Ya'akov Meshorer
Encyclopedia
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
for Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
at the Israel Museum
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
in Jerusalem and a prominent Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i numismatist.
Early life
Known to colleagues and friends as 'Yankele', Meshorer was born in Jerusalem in 1935 into the prominent Mani family, who had lived in the area for centuries. He and his twin brother Asher used to find ancient coins as they played around the city, which was in the process of being built up. The 14 year-old twins donated the coins they had found to the Israel Department of Antiquities in 1949. He joined the Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in 1954. After completing his army service in 1956 he became a member of Kibbutz Hazerim, where he married Adaya Weiss in 1956. Meshorer established a museum on the kibbutz before moving to Jerusalem in 1960, where he was a student at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
from 1960 to 1966, receiving a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and Jewish History and an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Classical Archaeology. He received his Ph.D
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Numismatics in 1971 from the Hebrew University. Meshorer served as a reservist in the Jerusalem Reconnaissance Company and in 1967 was slightly wounded in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. He later served as an officer in the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
liaison unit.
Academic career
Meshorer was appointed Professor of Numismatics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1983. He established the Numismatic Division at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 1969, remaining at its head until 1993. He also served as the University's Chief Curator for Archaeology from 1975 to 1982 and from 1990 to 1996. He retired from the Israel Museum in 2000.Meshorer was a member of the Archaeological Council of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservation, and promotes research...
and supervised the establishment of two museums devoted to Biblical Archaeology
Biblical archaeology
For the movement associated with William F. Albright and also known as biblical archaeology, see Biblical archaeology school. For the interpretation of biblical archaeology in relation to biblical historicity, see The Bible and history....
, the museum of the Cleveland Jewish Community Center in 1976, and The Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
in 1984. He was also a member of the Directorate of the Israel Society for Medals and Coins, serving on the committees that chose the design of the modern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i coins. He was instrumental in the decision to base the design of many of the modern coins on ancient Jewish coinage, in this way linking past and present in the State of Israel.
He published 19 books and more than 100 articles, almost all of them dealing with the coins of the Holy Land.
Honors and awards
Meshorer was invited to lecture and research at several major institutions, including the American Numismatic SocietyAmerican Numismatic Society
The American Numismatic Society is a New York City-based organization dedicated to the study of coins and medals.-Introduction:...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Among the honors Meshorer received were the Huntington Medal of the American Numismatic Society
American Numismatic Society
The American Numismatic Society is a New York City-based organization dedicated to the study of coins and medals.-Introduction:...
in 2001, and in 2002 he was awarded the Irene Levi-sala Book Prize in Archaeology of Israel for his book ‘A Treasury of Jewish Coins From the Persian Period to Bar-Kochba’. He was elected an honorary member of the Council International Numismatic Commission at the opening of the 13th International Numismatic Congress of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 2003.
In 2002 a prize, the Ya'akov Meshorer Numismatic Prize, was established in memory of Meshorer at the Israel Museum; its first recipient was Dr. Andrew Burnett in 2002, and the second Dr. Michel Amandry in 2006.
Meshorer died in Jerusalem aged 69 after a six year battle against cancer.
Publications
- Ya'akov Meshorer ‘A Treasury of Jewish Coins From the Persian Period to Bar-Kochba’, Yad Ben-Zvi Press, Jerusalem (2001)
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Coins of the Ancient World (Lerner Archaeology Series: Digging Up the Past)' Lerner Publishing Group (1980) ISBN 0822508354
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'A Treasury of Jewish Coins' Amphora Books (2001) ISBN 0965402916
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Palestine-South Arabia (American Numismatic Society: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum)' American Numismatic Society (1981) ISBN 0897221877
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'City-Coins of Eretz-Israel and the Decapolis in the Roman Period' The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (1985) ISBN 9652780367
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Coins of the Holy Land' American Numismatic Society (2006) ISBN 0897222830
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Jewish Coins of the Second Temple Period' Am Hassefer and Massada, Tel Aviv, (1967)
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Ancient Jewish Coinage Volume I: Persian Period Through Hasmonaeans' Amphora Books (1982) ASIN: B000MMINWI
- Ya'akov Meshorer Ancient Jewish Coinage Volume II: Herod the Great Through Bar Cochba' Amphora Books (1982)
- Ya'akov Meshorer and Shraga Qedar 'The Coinage of Samaria in the Fourth Century BCE' Numismatics Fine Arts International (1991)
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'Testimoney' Amphora Books (2001) ISBN 9652782564
- Ya'akov Meshorer 'The Coinage of Aelia Capitolina' Israel Museum (1989) ISBN 9652780766