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Eli Itkin

Postdoctoral Fellow

E-mail: eliitkin@humnet.ucla.edu Office: 349 Kaplan Hall

Eli Itkin is an archaeologist specializing in the Iron Age southern Levant, with a focus on material culture, settlement history, and colonial encounters. His research examines how cultural interactions, imperial control strategies, and local responses shaped the historical and sociopolitical landscapes of the region.

Dr. Itkin earned his Ph.D. in Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures from Tel Aviv University in 2025. His doctoral dissertation explored the complex interplay between imperial control and local resilience in southern Philistia during the 8th to 6th centuries BCE. Focusing on the southern Coastal Plain and western Negev, his work examines this region as a strategic frontier positioned between the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires and Egypt, highlighting how communities navigated shifting geopolitical conditions.

Dr. Itkin was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his project, “War and Its Effects on Local Populations in the Iron Age Southern Levant,” at UCLA (2025–2026). His research investigates how conflict shaped settlement patterns, social structures, and regional dynamics, with particular attention to the experiences of displaced and marginalized populations.

Publications

Articles

2024 Fantalkin, A., Mazis, M., Schauer, Y., Ariel, D. T., Krispin, S., Tsuf, O., Eshel, T. and Itkin, E. Hellenistic Ashdod-Yam in Light of Recent Archaeological Investigations. Tel Aviv 51: 238–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2024.2385149

2024 Fantalkin, A., Itkin, E., Chesnut, O., Mazis, M., Lorenzon, M., Bouzaglou, L., Eshel, T. and Sharvit. J. Iron Age Remains from Ashdod-Yam: An Interim Report (2013–2019). Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 12(3): 250–297. https://doi.org/10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.12.3.0250

2023 Lorenzon, M., Cutillas-Victoria, B., Itkin, E. and Fantalkin, A. Masters of Mudbricks: The Geoarchaeological Analysis of Iron Age Earthen Public Buildings at Ashdod-Yam (Israel). Geoarchaeology 39: 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21977

2022 Itkin, E. Post-Destruction “Squatter” Phases in the Iron Age IIB-C Southern Levant. Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 388(1): 51–72. https://doi.org/10.1086/720559

2020 Itkin, E. Ḥorvat Tov: A Late Iron Age Fortress in the Northeastern Negev. Tel Aviv 47 (1): 65–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2020.1707446