⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Research Authority ‫⚫ ⚫ ⚫ רשות המחקר‬

July 25, 2022

Dr. Lou Bohlen

Division for International Relations
Program Officer
Minerva Foundation, Israel and Middle East

Dear Dr. Bohlen,

Please find attached the grant proposal of Dr. Omer Sergi.

I hereby confirm that if the proposal is accepted, Tel Aviv University will provide annual
matching support in an amount equal to the Minerva Foundation funding to the Minerva
Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities.

The university matching shall be made available 50% in cash and 50% in kind. The
university matching in cash will be made exclusively out of the university’s budgetary
resources. Matching in kind may comprise employment positions for post-docs and
graduate students, grants, technical and maintenance staff, salaries for non-scientists.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dan Peer

Vice President for Research and Development
Tel Aviv University

Cc: Lea Pais

Eyal Schachter
Uri Ayalon

03-6409697 :'‫; פקס‬03-6410251 ;03-6408774 :'‫; טל‬6139001 ‫אביב‬-‫ תל‬,‫אביב‬-‫ רמת‬,39040 ‫ ת"ד‬,‫⚫ ⚫ ⚫ קריית האוניברסיטה‬
P.O.B.39040, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel; Tel: +972-3-6408774; +972-3-6410251; Fax: +972-3-6409697
 Minerva Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities
Omer Sergi (PI), Hannes Bezzel, Joachim J. Krause (German Partners/co-PIs)

1. Summary
The Minerva Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities will stimu-
late interdisciplinary research and scholarly exchange between German and Israeli students as well
as junior and senior scholars. The Center will address the unique phenomenon of the Iron Age Le-
vantine polities that replaced the former imperial domination, by turning the spotlight from their rel-
atively visible nation-like identities to the fragments from which they were composed. This will be
done by integrating archaeological methodology and diachronic approaches to written sources in-
cluding, but not limited to, the Hebrew Bible in order to scrutinize the local communities in the
broader sense of the term, to include the various social configurations of the Iron Age Levant. Com-
plementarily, affiliated partners at the respective institutions will be integrated and will widen the
focus from the Aegean over the Levant and Mesopotamia to South Arabia. For this endeavor, the two
Co-PIs and their institutions in Germany will provide the perfect ambience, since the PI and other
scholars from Israel will be able to work together with those studying other Levantine states. Due to
the current political situation this would not be possible at a Middle Eastern institution alone.

2. Project Objectives
The overall objective of the proposed Minerva Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron
Age Levantine Polities is to create a network of German and Israeli scholars from various disciplines
to study the fragmented nature of societies in Iron Age Levant comprehensively and in a rigorously
interdisciplinary approach. In so doing, one of our strategic goals will be the training of advanced
students and emerging scholars in the fields of archaeology, ancient history, and biblical studies. In
fact, we want to make the proposed center a hub where students and junior scholars from different
fields and national backgrounds will be able to exchange ideas with one another and with senior
scholars on a regular basis, and will be encouraged to conceptualize and conduct individual studies
in the history and archaeology of the Iron Age Levant and its fragmented socio-political nature.

3. Research Program and Planned Activities

For a short period of time in the early Iron Age (ca. 11th–8th centuries BCE), the Levant was not
ruled by external powers as it had been throughout the Late Bronze Age (Egypt, Mitanni, and the
Hittite kingdoms), and would be again from the second half of the 8th century BCE and up until
relatively recently, after 1945 CE. During this hiatus, the socio-political organization of the Levant
took the form of urban centers with strong maritime economies along the coasts as well as inland kin-
based territorial polities. The inland territorial polities (among them Israel and Judah) were a new and
one-time phenomenon conceived in a particular political landscape.
Past evolutionary approaches to state formation in the early Iron Age Levant assumed a sharp dichot-
omy between the tribe and the state, the first being more mobile and based on kinship identity, and
the latter being more sedentary and based on urban-political identity. Accordingly, state formation
1
was viewed as a process resulting from sedentarization and/or conquest, which led to the suppression
or dissolution of kinship relations. In this vein, ancient Near Eastern societies have been conceptual-
ized as “dimorphic,” consisting of two separate entities—one mobile, maintaining tribal identity, the
other urban-based and organized within a state-like polity. According to this view, lifestyle was not
only a matter of social classification but the focal point of political structure and social identity. Un-
abatedly influential, the concept of a “dimorphic society” has received serious criticism in more re-
cent research, mainly for the assumed dichotomy between sedentary and non-sedentary populations.
Ethnographic studies indicate that groups organized in a tribal system maintained a flexible way of
life, moving between different modes of mobile pastoralism and village-based agriculture. Sedentary
and mobile populations co-existed within one and the same kinship group. This is not to argue that
ancient societies did not consist of groups differentiated by lifestyle, but rather that lifestyle was not
the focal point of these groups’ identity. Ancient Near Eastern societies considered themselves as part
of one social family, divided not by mode of life or place of residence, but according to traditional
associations of kin. In essence, kinship relations were utilized to stretch time and space, and to enable
the conception of common identity with unknown others. They appear to maintain their essential
integrity over long periods of time. Thus, for instance, the ninth century BCE Mesha Inscription pre-
sents Mesha as “king of Moab… the Dibonite.” Apparently, Mesha did not identify himself as a
Moabite, that is, with the territorial polity that he ruled, but as a Dibonite, that is probably his kinship
identity. There are, therefore, no evolutionary relations between the tribe and the state, as they repre-
sented contemporaneous identities. Rather than bringing about the dissolution of kinship ties, the
emerging state contained them, incorporating kin-based communities within a more centralized struc-
ture. Moreover, as kinship provided organizing principles for the entire society, both the tribe and the
state shared a conceptual unity: It was the metaphorical extension of kinship itself that provided the
vocabulary needed to conceptualize the ancient Near Eastern state, and in some cases, it also provided
its administrative structure. This accounts for essential traits of the Iron Age Levantine state for-
mation, as it was the nature of kinship structures, which enabled the inclusion of various communities
and kin-based groups under a centralized rule.
This insight is crucial, as it elucidates the ways in which political hegemony was practiced within a
kin-based society, namely through alliances of communities formed in a network of patronage rela-
tions. Patronage relations were personal and typically asymmetrical bonds between the patron who
possessed honour and prestige within society and his client who was obliged to loyalty and service in
return for protection and recognition. The Iron Age Levantine territorial polities were not centralized
in the impersonal, bureaucratic sense of the word. Rather, they were based on a network of personal
patronage relations, centered on ruling elites often residing in palaces.
It was in this context that kinship and household terminology (e.g., house, father, son, brother, master,
servant) provided the most common metaphors for political relations, thus shaping the social depend-
encies and political hierarchies that structured the ancient Levantine state. Beginning in the late tenth
century BCE, Assyrian royal inscriptions utilized the term “House PN (Personal Name)” in order to
designate some of the newly formed polities in the early Iron Age Levant (“House of Gush,” “House
of Eden,” “House of Gabbar,” and later also “House of Omri” for Israel). The ninth century BCE Tel
2
Dan Stela, referring to Judah as the “House of David,” indicates that such designations were also
common in the Levant, and this is confirmed repeatedly in the books of Samuel and Kings (e.g.,
“Aram the House of Rehob” in 2 Sam 10:6). There has been an extended scholarly debate regarding
the exact meaning of the “House PN” formula, not least in attempts to define what it meant for the
Assyrians. Clearly, it was utilized to refer to the members of a territorial polity, but there is likewise
a wide agreement that such conceptualizations bore a strong association with kin. The “House PN”
formula represents constructed relatedness, an association of groups within the same household. As
this was the very essence of the social development referred to here as “state formation,” the “house”
terminology clearly indicates the strong association of Levantine territorial polities with kin as per-
ceived by their own elites and by outsiders. In this respect, scholars are in disagreement regarding the
exact nature of the Iron Age Levantine territorial polities and their designation, whether as “secondary
states,” “patrimonial states,” “tribal states,” “segmented states,” or “complex chiefdoms”. Naturally,
it will be impossible to encompass all the different political formations of the Iron Age Levant in one
conclusive term. Each polity had its own patterns and socio-political traditions, as is also the case
with Israel and Judah. Yet any and all of the various terms employed by scholars to better express the
nature of the Levantine kingdoms aim to highlight one common structural element: their fragmented
nature, ultimately based on an overarching notion of kinship.
It is against this background that the main goal of the proposed research center stands out. While
considerable efforts were made in previous scholarship to define and conceptualize the Iron Age Le-
vantine territorial polities, little attention has been paid to the basic components of these polities,
namely the various kin-based communities that clustered under the auspice of dynastic rulers. Hence,
we propose to scrutinize the unique phenomenon of the Iron Age Levantine polities by turning the
spotlight to the fragments from which they were composed. Instead of trying to find one unifying
concept to represent this unique socio-political phenomenon, the work of the center shall penetrate
beneath the relatively visible political and economic systems and nation-like identities by focusing
on local communities—their social structure and localized identities, their subsistence economy and
exchange networks, and the different modes in which they interacted with one another and/or with
the centralized authorities. In so doing, we aim for the broader sense of the term community, from
the more obvious differentiation of communities by their mode of life and subsistence economy (e.g.,
rural, urban, pastoral) to communities of practice and communities of knowledge, formed by people
who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavour (e.g., potters,
scribes).
To achieve this goal, the proposed center will take an interdisciplinary approach, integrating the ar-
chaeology of the Levant with the study of pertinent literary evidence including, but not limited to, the
Hebrew Bible, and it will firmly anchor this study within an encompassing view of the Levantine
history. The proposed research center shall consist of three branches based in the Sonia and Marco
Nadler Institute of Archaeology in Tel Aviv University (TAU) and in the Departments of Hebrew
Bible at Friedrich-Schiller Universitӓt Jena (FSJ) and Ruhr-Universitӓt Bochum (RUB). Each of the
three branches will direct research as indicated below in four research tracks.

3
(1) Identifying and defining communities in the material culture of the Iron Age Levant (directed by
TAU): The goal of this track is to define the different communities, who formed the Iron Age Levan-
tine polities, in light of their material remains. First by defining a/the community, then by studying
its social complexity and interaction, subsistence economy and exchange networks, and other social
and cultural aspects reflected in the material remains of a specific community. It is most common to
identify communities archaeologically by inter- or intra-site analysis (analysis of settlement patterns
or analysis of a site’s layout, respectively). This enables one to identify the community with a site
(rural, urban, etc.) or within a site (a sector in a city or village). However, integrating natural sciences
allows one to shed light on communities that traversed the boundaries of a single settlement, like
communities of knowledge and practice who share some kind of social belonging, even when inte-
grated within a much more complex socio-political structure (e.g., groups of potters as identified by
computational archaeology).
(2) Communities in Levantine epigraphy (directed by TAU): In addition to the well-known royal
inscriptions, epigraphic finds from the Iron Age Levant include manifold forms of writing (ostraca,
incisions, stamps, seals, etc.). The goal of the proposed center’s epigraphic track is to explore these
corpora for evidence of communities of knowledge (e.g., scribes, officials) and on the networks of
communication between the ruling/scribal elites and the different components of a polity. Within this
framework, we shall also encourage the study of Levantine royal inscriptions, which create the notion
of a culturally and politically unified territorial kingdom under the rule of a local dynasty and its
patron deity. Informed by insights from literary evidence non-aligned with this ideology (see above),
one becomes able to critically appreciate the ways in which royal scribes and monarchic institutions
constructed this image.
(3) Levantine communities according to the evidence of the Former Prophets, or so-called historical
books of the Hebrew Bible (directed by FSJ): The story of ancient Israel as it is presented in the so-
called historical books explains by way of narrative how the Israelite tribal society, divided into dif-
ferent and sometimes rivalling clans, coalesced into a monarchic polity. The tribal structure of Israel
is particularly apparent in the tribal lists in the books of Joshua and Judges. While the antiquity of the
tribal structure attested to there and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible has been called into doubt repeat-
edly in recent research, there is significant evidence to argue that monarchic Israel and Judah were
understood to be a tribal society, and even to trace essential elements of that structure (and the stories
reflecting it) to the Iron Age. To be sure, when it comes to the extant compositional contexts, much
of this evidence does not predate the Persian period. Equally clear, however, is the fact that the tradi-
tions themselves originate from, and have been compiled and redacted in major parts, during the
monarchic period, thus inviting one to investigate the role of tribes and clans within a monarchic
polity. In so doing, the Center shall explore the ways in which scribal elites constructed a shared
monarchic identity transcending local clannish and tribal configurations. This approach shall also
benefit from the study of Levantine royal inscriptions exhibiting similar pragmatics.
(4) Levantine communities according to the evidence of the early prophetic traditions of the Hebrew
Bible as contained in the Latter Prophets (directed by RUB): Engaging with and commenting on
essential issues of state formation and society, prophetic traditions in both Israel and Judah were
4
committed to writing as early as the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. To be sure, the compositional contexts
in which these traditions are contained now do not date to the monarchical period. However, this does
not preclude, but rather encourages one to investigating into more original literary forms of these
traditions and their socio-political contexts. Therefore, early prophetic traditions especially in the
books of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah, are an important, if not the most important, biblical sources
of evidence for the Iron Age polities of Israel and Judah and their fragmented nature. What is more,
the traditions in question as a rule exhibit a point of view, which does not necessarily reflect monar-
chic or royal ideology from within, but rather a view (often sharply critical) on these ideologies and
the institutions behind them. Pertinent textual traditions attest to the fragmented nature of society in
both Israel (Amos, Hosea) and Judah (Micah, Isaiah), and they provide a rich array of social infor-
mation. Therefore, we propose to analyze these traditions in interaction with the archaeological and
epigraphic study of external evidence and in analogy to evidence found in the historical books of the
Hebrew Bible, the latter as a rule being more inclined to royal ideology.

4. Benefits of the Center and Significance of the Research Program

In establishing the proposed Center and conducting research as described here, we hope to achieve
five different benefits for the scholarly community and beyond. Firstly, in regards to the state of
research in the various disciplines engaged, the work of the proposed research center shall contribute
significantly to broadening the historical and archaeological view of the ancient Near East, with an
emphasis on the structure of ancient Near Eastern societies, their modes of life and networks. Sec-
ondly, as this research shall be conducted in interdisciplinary cooperation and within a multidiscipli-
nary framework of associated partners, it will also advance the methodological and theoretical frame-
work within which future research on Levantine polities in the Iron Age may be set. Thirdly, there is
a decided focus on the training and inclusion of emerging junior scholars (on this, see below, para-
graph 8), which shall contribute to recruiting and educating the next generation of scholars in the
various disciplines that participate in the proposed research center, and to equip them with the outlook
and ability to think and work in a rigorously interdisciplinary and collaborative fashion. Fourthly, the
research of the proposed center will hopefully also benefit, in a transdisciplinary fashion, the public
at large. This is due to the fact that, when viewed in the longue durée, the phenomenon of local
territorial polities is unique to the early Iron Age, the Levant being ruled by imperial powers through-
out its history. The only other occasion in which the Levant was restructured into local territorial
polities was, in fact, during the decolonization in the second half of the 20th century when nation
states were formed (with varied rates of success). From this perspective, we believe that our work
will provide insights not only into polities and actual politics of the Levant in antiquity but also lend
historical depth to discussions of its fragmented and conflicted present. Lastly, since currently there
is too little interaction between scholars who study the ancient northern Levant and those who study
the ancient southern Levant, mainly due to the current Levantine political borders which are mostly
uncrossable, we also wish to create a suitable space, anchored in part on European soil, where scholars
working from both sides of current Levantine borders could meet and exchange knowledge and ideas.

5
5. Structure and Organization of the Center
As indicated above, the proposed Minerva Research Center will consist of three branches based in
the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology in Tel Aviv University (TAU), represented by
the PI, and in the Departments of Hebrew Bible at Friedrich Schiller Universitӓt Jena (FSU, Prof. Dr.
Hannes Bezzel) and Ruhr-Universitӓt Bochum (RUB, Prof. Dr. Joachim J. Krause). The multidisci-
plinary outlook of our work shall be fostered by constant interaction between the three branches (see
below). In addition, research in each branch will be conducted in close cooperation with intramural
partners, thus providing important scholarly contexts. These partners are, at TAU, the department of
Middle Eastern and African history; at FSJ, the departments of classical archaeology (Prof. Dr. Eva
Winter), ancient Near Eastern studies (Prof. Dr. Johannes Hackl), and Sabaic studies (Prof. Dr. Peter
Stein), the chair for Hebrew Bible (Prof. Dr. Uwe Becker), as well as the research cluster “Founda-
tions of Europe”; at RUB, the department for classical archaeology (Prof. Dr. Constance von Rüden),
the chairs for Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism (Prof. Dr. Beate Ego), and Hebrew Bible and history
of ancient Israel (Prof. Dr. Christian Frevel), as well as the multidisciplinary Center for Religious
Studies (CERES). The coordination of the activities of the center and public relations will be directed
by an assistant of the PI at TAU.

Figure 1: Organigram of the Minerva Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities

6. Collaboration within Israel, Synergy, Complementary Attributes amongst German Partners

The institute of archaeology at TAU is particularly well-equipped to pursue research such as that
described here, as it has been conceptualized as an interdisciplinary center in itself, which includes
various laboratories and thus integrates natural sciences into archaeological studies (such as compu-
tational archaeology, metallurgy, petrography and the study of ancient materials, zooarchaeology,
and archaeobotanical studies). Students are being trained in these methods from early on and grow
up to be interdisciplinary oriented scholars. Within Israel, there is a strong cooperation with the Israel
Antiquities Authority (IAA) which is essential for successful archaeological fieldwork as well as

6
presentation and publication of the finds. Furthermore, as indicated, the Department of Middle East-
ern and African History in TAU will act as intramural associate partner.
The PI, the IAA (represented by Dr. Karen Covello-Paran), and Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel of FSJ al-
ready look back on a successful triangular cooperation. Starting in 2019, we have been working on
the project “The Archaeological Expression of Palace-Clan-Relations in the Iron Age Levant: A Case
Study from the Jezreel Valley, Israel,” funded by the Gerda Henkel-Foundation. In 2021, this coop-
eration has been expanded into a quadrangular enterprise when Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause of RUB,
who had previously cooperated with the PI in the organization of two conferences (Tel Aviv 2015
and Tübingen 2017) and a resultant book publication (Ancient Israel and Its Literature 140; SBL
Press, 2020), joined the team. The four of us held a symposium on “The Archaeological Expression
of Palace-Clan-Relations and the Socio-Political Structure of the Iron Age Levantine Polities” (No-
vember 2021). Currently, the collected communications of this conference are being prepared for
publication (Archaeology of the Biblical Worlds; de Gruyter, forthcoming). Furthermore, the PI and
his co-PIs are conducting a session on palace-clan relations in the frame of the Deuteronomistic His-
tory section at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) in Denver, scheduled
for November 2022. In addition to these activities, work has begun on the jointly-directed Tel Shad-
dud Regional Project (survey of the mound in July 2022; seasonal excavation campaigns are being
planned for the coming years). These joint activities demonstrate that the PI and his partners are well-
experienced in fruitful cooperation with one another and have already done essential groundwork on
the topic of the fragmented nature of Iron Age Levantine polities. In doing so, the various competen-
cies have proven to complement and enrich each other. Hence, the proposed research center may be
built on a firmly established and most productive cooperation, its interdisciplinary outlook being
broadened yet again by mutually interacting with various associated partners of the three branches
(see above).

7. Collaboration and Joint Activities with German Partners

The activities of the proposed Minerva Research Center will be taking place on three levels: (A) On
the level of senior scholars; (B) on the level of emerging junior scholars (doctoral students and post-
doctoral researchers); (C) on the level of MA (or equivalent) students. Of course, the respective ac-
tivities and events need not and will not be separated from each other; rather, they will be firmly
integrated into one mutually enriching scholarly context. From an organizational perspective, how-
ever, it will prove helpful to distinguish the three levels.

Level (A) and (B):

• In cooperation with the associated partners, the PI and his two German co-PIs will host a
large-scale international conference on the topic of the fragmented nature of Levantine polities
every other year. The first conference of this series shall take place in Tel Aviv, the second in
Bochum, the third in Jena.
• In order to share the results of these conferences as well as individual work pertaining to the
issues at hand with the scholarly community, we plan to establish a book series (working title:

7
 “Fragmentations”). The publishing house of the Institute of Archaeology in TAU will provide
us with the infrastructure to establish this series.

Level (B) and (C):

• Every other year, alternating with the rhythm of the major conferences, two emerging scholars
will be given the opportunity to host scholarly workshops on topics of their research concern-
ing fragmentation in the frame of the center. Publication of the results in the series to be es-
tablished will be encouraged.
• From the second year of the funding period onwards, there will be one scholarship per year
for a doctoral or post-doctoral researcher of one of the three branches, enabling her or him to
pursue research and contribute to the center in the other branches.
• Every summer, ten students from RUB and FSJ, respectively, will be participating in archae-
ological fieldwork in Israel in a German-Israeli team coordinated by the PI and his two Ger-
man co-PIs. This archaeological training shall enable and enhance the interdisciplinary out-
look of the proposed research center.

Level (C):
• Per year, three students (MA or equivalent)—one from FSJ, one from RUB, and one position
to be advertised internationally—will receive a scholarship to participate for the one-year MA
program in Ancient Israel Studies at TAU.
• In a hybrid advanced seminar (“Oberseminar”) conducted every other week by the PI and the
co-PIs, students and emerging scholars from the three branches of the proposed Center will
have the opportunity to discuss work in progress in an international and interdisciplinary
framework. The advanced seminars will be dedicated to different aspects and expressions of
Levantine fragmented polities in the material remains and the textual sources. The sessions
will be organized digitally via Zoom.

8. Training and Inclusion of Junior Scholars

The activities described above decidedly place emphasis on the offering of training of emerging
scholars and on equipping them with a multidisciplinary outlook in conjunction with the three
branches of the Center. In so doing, we intend to demonstrate that in the face of current global crises,
the study of ancient history and Humanities and Social Sciences in general is not only a worthwhile
endeavor but also an attractive subject for students. We therefore aim at creating networks between
Israeli and German senior and junior scholars, and at integrating junior scholars into already existing
research projects. Junior scholars equipped with a scholarship to pursue their research in one of the
branches of the Center will be invited to organize international workshops on subjects from the realm
of problems dealt with in the Center. In addition, all students and junior scholars at the three branches
of the Center will participate in an advanced seminar held every other week via Zoom (see above).
The TAU branch will be particularly suitable for training advanced students (MA, PhD level) in ar-
chaeology as it offers an existing successful international program for the history and archaeology of
the Land of the Bible. Students will be able to take courses in the program, and to participate in field
8
tours to archaeological sites in Israel. In addition to that, students at the TAU branch of the Center
will be invited to field schools during summer excavations at the site and be trained in fieldwork
archaeology. In the Bochum branch, students and junior scholars will be introduced to historical crit-
icism and literary history of the Hebrew Bible, with a focus on early prophetic tradition and the Latter
Prophets in general. In so doing, there will be a focus on the integration of humanities and social
sciences. This is a sustained focus of research of the Bochum co-PI, currently being pursued in two
major research projects (the DFG project “Joshua postcolonial,” directed by the co-PI and conducted
by Dr. Helge Bezold, and an international research group and conference series funded by Wissen-
schaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie, titled “Politische Theorie im Alten und Neuen Testament und
in ihren Umwelten,” directed by the co-PI together with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Oswald of Tübingen and
Prof. Dr. Stefan Krauter of Zürich). The integration of humanities and the social sciences is also at
the heart of research activities at CERES, RUB’s cutting-edge interdisciplinary Center for Religious
Studies. The Bochum branch of the proposed center will closely interact with CERES both as a plat-
form (joint workshops; eJournal Entangled Religions, etc.) and with individual members. At the Jena
branch, students and junior scholars will be introduced to biblical criticism with a focus on diachronic
methodology in the so-called historical books of the Former Prophets. In addition, the associate part-
ners at FSJ offer options to discuss work in progress in a broader context, connecting the ancient Near
East with the Levant, the Aegean world, and South Arabia, thus overcoming the persistent cliché of
a cultural separation of the Levant and the “Greek World,” emphasizing instead the interconnected-
ness of the Middle East and Europe.

9. Budget Plan
For the envisaged funding period, we calculate costs as follows in the table below. The respective
items are calculated according to estimated costs as of present (July 2022).

2023 Initial conference (Tel Aviv) 30.000,- €

3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 15.000,- €
Additional travel costs for the PI and the co-PIs 3 x 2.000,- € 6.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

2024 2 grants for emerging scholars to conduct a workshop 2 x 9.000,- € 18.000,- €

3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
1 grant for a junior scholar at a branch of the center 11.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 14.000,- €
Publication expenses 8.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

9
2025 International Conference at Bochum 20.000,- €
3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
1 grant for a junior scholar at a branch of the center 11.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 14.000,- €
Publication expenses 6.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

2026 2 grants for junior scholars to conduct a workshop 2 x 9.000,- € 18.000,- €

3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
1 grant for a junior scholar at a branch of the center 11.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 14.000,- €
Publication expenses 8.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

2027 International Conference at Jena 20.000,- €

3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
1 grant for a junior scholar at a branch of the center 11.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 14.000,- €
Publication expenses 6.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

2028 2 grants for junior scholars to conduct a workshop 2 x 9.000,- € 18.000,- €

3 one-year scholarships for the TAU International Program 3 x 11.000,- € 33.000,- €
Fieldwork training for 10 students from RUB and FSJ each 2 x 10 x 3.300,- € 66.000,- €
1 grant for a junior scholar at a branch of the center 11.000,- €
Coordination of activities, public relations, maintenance of website 14.000,- €
Publication expenses 8.000,- €
Total 150.000,- €

10
 Dr. Omer Sergi: Curriculum Vitae, July 2022

Address:
The Sonia and Marco Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Haim Levanon St.
30, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel.
Phone +972(0)545591992
E-mail omertelaviv@gmail.com

Date and place of birth 21 June, 1977, Haifa, Israel

Current Position: Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near

Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University (since 1/1/2022).

Education:

B.A.: 2002-2005 - Tel Aviv University, Department of Jewish History and Department
of General History (summa cum lauda)
M.A.: 2006-2007 - Tel Aviv University, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near
Eastern Cultures (summa cum laude, no thesis, direct program for outstanding
students to PhD)
PhD: 2007–2012 - Tel Aviv University, School of Jewish Studies (approved, Jan
2013)
Post-Doctorate: 2012–2014 - Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar, Ruprecht-
Karls Universität, Heidelberg, Germany on behalf of the Alexander von Humboldt
Research Fellowship for Outstanding post-Doctoral students.

Academic and Professional Experience:

2012–2013 Associate Lecturer, Hochschüle für Judische Studien, Ruprecht-

Karls Universität Heidelberg, Germany
2014–2021 Associate Lecturer, “Ancient Israel Studies”, Department of
Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv
University
2014–2021 Associate Lecturer, The International Program for the Study of the
History and Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, The Sonia and
Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
(teaching in English)

Archaeological Experience:

2005–2010 Area supervisor and administrator, The Ramat Raḥel

Archaeological Project (Directed by Oded Lipschits and
Manfred Oeming).
2012–2016 Area supervisor, The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition
(Directed by Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Manfred
Oeming).
July 2018; March–July Director, Salvage Excavations in Ḥorvat Tevet, the Jezreel
2019 Valley, carried out by the Israeli Institute for Archaeology
on behalf of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of
Archaeology, Tel Aviv University (license B-467/2018; B-
475/2019).

July 2022 Director, Tel Shaddud Regional Project: Survey (license S-

1185/2022). 1
List of Ten Important Publications
1. Sergi, O. in press. The Two Houses of Israel: State Formation in Israel and Judah and the Origins
of Pan-Israelite Identity (Archaeology and Biblical Studies). SBL Press, Atlanta.

2. Sergi, O. 2013. Judah's Expansion in Historical Context. Tel Aviv 40: 226–246.

3. Sergi, O. 2015. State Formation, Religion and "Collective Identity" in the Southern Levant.
Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 4: 56–77.

4. Sergi, O. 2017. The Emergence of Judah as a Political Entity between Jerusalem and Benjamin.
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Palӓstina-Vereins 133: 1–23.

5. Sergi, O. and Gadot, Y. 2017. The Omride Palatial Architecture as Symbols in Action: Between
State Formation, Obliteration and Heritage. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 76:1–9.

6. Sergi, O. 2019. Israelite Identity and the Formation of the Israelite Polities in the Iron I-IIA
Central Canaanite Highlands. Welt des Orients 49: 206–235.

7. Sergi, O. 2019. The Iron I-IIA and the Rise of Ancient Israel: A Fresh Look. Near Eastern
Archaeology 82: 42–51.

8. Sergi, O. 2020. Saul, David and the Formation of the Israelite Monarchy: Revisiting the Historical
and Literary Context of 1 Samuel 9–2 Samuel 5. In: Krause, J., Sergi, O. and Weingart, K. eds.
Saul, Benjamin and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel (Ancient Israel and its Literature 40).
Atlanta (SBL Press): 57–91.

9. Amir, A., Gadot, Y., Weitzel, J., Finkelstein, I., Neumann, R., Bezzel, H., Covello-Paran, K., and
Sergi, O. 2021. Heated beeswax usage in mortuary practices: The case of Ḥorvat Tevet (Jezreel
Valley, Israel) ca. 1000 BCE. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 36: 1–11.

10. Sergi, O. in press. Israel and Judah. In: Moeller, N., Potts, D.T. and Radner, K. eds. The Oxford
History of the Ancient Near East Vol. IV. Oxford: University Press.

2
 Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel
Born 04 June, 1975, married, three children

Contact Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

Theologische Fakultät
Fürstengraben 6
07743 Jena
hannes.bezzel@uni-jena.de

Current Position Professor for Old Testament Studies since 2015

Education and Juniorprofessor for Old Testament Studies, Friedrich-

Former Positions Schiller-Universität Jena, 2010–2015

Habilitation 2014

Ordained Minister of the Lutheran Church of Bavaria since

2011

Internship Evangelische Predigerkirche Erfurt 2009–2011

Research Assistant to Prof. Dr. Christoph Bultmann,

University of Erfurt 2006–2010

Doctor of Theology (summa cum laude), Georg-August-

Universität Göttingen 2007

Doctoral Dissertation 2003–2007, funded by the Hanns-

Seidel-Foundation

Research Assistant to Prof. Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Graf,

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2003–2004

Diploma Protestant Theology (1,38), Ludwig-Maximilians-

Universität München, 2003

Student of Protestant Theology, Ludwig-Maximilians-

Universität München 2001–2003, University of Zurich
2000–2001, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen 1997–
2000 (funded by a Bavarian National Grant)

Apprenticeship as a cabinet maker 1994–1997

Abitur Gymnasium Carolinum Ansbach 1994 (1,1)

Bibliography https://www.theologie.uni-jena.de/hannes-bezzel
 Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel, CV

List of 10 topic-related publications

Monograph
1. Saul. Israels König in Tradition, Redaktion und früher Rezeption, FAT 97,
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.

Edited Book
2. Hannes Bezzel / Reinhard G. Kratz (Hg.), David in the Desert. Tradition and
Redaction in the “History of David’s Rise”, BZAW 514, Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter
2021.

Articles
3. The Numerous Deaths of King Saul, in: Cynthia Edenburg / Juha Pakkala (Hg.), Is
Samuel among the Deuteronomists?, Current Views on the Place of Samuel in a
Deuteronomistic History, Ancient Israel and Its Literature (SBLAIL) 16, Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2013, 325–347.
4. Saul und die Philister. Redaktionskritische Überlegungen zu I Sam 13–14, in:
Walter Dietrich (Hg.), The Books of Samuel. Stories – History – Reception History,
BEThL 284, Leuven: Peeters, 2016, 459–468.
5. Samuel’s Political Career, in: Katharina Pyschny / Sarah Schulz (Hg.), Debating
Authority. Concepts of Leadership in the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets,
BZAW 507, Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2018, 248–252.
6. Noch einmal: ‫ איש‬ ‫ויהי‬, 1Samuel 1 und der Anfang des Deuteronomistischen
Geschichtswerkes, in: Thomas Römer / Ido Koch / Omer Sergi (Hg.), Writing,
Rewriting, and Overwriting in the Books of Deuteronomy and the Former
Prophets: Essays in Honor of Cynthia Edenburg, BEThl 304, Leuven: Peeters 2019,
195–210.
7. Saul ben Kish – Relevant for which Identity? Welt des Orients (WdO) 49 (2019),
236–251.
8. Der „Saulidische Erbfolgekrieg“ – Responses to Which Kind of Monarchy? In: Sara
Kipfer / Jeremy M. Hutton (Hg.), The Book of Samuel and Its Response to
Monarchy, BWANT 228, Suttgart: Kohlhammer, 2021, 165–181.
9. Saul and David – Stages of their Literary Relationship, in: Hannes Bezzel / Reinhard
G. Kratz (Hg.), David in the Desert. Tradition and Redaction in the “History of
David’s Rise”, BZAW 514, Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter, 2021, 159–180.

Co-Authorship
10. Omer Sergi, Hannes Bezzel, Yoav Tsur, Karen Covello-Paran: Ḥorvat Ṭevet in the
Jezreel Valley: A Royal Israelite Estate, in: Karen Covello-Paran, Adi Erlich, Ron
Beeri (Hg.), New Studies in the Archaeology of Northern Israel, Jerusalem: Israel
Antiquities Authority, 2021, 31*–48*.

2
 Theologische Fakultät
Professur für Altes Testament

Prof. Dr. Hannes Bezzel

Universität Jena · Professur für Altes Testament · 07737 Jena
Fürstengraben 6
07743 Jena
Minerva Stiftung
Telefon: 0 36 41 9-427 15
Gesellschaft für die Forschung
Telefax: 0 36 41 9-426 14
Postfach 101062 E-Mail: hannes.bezzel@uni-jena.de
80084 München

Jena, 18. März 2022

Proposal by Dr. Omer Sergi, Tel Aviv University, for a Minerva Research Center for the
Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities – Cooperation

Dear Madam or Sir,

in the course of the 2022/23 call for proposals, Dr. Omer Sergi, senior lecturer in the
Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, has
submitted an application for a „Research Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age
Levantine Polities“.

I am happy to confirm that my esteemed colleague Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause (Ruhr
Universität Bochum) and I are Dr. Sergi‘s German cooperation partners in this endeavour.

Dr. Sergi and I have been cooperating in several workshops since 2018. Since 2019 we have
been working together with Dr. Karen Covello-Paran (Israel Antiquities Authority) in the
project „The Archaeological Expression of Palace Clan Relations in the Iron Age Levant: A
Case Study from the Jezreel Valley, Israel“, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Together with Prof. Krause, we organized a symposium in Jena in November 2021 on the
subject of palace-clan-relations in the wider Middle Eastern context. Currently the three of us
are planning further project-based cooperation which will include the excavation of Tel
Shaddud in the Jezreel Valley, Israel.

The realisation of a Minerva Center for the Fragmented Nature of Iron Age Levantine Polities
will enable us to go beyond the level of short-time projects, to pool our results and resources,
and especially to integrate junior scholars from Israel and Germany alike into our long-term
cooperation.

Both the Jena Theological Faculty as well as the Friedrich Schiller University as a whole will
be happy to support our work with the infrastructure necessary on the German side of the
partnership.

Sincerely,
 Professor Dr. Joachim J. Krause
Born 27 August 1978, married, two children

Contact Details Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät

Universitätsstraße 150, GA 8/158–160, 44801 Bochum, Germany

Current Positions Full Professor of Hebrew Bible at Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Heisenberg Fellow of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Education and Senior lecturer (Privatdozent) in Hebrew Bible at the University of Tübingen,
Former Positions 2019–2021

Principal investigator of a research project funded by Deutsche

Forschungsgemeinschaft (Eigene Stelle), 2018–2021

Lecturer (Assistent) at the University of Tübingen, 2015–2018

Pastor of the Lutheran church in Stuttgart, 2012–2015, ordained 2014

Doctor of Theology (summa cum laude), University of Tübingen, 2013

Doctoral dissertation, 2008–2012, funded by

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, advisor: Erhard Blum

Research assistant to Erhard Blum, University of Tübingen,

Department of Hebrew Bible, 2008–2012

Visiting research scholar, Yale University, 2009, sponsor: John J. Collins

Research associate of an ERC network of excellence, University of Tübingen,

School of Jewish Studies, 2008–2009

Student of theology and Semitic languages (Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian),

University of Tübingen, 2005–2008, graduation 2008

Visiting graduate student, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2004–2005,

advisors: Emanuel Tov, Yair Zakovitch, Shimon Gesundheit

Student of theology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2000–2004

Student of political science, Free University of Berlin, 2000–2003

Bibliography www.ev.rub.de/heisenberg-professur-at
and Full CV www.rub.academia.edu/JoachimJKrause
 Selection of Related Publications
Monographs Exodus und Eisodus: Komposition und Theologie von Josua 1–5 (Supplements
to Vetus Testamentum 161), Leiden & Boston: Brill 2014 (reprint 2017).

Edited Books Saul, Benjamin and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel: Biblical and Archaeological
Perspectives, edited by Joachim J. Krause, Omer Sergi & Kristin Weingart (Ancient Isra-
el and Its Literature 40), Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature 2020.

Edited Journal Issues Borders and Space in the Book of Joshua, special issue of Hebrew Bible and Ancient
Israel, edited by Joachim J. Krause & Nili Wazana (accepted; in print).

Journal Articles “The Land Remains to be Possessed”: Judges 2:6–10, Joshua 13:1–7, and the Incorpora-
tion of the Land Distribution Account, in: Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (accepted; in
print).

Hexateuchal Redaction in Joshua, in: Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 6 (2017), pp. 181–
202.

Kuntillet ʿAjrud Inscription 4.3: A Note on the Alleged Exodus Tradition, in: Vetus
Testamentum 67 (2017), pp. 485–490.

Book Chapters The Israelite Tribal System as Reflected in the Book of Joshua: Literary and Traditio-
Historical Considerations, in: Omer Sergi, Hannes Bezzel, Joachim J. Krause & Karen
Covello-Paran (eds.), The Archaeological Expression of Palace-Clan Relations and the
Socio-Political Structure of the Iron Age Levantine Kingdoms (Archaeology of the
Biblical Worlds), Berlin & New York: De Gruyter 2023 (accepted; in print).

Amos und das Erdbeben oder: das prophetische Wort bewährt sich in seiner Ausle-
gung, in: Konrad Schmid (ed.), Heilige Schriften in der Kritik. XVII. Europäischer Kon-
gress für Theologie (Veröffentlichungen der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Theolo-
gie), Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt 2022 (accepted; in print).

The Land of Benjamin between the Emerging Kingdoms of Israel and Judah: A Histori-
cal Hypothesis on the Reign of Rehoboam, in: Joachim J. Krause, Omer Sergi & Kristin
Weingart (eds.), Saul, Benjamin and the Emergence of Monarchy in Israel: Biblical and
Archaeological Perspectives (Ancient Israel and Its Literature 40), Atlanta: Society of
Biblical Literature 2020, pp. 111–131.

Dictionary Entries Art. Kanaan / Kanaanäer, in: WiBiLex (2021).

ӓ