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Benjamin Mazar; Archeologist, Biblical Scholar

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Benjamin Mazar, 89, the archeologist who excavated Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and strengthened the link between archeology and biblical scholarship. Born Binyamin Maisler in Ciechanowiec, Poland, Mazar immigrated to Palestine in 1929 and became secretary of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society. He served as president of Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1953 to 1961, and taught Jewish history and archeology. But he was best known for his decade-long excavation of the southern and western walls of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount after its capture from Jordan in the 1967 war. He uncovered the Herodian Temple walls that were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Mazar published more than 300 works, including “Israel in Biblical Times,” and was the chief editor of the Biblical Encyclopedia. Last Saturday in Jerusalem.

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