This past winter UCLA was fortunate to have Ronny Reich, Professor of Archaeology at Haifa University in Israel, spend his sabbatical in Los Angeles. While in the area, Reich—Senior Archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and co-director of the City of David excavations in Jerusalem—presented a series of lectures on recent archaeological work conducted in Jerusalem co-sponsored by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. His first lecture discussed the Canaanite (ca. 1800–1600 BCE) water system of Jerusalem, including a massive rock-cut pool and towers that surrounded the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem’s only water source. The subsequent lecture shared new inscriptions and archaeobotanical remains from the City of David, many coming from the rock-cut pool. Reich’s third lecture focused on the recent excavations at the Second Temple Period Pool of Siloam (ca. 200 BCE–70 CE), while his final lecture discussed death and burial in Iron Age Jerusalem (1200–587 BCE), as illuminated by his work at the tombs in the Mamilla neighborhood. In addition to these public lectures Reich also taught a seminar on daily life in the Second Temple Period. Further, he serves as a senior archaeological advisor for UCLA’s own Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project (JCHP), a joint project between UCLA and the Israel Antiquities Department that is co-directed by Aaron Burke, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and Martin Peilstocker, IAA researcher.

Kyle Keimer is a Near Eastern Languages and Cultures graduate student specializing in Archaeology.