Dr. Shirly Ben-Dor Evian
Senior Researcher
Department of Cultural Heritage
School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures
Field of Research:
Archaeology, Egyptology, Heritage Management and Conservation
SHORT BIO
I am a field archaeologist and Egyptologist specializing in the interactions between ancient Mediterranean cultures during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
I completed my PhD at Tel Aviv University, where I was honored with the university’s presidential scholarship. Subsequently, I conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Lausanne, having been awarded a Swiss Federal Excellence scholarship.
Upon returning to Israel, I was appointed curator of Israel’s largest Egyptian collection at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which sparked my interest in cultural heritage, museology, and conservation.
In 2022, I joined the University of Haifa’s School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures to establish the new Department of Cultural Heritage, the only one of its kind in Israel.
FUNDRAISING NEEDS
The mission of the new Department of Cultural Heritage is to research, develop and implement state-of-the-art, sustainable and practical ways to protect Israel’s archaeological heritage from the ever-growing threats of climate change, urban development and human conflict. This is a new field in Israeli archaeology and funding is needed for international collaborations and knowledge exchange with heritage professionals; for student scholarships; and for research projects monitoring the effects of extreme weather events on coastal heritage-sites and developing sustainable conservation strategies.
Israel’s rich archaeological heritage, together with its varied natural environments (coast, desert, low-lands and high lands) make it an ideal world-laboratory for the development of heritage conservation and management strategies.