Trude Dothan

Early Life and Education

Trude Dothan (née Krakower) was born on October 12, 1922, in Vienna to Leopold Krakauer, an architect and artist, and Grete Krakauer-Wolf, a painter. In 1924, her family immigrated to Palestine during the Fourth Aliyah, settling in Jerusalem.

Dothan began studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the mid-1940s. She later pursued archaeology, with her first excavation being in the House of Moon. After serving in the IDF during the War of Independence, she completed her M.A. program in 1950 on the topic of petitions in Tel Moon House under the guidance of Elazar Lifa Soknick.

Career

Dothan's academic career spanned several decades, with a focus on the archaeology of the Philistine period. She was particularly interested in their pottery and developed a classification system that, despite criticism, became widely accepted as a basis for dating Philistine finds.

As an authority in her field, Dothan held various positions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, eventually becoming a professor. Her work earned her the Israel Prize in 1998 for Archaeological Study of the Year.

Notable Excavations

Dothan was involved in several notable excavations throughout her career. One such excavation took place at Tel Cassila, where she first encountered material culture that would later become a focus of her research on the Philistines.

Legacy

Trude Dothan passed away on January 28, 2016, in Jerusalem. Her contributions to the field of biblical archaeology continue to be recognized and studied by scholars today.