ancient Alashiya? New Evidence from an Egyptian Tablet

# publications[].label
The Graveyard of Ships_ Tantura Lagoon, Israel

# publications[].publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP): HSS Journals - No Cambridge Open

# publications[].label
Some Notes on Mediterranean Seafaring During the Second Millennium B.C.

# publications[].label
Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant

# publications[].label
The Kinneret Boat_ The Excavation Report

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition

# publications[].label
Andrew C.A. Jampoler. Sailors in the Holy Land. The 1848 American Expedition to the Dead Sea and the Search for Sodom and Gomorrah. Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, www.usni.org, 2005

# publications[].label
The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean

# publications[].label
IN SEARCH OF THE SOLOMONIC HARBOR, JAFFA, ISRAEL

# publications[].label
NOTES AND NEWS: Underwater Salvage Excavation at Ha-hotrim, 1980

# publications[].label
A Bronze Napoleonic Mortar from the Tantura/Dor Coast. (in Hebrew)

# publications[].label
Jaffas Ancient Inland Harbor_ Historical, Cartographic, and Geomorphological Data

# publications[].label
Sailing into Egypt's past - Does a celebration of Luxor's patron saint echo ancient pharaonic traditions? (Egyptian moulids)

# publications[].label
The 1994 INA/CMS Joint Expedition to Tantura Lagoon

# publications[].label
Bird-Head Devices on Mediterranean Ships

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition

# publications[].label
CONCERNING A LEAD INGOT FRAGMENT FROM HA-HOTRIM, ISRAEL

# publications[].label
Innovations in Ship Construction at Tantura Lagoon, Israel_ Results of the INA/CMS Joint Expeditions (1994-1996)

# publications[].label
The gurob ship-cart model and its mediterranean context: An archaeological find and its mediterranean context

# publications[].label
Milestones: J. Richard (Dick) Steffy (1924-2007)

# publications[].label
The Moulid of Abu el Haggag: A Contemporary Boat Festival in Egypt

# publications[].publisher
Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Ship Construction in Antiquity

# publications[].label
The 2014 Ioppa Maritima Project: The Deep-Water Survey

# publications[].label
Late Bronze Age Metal Artifacts off Hahotrim, Israel

# publications[].label
Which Way Forward? On the Directionality of Minoan/Cycladic Ships

# publications[].label
THE THERA WATERBORNE PROCESSION RECONSIDERED

# publications[].label
NOTES AND NEWS: Underwater Investigations by the Department of Antiquities and Museums

# publications[].label
The Kinneret boat project Part I. The excavation and conservation of the Kinneret boat

# publications[].label
La scoperta e gli scavi della barca di Kinneret

# publications[].label
On Drawing the Bow. In Eretz-Israel 29 (In Honor of Ephraim Stern). J. Aviram, A. Ben-Tor, I. Eph`al, S. Gitin and R. Reich, eds. Jerusalem

# publications[].label
A Complex Migration_ Did the Philistines Get to Canaan by Land or by Sea

# publications[].label
Concerning Syro-Canaanite Sea Trade in the Late Bronze Age

# publications[].label
On the Potential of Deep-Submergence Archaeology

# publications[].label
PANATHENAIC SHIPS THE ICONOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE

# publications[].publisher
American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA)

# publications[].label
Ships of Tarshish to the Land of Ophir_  Seafaring in Biblical Times

# publications[].label
From the Chairman of INAs Archaeological Committee

# publications[].publisher
Ministerio de Educacin, Cultura y Deporte

# publications[].label
The Cove of Many Shipwrecks: The 1995 INA/CMS Joint Expedition to Tantura Lagoo

# publications[].label
The Galilee Boat: 2,000-Year-Old Hull Recovered Intact

# streetAddress
Texas A&M University; Anthropology; 4352 TAMU