Stekelis, Moshe

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STEKELIS, MOSHE

STEKELIS, MOSHE (1898–1967), Israel archaeologist, born in Kamenets-Podolski in the Ukraine. He studied at Odessa, also serving as the deputy director of the Archaeological Museum and the director of the Archaeological Library there (1921–24). As a result of his Zionist activities, he was exiled to Siberia. In 1928 he settled in Palestine and was appointed lecturer (later professor) in prehistoric archaeology at the Hebrew University in 1948. He directed various archaeological expeditions to prehistoric sites: Bethlehem; Jebel al-Qafza (with R. Neuville); Abu ʿUṣba (Mt. Carmel); the megaliths in Transjordan; the Yarmukian site of Sha'ar ha-Golan; the Kabbāra cave and Naḥal Oren on Mt. Carmel; and al-ʿUbaydiyya in the Jordan Valley. Stekelis was the founder of a prehistory library in Jerusalem and a museum in Haifa.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]

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