Yoram Tsafrir

Yoram Tsafrir (Hebrew: יורם צפריר‎‎; 30 January 1938 – 23 November 2015) was an Israeli archaeologist. His research has included the Byzantine influence on ancient synagogues, demography of Palestine in the Byzantine period, mosaics at Horvat Berachot, excavations at Beit She'an, and excavations at Rehoboth (in the Negev). A Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he was a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Yoram Tsafrir was born in 1938 in Kfar Azar in Tel Aviv District. A graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1976, he became senior lecturer there in 1978, professor in 1987, and professor emeritus in 2006. From 1989 until 1992 he was Head of the Institute of Archaeology and was Director of the Jewish National and University Library from 2001 to 2007. He was also visiting Fellow at the Harvard University, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC. Yoram Tsafrir died on 23 November 2015 at a hospital in Jerusalem.

His work mainly involved the archaeology and history of Palestine and the East during the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. His archaeological excavations covered Bet She'an-Scythopolis, Rehoboth in the Negev, Alexandreion (Sartaba), Horvat Berachot (between Bethlehem and Hebron) and many other sites.

Tsafrir has claimed that by around the year 400 C.E., the Christians "constituted the majority in Palestine." He has also concluded that virtually no synagogue buildings in Palestine can be dated to the second and early third centuries.

In Jerusalem, Tsafrir has worked on numerous monuments, including Acra Fortress and Nea Ekklesia of the Theotokos. From 19774-75 on, he superintended and updated the Holyland Model of Jerusalem, a project of Michael Avi-Yonah (1904–1974), whose student he was.

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