Before her untimely death at only 49 years old, Dr. Sharon Zuckerman co-directed excavations at Tel Hazor in Israel. This city features prominently in the debate on the Israelite conquest. Archaeologists have noted that many destruction remains throughout Israel do not match the data of the biblical story. Most scholars now believe the biblical account provides an embellished narrative. But one city that could be interpreted as an Israelite conquest is that of Hazor. Still, the evidence is inconclusive. Through her work, Dr. Zuckerman provided her own views and expertise on the question of who destroyed Hazor.
Dr. Zuckerman completed her doctoral dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Amnon Ben-Tor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In an article for Biblical Archeology Review, she wrote:
“For me, the journey began at the acropolis of Hazor, amidst the layers of fallen mudbricks, burnt wooden beams and smashed pottery vessels scattered on the floors of the once-monumental Canaanite buildings. These violently destroyed edifices, as well as the thorny questions of their dating, their functions and the causes of their violent destruction and final abandonment, formed the basis of my dissertation . . .”
Comparing the collapse with other major city collapses such as the metropolis of Teotihuacan in Mexico led her to wonder if the destruction was an uprising from ordinary Hazorites rebelling against the governing elites: “This different possible interpretation of one crucial event in the history of Israel has led me to delve deeper in the search after ‘the common people.’ The ordinary people, those shaping the existence and form of society by simply ‘being there,’ form the ‘silent majority’ of all ancient (and modern) civilizations. Their daily activities and mundane chores, conducted in the context of domestic quarters and simple dwellings, are often hidden from current research in Ancient Near Eastern and Israeli archaeology”
Dr. Zuckerman’s articles can still be viewed on her Academia.edu page where she uploaded them.