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Norma Franklin

Norma Franklin
נורמה פרנקלין
NationalityBritish-Israeli
Alma materTel Aviv University
Known forIron Age archaeology; excavations at Megiddo
Scientific career
FieldsArchaeology, Iron Age studies
InstitutionsUniversity of Haifa, Tel Aviv University

Norma Franklin (Hebrew: נורמה פרנקלין) is a British-Israeli archaeologist specializing in Iron Age archaeology and the Southern Levant. She is renowned for her work at Tel Megiddo, Samaria, and Tel Jezreel, contributing significantly to the study of ancient Israelite and Levantine architecture, water systems, and Neo-Assyrian connections.[1]

Academic background

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Franklin earned her academic degrees at Tel Aviv University, where she completed her Ph.D. in archaeology under the supervision of Prof. Israel Finkelstein and Nadav Na'aman. Her doctoral research focused on Iron Age monumental architecture and the archaeology of the northern Kingdom of Israel.[2]

Career

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Franklin has held academic and research positions at both Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa, where she is a researcher at the Zinman Institute of Archaeology.[3] She is currently a senior fellow at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.[1][4] In 1992, she became a founder member of the Megiddo Expedition, one of the most prominent archaeological projects in the region, contributing to the site's stratigraphic and architectural analysis. Her work on the Iron Age palatial architecture, stable complexes, gate systems, and water installations at Megiddo has helped shape scholarly understanding of political complexity and urbanization in ancient Canaan and Israel.[5]

Research and contributions

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Franklin's research focuses on the material culture of the Iron Age Levant, with a focus on architectural remains and their historical significance. She has published extensively on topics such as Israelite state formation, monumental architecture, and regional archaeology.[5] Her primary area of interest is the northern Kingdom of Israel during the 9th to 7th centuries BCE, and examining its interactions with the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

She has conducted detailed analyses of Iron Age remains at Tel Megiddo (Strata IV and V) and Samaria, identifying correlations that reveal new building techniques and external influences. She presented the findings on a few documentaries.[6] More recently, Franklin co-directed the Jezreel Expedition, an innovative archaeological project in Israel that employed aerial LiDAR technology for enhanced landscape surveys.[7][8] This approach significantly improved site selection accuracy, with excavations focusing on Tel Ein Jezreel and its connections to Tel Jezreel and surrounding areas[9][10].[1]

Her interdisciplinary methodology combines landscape archaeology, biblical studies, and archaeological science, providing a holistic perspective on ancient settlement patterns and cultural interactions.

Selected projects

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  • Tel Megiddo excavations – architectural of the Iron Age stratigraphy
  • Tel Jezreel excavations - focusing on the Biblical Jezreel, Tel Ein Jezreel in the long-duree.[11]
  • Samaria-Sebastia (Biblical Shomron) - architectural and straigraphic analysis.
  • Research on ancient water systems and urban planning.
  • The iconography of the date palm and its use as a symbol of eternal life in the Ancient Near East.

Selected Publications

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    • Franklin, N. Stone Volutes: United by a Common Motif not by a Common Function, In The Ancient Israelite World (Eds.) Kyle H. Keimer and George A. Pierce, Routledge. 2023: 156-174.
    • Franklin, N. 2017 Entering the Arena: The Megiddo Stables Reconsidered. In (Eds.) Oded Lipshits, Yuval Gadot, Matthew Adams. Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana :87-101.
    • Franklin, N. The Assyrian Stylized Tree: A Date Palm Plantation and Aššurnaṣirpal II's Stemma, in Ash-sharq Volume 5 (2021): 77–96.
    • Franklin, N. Megiddo and Jezreel reflected in the dying embers of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In: The Last Days of the Kingdom of Israel. Editors: Shuichi Hasegawa, Christoph Levin and Karen Radner. 2019:
    • Franklin N., Samaria : From the Bedrock to the Omride Palace., in "Levant", vol. 36, 2004, pp. 89-202.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Norma Franklin". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  2. ^ "Norma Franklin, Author at Bible Odyssey". Bible Odyssey. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  3. ^ "Dr. Norma Franklin | TheTorah.com". www.thetorah.com. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  4. ^ "Norma Franklin". The BAS Library. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  5. ^ a b The Woman in the Pith Helmet: A Tribute to Archaeologist Norma Franklin. Lockwood Press. 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctv19rs0s9. ISBN 978-1-948488-33-4. JSTOR j.ctv19rs0s9.
  6. ^ Horn, Joshua (2016-12-08). "Smuggling a Rare Artifact Out of an Israeli Prison". Discerning History. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  7. ^ Dospěl, Marek (2017-11-06). "Naboth's Vineyard Unearthed at Tel Jezreel?". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  8. ^ "Noted Archaeologist to Discuss Jezreel Expedition on November 5 | Vanderbilt University History of Art Blog | Vanderbilt University". my.dev.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  9. ^ "Love's Story About Excavating at Tel Jezreel". The Voice of Wilkinson. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  10. ^ carlpage (2017-08-04). "Excavation in Jezreel Points to Biblical Naboth's Vineyard - Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy". Patterns of Evidence. Retrieved 2025-04-19.
  11. ^ "The Jezreel Expedition". University Of Haifa. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
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See also

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