Acknowledgements
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the many ways that others have helped me through the long period of writing this book, which originated as my doctoral dissertation at the University of California, San Diego. The most direct and important influence came from my dissertation co-advisors, Bill Propp and Tom Levy. Bill is an astonishingly intelligent, unduly knowledgeable, and admirably circumspect scholar. He was my primary guide throughout my doctoral studies, and I consider myself privileged to have studied under him. Tom, a scholar who is productive and energetic beyond what reasonable people should hope to emulate, is due my gratitude for his guidance in anthropological archaeology and field excavation, both of which have heavily influenced both this book and the direction of my research in general. I am also grateful to David Goodblatt, Guillermo Algaze, and Ziony Zevit – the remaining members of my dissertation committee – for help in scrutinizing and vetting my work. Any errors or deficiencies found in this book should probably be attributed to these, my teachers.
I would also like to thank a few former professors from whom I have learned much, but who were unfortunately unable to serve on my doctoral committee. David Noel Freedman (ז''ל) was a pillar in the field of Hebrew Bible, and his reputation played a large role in my coming to UCSD for graduate school. My most salient memories of Noel center around his kindness, how lightly he carried his massive erudition, and his frequent giggling during his Hebrew Bible Seminar. Richard Elliott Friedman also moved on from UCSD before I had completed my studies, though he is fortunately still with us בארץ חיים. I have Dick to thank for his modeling of following the evidence and his superb classroom teaching. Finally, I wish to acknowledge a former professor from my graduate studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Baruch Schwartz, who has made my entrance into the world of academia much more pleasant. Baruch was an excellent and patient teacher who tolerated more immature and argumentative behavior from me than I would have had our roles been reversed. Baruch has gone well beyond his formal duties in countless ways: writing lengthy emails to help me with problems both personal and academic, providing copious notes and suggestions for my draft papers, tirelessly writing recommendation letters on my behalf, catching up at SBL at every opportunity, and steadily providing encouragement and kindness. He is a beloved mentor, colleague, and friend.
Throughout my research for this project I have reached out to numerous scholars for their help, and I have benefited greatly from their generous assistance. I must single out Ze’ev Herzog, who not only mailed me a hardcopy of his seminal monograph on city gates (the title of which I have paid homage to with my own), but also met with me at a number of academic conferences, helped me with various problems via email, and read and commented on the entire manuscript. Jack Holladay (ז''ל) was also very liberal in sharing his knowledge (and plans) of the city gates of Gezer and Kh. el-Qom. In addition, I would like to thank the following scholars who have shared their expertise and helped me with various problems, small and large: Rami Arav, William Dever, Avraham Faust, Yosef Garfinkel, Larry Geraty, Sy Gitin, Ami Mazar, Ronny Reich, David Schloen, Bjørn Thomassen, Michele Voeltz, Nili Wazana, and Jeffrey Zorn.