Avi Sasson

Avi (Avraham) Sasson (Hebrew: אבי (אברהם) ששון) is an Israeli academic who serves as endowed chair of the Israel Studies Department at Ashkelon Academic College, Israel.^[1][2]

Avi (Avraham) Sasson
אבי (אברהם) ששון
Nationality	Israeli
Known for	Survey of Palestinian orchard houses, Historic preservation survey around Rosh HaAyin, Community projects in Majdal 'Asqalan
Scientific career
Fields	Israel Studies, Water Irrigation Technologies, Material Culture, Popular Religion, Building Technologies, Stone-Lime Industries
Institutions	Ashkelon Academic College

Career

Sasson specializes in water irrigation technologies, material culture, popular religion, building technologies and the stone-lime industries in the southern Levant.^[3][4][5][6]

According to reports in Haaretz and TheMarker, Sasson undertook the survey of Palestinian orchard houses (Arabic: Bayyarat) in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.^[7][8] According to another report by Israeli news site Ynet, in 2007 Sasson initiated a historic preservation survey around Rosh HaAyin, documenting 150 historic sites, including the remains of a World War II British Armed Forces camp.^[9] Sasson has participated in community projects to protect Majdal 'Asqalan's architectural heritage, protesting damages to the town's main mosque.^[10]

According to later reports by local historian and blogger Yoav Avinion, Sasson participated in the study of Majdal Yaba's stone industries in Mandatory Palestine.^[11] Haaretz also mentioned that Sasson worked as a consultant on major urban renewal projects, including in Gush Dan, Gedera and Ashkelon.^[12][13]

In September 2023, Sasson published an edited volume commemorating 70 years to the establishment of the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, just a few days before Palestinian militants overran Sderot during the opening offensive of the Israel-Hamas War.^[14] Soon thereafter, he led Zionist commemoration activities recounting the story of Samson and the Philistines near Samson's hometown of Tsor'a.^[15]

Selected works

• Safrai, Zeev, and Avi Sasson. Quarrying and Quarries in the Land of Israel. Elkana (2001).
• Sasson, Avi. "Historical geography of the Palestine southern coastal plain in the late Ottoman period–the Ashkelon region as a case study." Middle Eastern Studies 55.6 (2019): 974-1004.
• Sasson, Avi, and Eliav Taub. "The Israel Antiquities Authority and Atra Kadisha." Israel Affairs 27.3 (2021): 609-623.
• Sasson, Avi. "The historical archaeology of the Jewish stone industry in the twentieth century-Migdal Zedek (Majdal Yaba) as a center of the stone industry." International Journal of Historical Archaeology 23 (2019): 609-627.
• Sasson, Avi. "The lime-burning plant at the Ali-Muntar Hill in Gaza." Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 18 (2000): 83-103.
• Sasson, Avraham. "Spiny Burnet as Industrial Fuel in Historical Palestine: Ecology and ethnography." Landscapes 22.1 (2021): 57-79.

References

1. מור, חן (2023-09-06). "דרך ארץ: מלגות בסך אלפי שקלים לסטודנטים באקדמית אשקלון". כאן דרום - אשקלון (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
2. "פרופ' אבי ששון". המכללה האקדמית אשקלון. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
3. Rina (2022-02-10). "סבילים והשקיית עוברי דרכים בארץ-ישראל – הממד הגאוגרפי-היסטורי". מכון ישראלי לארכיאולוגיה (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-05-18.
4. "כבשני סיד בארץ ישראל". מכון ישראלי לארכיאולוגיה (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-05-18.
5. "PDF.js viewer" (PDF). hamoreshet.org.il. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
6. "The Eccentric English Lady Who Introduced Archaeology to the Holy Land". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
7. "Tel Aviv's Crumbling 19th Century Well Houses Are About to Be Transformed". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
8. "חומה ובאר: תל אביב גילתה חלום נדל"ני מהמאה ה–19". TheMarker. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
9. הכהן, דוד (2007-06-19). "ראש העין: ישומרו מבנים בריטיים בצד גינות פרטיות". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-05-18.
10. לוי, דוד (2023-06-28). ""הרגשתי חורבן. זה מבנה בן מאות שנים": פגיעה במבנה עתיק במסגד החאן באשקלון". כאן דרום - אשקלון (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
11. "Yoaview | דרך האבן במגדל צדק". www.yoaview.com. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
12. "אל תשליכני: קיומו של ביה"ח הגריאטרי ליד גדרה בסכנה". הארץ (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
13. "העבר, ההווה והעתיד של דרך ז'בוטינסקי". www.haaretz.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-05-18.
14. "70 שנה להקמת שדרות". www.news1.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
15. שפירא, ישראל (2024-01-18). "מזבח מנוח | זה המקום בו התבשרו ה." כיכר השבת (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-05-01.

External links

• Departmental webpage