Deir el-‘Azar, the mound of biblical Kiriath-jearim, is one of the largest Bronze and Iron Age sites in the central highlands, located on a strategic peak west of Jerusalem. The site is of crucial importance for the study of the archaeology and history of Iron Age Israel and Judah, and later of Hellenistic and Roman Judah.

Sheds light on the biblical tradition that the site accommodated the temple of the Ark.

Israel Finkelstein is Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and a foreign member of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Thomas Römer is President of the Collège de France. They are both the authors and editors of several books.

The Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University is a platform mainly for the publication of final reports on excavations conducted by the Institute. Recent volumes present the excavations of central sites, such as Beersheba, Beth-Shemesh, Lachish, Megiddo, and Ramat Raḥel, which shed light on the history of ancient Israel and on biblical times. These final reports present the stratigraphy and finds of the excavations and offer the results of auxiliary scientific studies, such as petrography, organic residue analysis, and radiocarbon dating. The series thus serves as a forum for dissemination of knowledge to the public and the scholarly community and may serve as a tool for research by future generations of scholars. The Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University is copublished with Eisenbrauns, an imprint of Penn State University Press.