Managing Editor: Dr. Ayelet Dagan
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, over 10,000 salvage and rescue excavations have been conducted, primarily in response to rapid development and in an effort to preserve the country’s antiquities. While these small-scale excavations yielded valuable insights into the country’s history and contributed to the growing database of antiquities and archaeological sites, many were never properly published. In the meantime, numerous archaeologists who carried out these excavations have since passed away, while others have retired.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) established the Favissa to make excavation reports accessible to both the public and the scholarly community, drawing on information preserved in excavation files compiled by the original excavators. Each short report includes the site name, permit number, excavator’s name, map reference, and a synopsis of the excavation results. The database also records small-scale excavations that yielded no significant finds. The Favissa will continue to expand until it encompasses all past unpublished excavations.
