Dr. David llan was the director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem from 2003 to 2025 and directed the excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel from 2005 to 2022. His BA and MA degrees are from Hebrew University, and his PhD is from Tel Aviv University (supervisor Prof. Israel Finkelstein). Aside from the Tel Dan excavations, David has excavated at Tel Arad and Tel Megiddo. David still teaches at Hebrew Union College and has taught at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University and at Johns Hopkins University. He specializes in mortuary archaeology, religion and ritual in the Chalcolithic period, the Middle Bronze Age and the early Iron Age of the southern Levant. He has authored or co-authored four books and more than 60 peer-reviewed papers. He is the editor of the journal NGSBA Archaeology.
Last Updated
June 3, 2026
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Dan, born to Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, is later described in Jacob’s blessing as “one of the tribes of Israel,” a formulation that suggests a need to affirm its place within Israel. The tribe is also portrayed in biblical texts as culturally distinct: seafarers, craftsmen, migrants, and figures who intermarry with non-Israelites, including Samson, a tribal hero with decidedly non-Israelite characteristics. Archaeological evidence from Tel Dan suggests that Dan began as a foreign group that was only later incorporated into Israel. Where were the Danites originally from?
Dan, born to Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, is later described in Jacob’s blessing as “one of the tribes of Israel,” a formulation that suggests a need to affirm its place within Israel. The tribe is also portrayed in biblical texts as culturally distinct: seafarers, craftsmen, migrants, and figures who intermarry with non-Israelites, including Samson, a tribal hero with decidedly non-Israelite characteristics. Archaeological evidence from Tel Dan suggests that Dan began as a foreign group that was only later incorporated into Israel. Where were the Danites originally from?
