| Boaz Zissu | |
| Birth Date: | 29 April 1966 |
| Nationality: | Israeli |
| Citizenship: | Israel |
| Alma Mater: | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Occupation: | Archaeologist |
| Employer: | Bar-Ilan University |
| Known For: | Archaeology of the late Second Temple period and Bar Kokhba revolt |
| Professor | |
Boaz Zissu is an Israeli archaeologist who serves as a professor of classical archaeology in the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University since 2004. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the department head. Additionally, he holds the position of chief editor for the Israel Numismatic Journal, a publication dedicated to the study of ancient coins.[1]
Boaz Zissu's research and archaeological fieldwork primarily focuses on the Bar Kokhba revolt and the archaeology of Israel during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. His interests also include historical geography, settlement patterns, and ancient Near Eastern agricultural practices.
Zissu studied for his bachelor's and master's degrees in archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His master's thesis, completed in 1995, focused on tombs and burial practices in Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period and served as a continuation of the doctoral research of Prof. Amos Kloner, written in 1980.
Zissu completed his doctoral studies with honors at the Hebrew University in 2002, under the supervision of Prof. Dan Bahat. The topic of his dissertation was "Rural Settlement in Judea from the Late Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt." The research provides information on over 300 Jewish sites that existed in the geographical area stretching from the Shiloh Valley in the north to the Beersheba Basin in the south and from the Judaean Desert in the east to the coastal plain in the west.
Over the years, Zissu conducted numerous archaeological excavations and surveys across the country, many of them under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority, where he held supervisory, managerial, and research positions from 1987 to 2002. Among his responsibilities was heading the unit for preventing antiquities theft. His excavations and surveys focused on Jerusalem, the Jericho region, the Makhrish Valley (together with Prof. Hanan Eshel), and various sites in the Jerusalem Mountains and the Judean Shephelah.
Zissu conducted an extensive archaeological survey in the Jerusalem Mountains covering an area of about 200 square kilometers as part of the "Survey of Israel." The "Sha'ar HaGai Map" (Map 104) was surveyed together with Dani Weiss and Gideon Solimani, and it was published as a book in 2004 as part of the survey publications of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
In addition to his work in the Jerusalem Mountains, Zissu surveyed the southern Judean Shephelah in the Dvira Map. Over the years, he has published three books and more than 130 scientific articles dealing with research on Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Mountains, Judea, and the Shephelah throughout the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Some of the research was published in collaboration with colleagues from Israel and abroad.
In October 2011, Zissu was appointed as a professor at Bar-Ilan University. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the head of the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University.