Prof. Gabriel Barkay, renowned Jerusalem archeologist, founder of Temple Mount Sifting Project, has passed away at 81

Prof. Gabriel Barkay, the renowned Jerusalem archaeologist who taught at various Israeli institutions and appeared in several films and videos about Israel’s ancient history, has passed away at the age of 81. His influence on the field of Israeli archaeology was immense.

One of his students, Zachi Dvira, with whom Barkay started the Temple Mount Sifting Project, described him a year ago in this way, “Dr. Barkay is considered by many to be one of the most knowledgeable scholars of archaeology in the Land of Israel, especially in Jerusalem.” 

Dr. Gabriel Barkay z"l (1944-2026)

-Holocaust survivor
-Legendary Israeli archaeologist
-Co-founder of the Temple Mount Sifting Project
-Teacher of Israeli tour guides

Baruch dayan ha'emet.

📷 Dr. Gabriel Barkay speaking to my tour guide course in the Israel Museum, 2014 pic.twitter.com/78mRYmqAtd

— Daniel Rubenstein (@paulrubens) January 11, 2026

His colleagues and students knew Barkay for his phenomenal memory regarding archaeological discoveries and artifacts uncovered throughout Israel, from various time periods. Barkay participated in, and supervised many excavations in Israel, as well as in other countries. 

He participated in excavations in Susa (Iran) before the fall of the Shah, he was involved in digs in Lachish, Tel Be’er Sheva, and even surveyed the Judean burial tombs in the Arab village of Silwan in the immediate aftermath of the recapture of Jerusalem following the 1967 Six Day War. 

However, the dig that Barkay is probably most famous for, is the excavation at Ketef Hinnom on the southern side of Jerusalem, in which tiny silver amulets inscribed in ancient Hebrew, were found. The amulets were later found to contain the text of the Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6, and are widely recognized as the earliest known biblical text. 

The only child of Hungarian parents, Barkay came to Israel, moving to Jerusalem in 1950. At ten years old, the young Barkay, who loved to wander the fields around Jerusalem looking for signs of the past, joined the Israel Exploration Society, paying the membership dues himself. 

A lover of Jerusalem, even as a teenager, Barkay would guide tourists around the Old City and Mount Zion. Later, upon finishing his military service, he earned his tour guide license. 

Barkay earned his bachelor’s degree in archaeology and geography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he impressed many of his professors with his vast knowledge and sharp wit. During his time there, he also formed connections with some of the founding figures of Israeli archaeology and history, including Yigael Yadin, Benjamin Mazar, Michael Avi-Yonah, Ruth Amiran, David Flusser, Nahman Avigad, and David Amiran.

During his studies at the bachelor’s, masters, and doctoral levels, Barkay participated in several important excavations, including at Lachish, one of the most important archeological sites from the Kingdom of Judah. 

Aside from his extensive archeological career, Barkay had an equally extensive teaching career, being appointed as a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, even while completing his own studies there. Some of Barkay’s students at Tel Aviv University went on to become well-known archeologists in their own right, including Adam Zertal, Mordechai Aviam, Yehuda Dagan, and Israel Finkelstein. 

After leaving Tel Aviv University during a period of ideological struggle over Israeli archaeology and history, Barkay taught at most of Israel’s other major institutions of higher education, including Ben Gurion University, Bar-Ilan University, and the Hebrew University. During this time, he also taught classes at Jerusalem University College.

The second most defining archeological project for Barkay was the founding of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, which began informally in 1999, when two of his students asked him to help them identify debris that had been destructively and illegally removed from the Temple Mount by the Muslim Waqf during renovations. 

Following that experience, Barkay and several archaeologists established the Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, which eventually led to the creation of the Temple Mount Sifting Project in 2004. The project was designed to sift through dirt and rubble that had been illegally removed from the site during renovations carried out by the Muslim authorities.

Barkay’s death leaves a huge gap in the field of Israeli archeology, and in the lives of those who had the privilege of working with him, or studying under him. 

At his funeral, his former student and partner in the Temple Mount Sifting Project, Zachi Dvira, referred to his love of Jerusalem, saying, “Gabi was a man of memory, and we buried him with memory. We also mixed dirt from the Temple Mount into his burial soil. Dirt with a gray texture due to the large amounts of ash contained in it as a result of the destruction of the Temple.”