Prof. Zeev Weiss

Zeev Weiss is the Eleazar L. Sukenik Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Trained in Classical Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he specializes in Roman and late antique art and architecture in the province of Syria-Palaestina. His interests lie in various aspects of town planning, architectural design, mosaic art, synagogues, Jewish art, public spectacles, as well as the evaluation of archaeological finds in light of the socio-cultural behavior of Jewish society and its dialogue with Graeco-Roman and Christian cultures. As Director of the Sepphoris excavations on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 1990, his work has contributed greatly to the understanding of the architectural development and character of the city throughout its history.

Weiss is a Fulbright scholar and has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (IAS), Princeton University, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), and Bard Graduate Center (BGC). He has written over 120 articles and four major volumes, and has co-edited seven books: R. Talgam and Z. Weiss, The Mosaics in the House of Dionysos at Sepphoris: Excavated by E. M. Meyers, E. Netzer and C. L. Meyers, Qedem 44 (Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, 2004); The Sepphoris Synagogue: Deciphering an Ancient Message through Its Archaeological and Socio-Historical Contexts (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2005), Public Spectacles in Roman and Late Antique Palestine (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014); Sepphoris: A Mosaic of Cultures [Hebrew] (Jerusalem, Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 2021).