Dr. Eli Itkin was awarded a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship to pursue his research titled "War and Its Effects on Local Populations in the Iron Age Southern Levant." The research aims to examine the impact of war on local communities in the southern Levant during the Iron Age, focusing on how conflict shaped settlement patterns, social structures, and regional dynamics.

Eli’s doctoral research, supervised by Professor Alexander Fantalkin and Professor Eliezer D. Oren, explores 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, Eli’s work examines this region as a strategic frontier situated between the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires and Egypt. His research highlights how local communities responded to shifting imperial powers and navigated changing geopolitical conditions.

Recent Publications:

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

Itkin, E. 2022. Post-Destruction “Squatter” Phases in the Iron Age IIB-C Southern Levant. Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 388(1): 51–72. [Received the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology Award for an Outstanding Publication, Tel Aviv University]

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