Team Members

Yakov Kalman

Yakov is Beit Lehi’s co-director. He has over thirty years of excavation experience in sites in the Sinai and the Negev Desert, and has worked with Oren since 1994 at Masada, Jericho, Herodium, and Hyrcania. Yakov resides in a moshav in the Jordan Valley, where he raises hot peppers and has a vineyard.

Avner Ecker

Avner received his B.A. in Archaeology, History and Classical studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is presently a Master’s student of Archaeology and Classical studies, also at the Hebrew University. He is writing his thesis on the ancient Jewish Necropolis in Jaffa, and works as a research assistant on the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae Palaestinae (CIIP) – a project gathering all inscriptions from the present-day borders of Israel from the time of Alexander the Great (fourth century BCE) until the time of Muhammad (seventh century CE). He has also contributed to the “Three Faces of Monotheism” exhibition in the Bible Lands museum in Jerusalem. Apart from working as an area supervisor at Beit Lehi, he serves as an area supervisor in the Hebrew University’s excavations at Sepphoris in the Galilee, and was also on the staff of the Hyrcania tunnels excavations in the Judean Desert under the direction of Oren Gutfeld, where they first met – and where the magic began…

Pablo Betzer

Pablo received his B.A. in classical archaeology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and is presently working on his Master’s in classical archaeology, also at the Hebrew University. He has been an area supervisor at Beit Lehi since 2005, and has worked in other sites such as Qumran and Hyrcania, and on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Judean Hills. Since 2007, Pablo has served as an Archaeological Supervisor in Judea for the IAA.

Michal Haber

Michal is currently completing her Master’s degree in classical archaeology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writing her thesis on Christianity in Samaria during the Byzantine period. She has worked in the Israel Antiquities Authority on the finds from Mount Gerizim (in the heart of Samaria). She has been a member of the Beit Lehi staff since the first season in 2005, and has participated in excavations at Sepphoris, Tel Rehov (in the Jordan Valley), and Hyrcania.

Anna Iamim

Working in archaeology since 1973, Anna is the surveyor at Beit Lehi. In addition to the work at Beit Lehi, she also is currently engaged in various stages of research, excavation, interpretation, and publication of excavations at Sepphoris, Caesarea Maritima and Tel Sera. Anna has contributed to Oren’s projects at Hyrcania, Qumran, and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem.