Remembering the Archaeologist Who Uncovered Biblical Jerusalem

Yesterday, Eilat Mazar, a leading Israeli archaeologist who pioneered the excavation of ancient Jerusalem, died at the age of sixty-four. The granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar—who along with the soldier-scholar Yigael Yadin helped to establish the field of Israeli archaeology—she has done perhaps more than anyone to show how ancient structures and artifacts fit into the biblical narrative. Mazar was most recently engaged in the excavation of a royal complex south of the Temple Mount where, in 2018, she identified an ancient clay seal that may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah. But her most famous, and perhaps most controversial, finding was the ruins of building she believed was likely King David’s palace. She described how she came to this discovery in a 2006 essay: