Aaron A. Burke

Aaron A. Burke is the Kershaw Chair of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies and Prof. of the Archaeology of ancient Israel and the Levant in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. He received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Archaeology from The University of Chicago in 2004. Since 1997 he has participated in excavations in Israel, Egypt, and Turkey. Since 2007 he has co-directed The Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project, a multi-disciplinary archaeological research project focused on the exploration of pre-modern Jaffa in Israel. These excavations primarily address the New Kingdom Egyptian fortress that was constructed at the site during the Late Bronze Age.

His research interests include the archaeology of ancient Israel, Bronze Age Levantine society, the social impact of warfare, and the construction of identity in antiquity. His present line of research focuses on the cultural and institutional foundations of ancient Israelite society, in particular through the exploration of the culture and institutions of the Amorites during the third and second millennia BC, which is the subject of his most recent book.

He has also authored a monograph on Middle Bronze Age fortifications strategies and a number of articles addressing his primary research interests, as well as co-edited several volumes on the work of the Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project in Jaffa, Israel.

For public presentations, visit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlb8OSAn7J7cwOK6GdGcntph676uq1L2d