Our Mission
The Tel Shimron Excavation seeks to understand the ancient world, including the world of the Bible, through rigorous archaeological investigation, in order to provide resources for the study of Levantine history and culture over the last five thousand years.
The Tel Shimron Excavations will expand our knowledge of the past through historical research from ca. 3000 B.C. to the present:
To determine the archaeological stratification of Tel Shimron and to study the wide range of artifacts which testify to its ancient ways of life;
To understand the long term relationships between human habitation in the Galilean Hills and in the Jezreel Valley;
To determine the extent to which the Mediterranean economy penetrated the agricultural centers of Northern Israel over time;
To understand Tel Shimron’s role in the East-West trade which passed through the Jezreel and Beth-Netopha valleys in various periods;
To add to our understanding of the social, economic, and political world that produced and transmitted the Bible and other early texts of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
It will enhance our common future through public outreach:
To publish the technical details of discoveries of the expedition in a fashion that best serves the community of archaeological scholars.
To run a field school committed to introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the archaeological methods and history of the southern Levant;
To demonstrate the value of cultural and historical research to the study of the history of the Bible through a partnership with the Museum of the Bible;
To develop innovative ways of sharing the history of Tel Shimron and its excavations with students, teachers, and the general public in the Jezreel Valley and throughout the world.