Part Time Limited Term Faculty
Society, Culture, and Languages, Department of
Education and Certifications
2021 PhD, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University
2016 MA, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University
2012 Triple BA, Department of History; Department of Classics & Mediterranean Studies;
Individualized Major: Religion, University of Connecticut
Biography
Dr. Erin Hall earned a PhD in Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures from Tel
Aviv University (2021). Her dissertation focused cultic practices in northern Canaan
and Israel during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, focusing on the interplay of ritual
and politics. Her recent book (“Ritual and Power in Northern Israel: The Late Bronze
and Iron Ages”, 2024) examines cultic contexts from nineteen different sites spread
throughout northern Canaan and the northern Kingdom of Israel. In it, she explore
continuity and change in cultic practice from a long-term and interregional perspective,
focusing on the histories of these cultures with an emphasis on ritual contexts. The
underlying theme of the book is the refinement of our understanding of the nature
of ritual and religion in northern Canaan and Israel using anthropological approaches,
such as the relationship of ritual to power. It therefore differs in its approach
and conclusions from comparable scholarship, shifting the discussion towards the ideological
and political implications of ritual and religion in the regions under study. She
has published on various aspects of archaeology and her main interests focus on the
intersection of politics, religion, identity, and trade. She is also responsible for
the publication of a late Byzantine-early Islamic site in the northern Negev of Israel,
the archaeology of which will be presented in a monograph.
Academic Areas
Archaeology of the Southern Levant; Anthropology of Ritual and Religion
Research Interests
Current research interests concern the archaeology of the northern Kingdom of Israel,
burial practices in northern Israel and Judah, and the intersection of material culture
with the formation of individual and collective identity.
