What if ...
One-Plus-One Was Greater Than Two?
By Lisa Kremer
Tel Aviv University spearheaded interdisciplinary studies before interdisciplinary became a buzzword. But how does it really work? How do researchers from different fields find common language, let alone common scientific ground? TAU Review presents four duos who are crossing boundaries to create new research directions – and all the while, immensely enjoying the ride.
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It was 1998 at the archaeological excavation of Megiddo overlooking the green Jezreel Valley. Israel Finkelstein, Jacob M. Alkow Professor of the Archaeology of Israel in the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, noticed a dig participant who did not quite fit the profile of a typical university undergraduate. “I sniffed around and learned that this particular student was actually a TAU professor flying under the radar. He turned out to be a very important ‘find,’” smiles Finkelstein. That student, incumbent of the Wolfson Chair in Experimental Physics Eli Piasetzky, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, was pursuing a de-
gree in archaeology. Prof. Finkelstein pulled him aside to talk, and so began a research partnership that is still active two decades later.
When were early Biblical texts written? The archaeological issue of the day was mapping the chronology of the Iron Age in ancient Israel. Finkelstein challenged Piasetzky to improve the dating of remains from biblical times by using the radiocarbon method. The findings, published in professional and lay publications worldwide, rendered a new timeline of ancient Israel with lasting ramifications for biblical studies.
