Meet The Team!

A Global Collaboration

Our team is organized to maintain the highest standards of archaeological research while fostering a supportive learning environment for future archaeologists. Led by our directors, the staff includes area supervisors and assistant supervisors who manage daily excavation operations, supported by the registrar who oversees artifact documentation. The Tel Shaddud Regional Project is an international partnership between institutions in Israel, Germany, and the USA. Together, we bridge academic borders to uncover the ancient history of the Jezreel Valley.

Directors

Dr. Karen Covello-Paran (Israel Antiquities Authority)

Field and Research Antiquities | Archaeological Research Department

Karen is a senior research archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority and a leading expert on the archaeology of Northern Israel. Her research investigates the long-term settlement patterns of the Jezreel Valley and Galilee, focusing on how rural communities interacted with centralized powers. In addition to her work at Tel Shaddud, she also leads the excavations at Ḥorvat Tevet, bringing her extensive expertise in stratigraphy and regional material culture to the study of the site’s transition from an Iron Age village to an Assyrian administrative locale.

Prof. Omer Sergi (Tel Aviv University)

Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures | Head of The International MA Program for Ancient Israel Studies

Omer’s research focuses on the social and political history of the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages, with a particular emphasis on the formation of the Kingdom of Israel and the role of kinship and “palace-clan” relations in ancient state structures. He also co-directs the excavations at Ḥorvat Tevet, where his work has been instrumental in uncovering the 9th century BCE administrative hub of the House of Omri and its impact on the regional economy of the Jezreel Valley.

Prof. William M. Schniedewind (University of California, Los Angeles)

Professor of Biblical Studies & NWS Languages | Director of Graduate Studies | NELC Department | Sady and Ludwig Kahn Director | Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies | Kershaw Chair of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies

Prof. William Schniedewind is a world-renowned scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic languages, his research explores the socio-historical context of ancient Israel and the evolution of biblical literature. His involvement in the Tel Shaddud Regional Project provides a crucial linguistic and historical framework, bridging the gap between the material finds in the field and the textual records of the ancient Near East to better understand the cultural identity of the Jezreel Valley’s inhabitants.

Prof. Dr. Joachim J. Krause (Ruhr University Bochum)

Professor of Hebrew Bible | Faculty of Protestant Theology

Prof. Dr. Joachim J. Krause is a Professor of Old Testament at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. His research explores the intersection of archaeology, history, and biblical studies, with a focus on how centralized administrations interacted with local populations. Through his leadership in the project, he works to uncover the administrative mechanisms of the “royal estates” that shaped the political landscape of the Jezreel Valley across the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

Professor of Old Testament Studies | Faculty of Theology

Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel is a Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Jena, Germany. His academic work focuses on the history of Israel during the Iron Age and the literary evolution of the Hebrew Bible, particularly the Book of Kings. As a key collaborator in the regional project, he helps contextualize the archaeological findings at Tel Shaddud and Ḥorvat Tevet within the broader historical-literary records of the ancient world.

Area Supervisors, Registrar and Assistants

Ofer Naveh (Tel Aviv University)

Ofer is the supervisor of Area A. Ofer is now a PHD student at Tel Aviv University and his dissertation will investigate how these rural areas endured centuries of political and social change – from Canaanite city-states to Egyptian imperial rule, to the Kingdom of Israel, and eventually Assyrian annexation.

Nimrod Katzir (Tel Aviv University)

Nimrod is the supervisor of Area C. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in archaeozoology at Tel Aviv University, focusing on human-animal relations in the ancient world. Last year, Nimrod opened a new Area on the Tel (Area C) and will continue his important work this year!

Guy Brandes (Tel Aviv University)

Guy is our expedition’s spatial archaeologist and is responsible for daily documentation of the Tel, using drones. He recently completed his BA studies in Archaeology at Tel Aviv University and is now working at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Mor Yermolaev (Tel Aviv University)

Mor is the expedition’s registrar. She is responsible for documenting artifacts for future analysis. She recently graduated and is now an MA student writing her thesis about the Middle Bronze Age burial ceramic assemblage at Jalame.

Guy Eilon (Tel Aviv University)

Guy is the assistant supervisor in Area C. He recently graduated with a BA in Archaeology and is now pursuing his MA, with a focus on reconstructing agricultural activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age at Tel Yarmuth.

Ori Winter (Tel Aviv University) 

Ori is an assistant supervisor. This year he will be graduating with a BA in Archaeology. Ori has a keen interest in the Classical periods and is keen to return to the Tel this season and uncover the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine settlements of Tel Shaddud.

Maayan Reuven (Tel Aviv University) Maayan is an assistant area supervisor. She is currently pursuing her MA in Archaeology and is writing her thesis about the household archaeology of Horvat Tevet. Her research seeks to identify the possible roles of the people who worked at the site, which can tell us about how the Kingdom of Israel managed its workforce.

Romy Malamud (Tel Aviv University)

Romy is an assistant area supervisor. She is the expedition’s media manager, responsible for social media and outreach. Romy is currently pursuing a BA in Archaeology and is looking forward to learning more about the Iron Age settlement at the Tel this summer.

Ben Alfasi (Tel Aviv University) 

Ben is the assistant supervisor in Area A. Additionally, he is the Tel Shaddud administrator and is in charge of volunteer coordination, registration and communication. Ben is a third year Archaeology student and is particularly interested in uncovering the Iron Age destruction layer in Area A.

Get In Touch!