Editor’s Foreword

Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University was launched in 1974 as the flagship publication of the new institute emerging under the leadership of Yohanan Aharoni. Aharoni, alongside Anson F. Rainey and David Ussishkin, founded the journal as the first of its kind: a peer-reviewed academic journal that would focus on the Southern Levant in the Bronze and Iron Ages against its super-regional context. At the same time, it would provide a platform for the publication of preliminary reports of the Institute’s excavation projects, which, as the editors wrote in the 1974 foreword, would ‘form the backbone of the new journal’. Thus, it soon became apparent that Tel Aviv would be a forum for the publication of new and innovative ideas—some challenging well-accepted paradigms—which might not have been published in more established journals.

Upon Aharoni’s untimely passing in 1976, Moshe Kochavi joined Ussishkin and Rainey, and in 1977 Ussishkin became the sole editor—a role he fulfilled with dedication until 2004. During his three decades at the helm, Tel Aviv became one of the leading journals in the study of the Southern Levant in antiquity and, at the same time, remained the primary platform for junior scholars and graduate students to publish their studies. In 2004, Benjamin Sass replaced Ussishkin as the editor, and he was joined by Israel Finkelstein in 2008. In 2012, Finkelstein became the sole editor. He led Tel Aviv to new heights and remarkable accomplishments, achieving high impact, with the journal being ranked among the top 50 (sometimes even the top 15) journals in archaeology internationally. 2022 was a year of transition, with the editor’s responsibility shared by Nadav Na'aman, Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and myself. As of 2023, it is my privilege and honour to serve as editor-in-chief.

One of the unique characteristics of Tel Aviv has been its establishment in a single institute—a rare sight in the current landscape. Indeed, in the past, this was viewed as a constraint, as noted by Ussishkin in his 2004 editor’s note: ‘Naturally, most of the pool of authors are Tel Aviv University faculty members, but contributions from other scholars in Israel and aboard have always been encouraged.’ Things have changed in the past two decades: Tel Aviv has truly opened its doors to new participants, as attested by the list of authors in each issue—including the current one. At the same time, the fact that Tel Aviv is based in an institute means that it has always been a ‘family’—the managing editors, editorial board members, editorial assistants and graphic designers collaborate in a vibrant atmosphere. Such intimate teamwork has proven to be productive and successful, as evidenced in the fact that Tel Aviv has grown to become the leading journal in the archaeological study of the Southern Levant in antiquity. All members of the editorial and graphics teams deserve credit for this success. The list is a long one: Esther Mann (editorial assistant; 1974–1995), Gabriella Bachi (editorial assistant; 1974–1976), M. Schechter (graphic design; 1974–1975), Naomi Schechter (graphic design; 1974), A. Lotan (graphic design; 1975–1979) Irene Aranne (associate editor; 1977–1987), Shelley Sadeh (manuscript editor; 1988–1995), Ada Smolin (assistant editor; 1995), Ada Harverd (assistant editor; 1996–1997), Michele Burns (assistant editor; 1998–2001), Riki Segal Filshteiner (graphic design; 2012) Mario A.S. Martin (editorial research coordinator; 2013–2015), Noa Evron (graphic editor; 2014, 2016–2021), Shatil Emmanuilov (graphic design; 2015), Nitsan Shalom (assistant editor; 2016–2018), Yael Hochma (assistant editor; 2019–2020), Sarah Simon (assistant editor; 2019), Yulia Gottlieb (graphic editor; since 2020), Itamar Ben-Ezra (graphic editor; since 2020) and Daniel Kleiman (editorial assistant; since 2023). In particular, I would like to thank the managing editors over the past two decades: Myrna Pollak (2002–2021) and Tsipi Kuper-Blau (since 2022).

Now, as Tel Aviv celebrates its jubilee, it is essential to continue its development and advancement. This is taking place on three levels. First, the vision of the founders of Tel Aviv was to dedicate the journal to the branches of study in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University. With this in mind, we have revamped the editorial board and the editorial advisory board to become more diverse in geographic location and gender, as well as in methods and periods of interest. Second, the transition of the journal from Maney Publishing to Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, has made Tel Aviv a full participant in the digital publishing world that is now shaping the future of academic publishing. We are making further inroads into digitisation, and it is our hope, in the future, to publish articles online before their print version, thus increasing their visibility and expanding their impact. In this vein, we encourage contributors from Israeli academic institutes to choose to publish their articles open access—a more accessible possibility thanks to a new agreement signed by Taylor & Francis with the MALMAD consortium of Israeli institutes as of 2023. Third, we plan to collaborate with open-access databases, such as the Levantine Ceramics Project and the Corpus of Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant. This will facilitate quick and widespread dissemination of data and will promote journal–database connectivity.

And so, on behalf of the journal’s board, I would like to thank all contributors who have chosen to publish their articles in Tel Aviv. It has been a well-tuned orchestra of outstanding scholarship, meticulous editorial work, aesthetic graphic design, and excellent publishing quality that will undoubtedly continue to contribute to the archaeological study of the Southern Levant for years to come.