Yigael Yadin

1917–1984

Yigael (Sukenik) Yadin was an Israeli archaeologist and a member of the Knesset from 1977 to 1981. He served as deputy prime minister in the government of Menachem Begin. Born in Jerusalem, Yadin attended the Hebrew University. In 1936, however, he turned to a military career. In 1949, Yadin became Israel’s second chief of staff, but he resumed his studies in archaeology in 1953, writing his dissertation on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He conducted excavations of the Qumran caves (1960–1961), Masada (1963–1965), and Megiddo (1966–1967). Yadin received the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies in 1956.

Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator

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The Message of the Scrolls

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In late November 1947, in what had once been a quiet suburb of Jerusalem, I first heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was at the time Chief of Operations of Haganah, the Jewish underground self-defence…