Dan Perry was born and raised on Mount Carmel. From childhood, encouraged by his father, he often wandered on the mountain, getting to know its surroundings and connecting with its flora and fauna. As an adult, he became involved in the newly formed Nature Conservation Authority - first as a tour guide, and later as part of the Society for the Protection of Nature. In 1965 he started working within the Nature Conservation Authority, established in 1964, as an inspector in the Galilee as part of a collaboration between the Society and the Authority. Immediately after the Six-Day War, he established a magnificent system of nature reserves on the Golan Heights. He ran the Hermon Development Authority which established the Hermon site, and then joined the Authority's management and held a variety of positions. This unique volume includes color photographs.

Atlas of East Galilee Caves is published in a challenging period for the Upper Galilee, with hopes for a swift return to routine in this beautiful and region, bountiful with caves. The Atlas is published following studies and surveys conducted over the past decades. The boundaries of the area defined in the Atlas are the Hula Valley in the east, the border of Lebanon in the north and northwest, the sources of the streams flowing eastward in the west and the Issachar highlands in the south. The Atlas presents the basic data of the caves, and contains a concise multidisciplinary overview of what is known about them from a geological, historical, archaeological and biological point of view. The data is accompanied by plans and illustrations that expand the overall picture of each cave.

The spread of the Assyrian Empire over the entire Fertile Crescent in the second half of the 8th century BC introduced various forms of cooperation between the neighboring nomadic Arabs and the imperial authorities. The geographical conditions and resultant lifestyle of the Arabs facilitated a mutual dependence and delicate equilibrium between themselves and the Assyrian rulers, eager to capitalize on their unprecedented regional might. Henceforth, the Arabs appear as an organic component of the Fertile Crescent history rather than mere desert raiders.

The book deals with geomorphological and soil aspects, plants, and animals (arthropods, reptiles, and rodents) of dunes on the coastal plain of Israel. The book has 11 chapters: structure and geomorphological processes of coastal dunes, soil formation processes, the characteristic of the largest coastal dune areas, flora and fauna (arthropods, reptiles, small mammals: rodents), the impact of man and climate changes on coastal dune ecosystems, ecological-economic losses due to the loss or fixation of coastal dunes, policy, planning, and conflicts between stakeholders, conservation and interface of coastal dunes. The book is a product of the vast knowledge accumulated over decades in detailed studies conducted by Prof. Pua Bar, together with many other researchers in the coastal dunes in Israel.

Today, the term "natural reserve" is common in Israel. However, this wasn’t the case during the first years of its existence. A majority of the planning authorities did not understand what natural reserves were and why they were required, and the Hebrew language did not yet have a term for them. A small group of nature lovers struggled to preserve nature, leading battels, some of which continue to this day. The results of some of the successful battles can be seen across Israel today – in natural reserves, national parks and fields of wildflowers. The history of these battles is brought forth in this book by Dr. Uzi Paz, one of the pioneers of nature preservation in Israel. He also unfolds the changes formed in the country's landscape, flora and fauna, from ancient times to this day. The book contains a wealth of photographs taken by the author.

The Western Wall—Judaism’s holiest site—occupies a prominent position in contemporary Jewish and Israeli discourse, current events, and local politics. In Holiness in the Eye of the Storm: The Judaism and Israeliness of the Western Wall, 1967–2000 , Kobi Cohen-Hattab and Doron Bar offer a detailed exploration of the Western Wall plaza’s evolution in the late twentieth century. The examination covers the role of archaeology, attempts to design the space, the Wall’s transformation as an Israeli and Jewish symbol, and the movement to open it to a variety of Jewish denominations, studying the central processes and shifts that took place at the Western Wall during the three decades that followed the Six-Day War, a relatively short yet crucial chapter in Jerusalem's extensive history.

In 2000, the book The Incense Trade Route 2000 was published. Since then, many changes occurred in the terrain, knowledge, research and the geo-political situation, in light of the peace treaties between Israel and other counties in the Middle East. The most prominent researchers of the Incense Trade Route have come together to write a new and updated edition.

The Second Commandment’s injunction against making graven images and likenesses resonates in all facets of Jewish visuality throughout the generations. Although Jews have always created and consumed art, the attitude to figural art –anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations – has oscillated, like a pendulum, between strict prohibition and full permissibility. Figureless Art traces a lesser-known chapter in the history of Jewish art – a period governed by the swing to extreme stringency that left its mark on Late Antique synagogues in the Land of Israel. This anti-figural trend manifested in the avoidance of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic depictions and in the deliberate obliteration of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures on stone carvings and mosaic carpets that adorned the synagogues. What is the meaning of this strict trend? Did it emerge from within the Jewish world or was it stimulated, conversely, by external influences? Who was responsible for the effacement of the figures in the synagogues and when did these iconoclastic events occur? This book examines these phenomena through a broad historical, religious, and cultural perspective, based on visual and literary sources from Late Antique and early Muslim Palestine.

Napoleon’s invasion of the Middle East and Palestine marks the beginning of the modern era in the region. The aim of this book is to trace the developments that led to the making of a new and separate geographical-political entity in the Middle East known as Eretz Israel, and to the establishment of the State of Israel within its boundaries. Thus, the time frame of this study spans from Napoleon’s invasion of Eretz Israel/Palestine in 1799 to 1948-1949, the years in which Israel was established. 'Eretz Israel' as the formal term for a separate geographical territory in the modern era first appeared in the early translations into Hebrew of the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, while in the original document the country was referred to as 'Palestine'. During the period of Ottoman rule the territory that would in time be called Eretz Israel/Palestine was not a separate political unit. For hundreds of years it was known as Terra Sancta, the Holy Land, or Palestine, a historical name stemming from that of the Roman province of Palaestina. Among Jews, the most widespread name during the first eight decades of the nineteenth century was 'Eretz Hakodesh' (the Holy Land). Use of 'Eretz Israel' increased only after the beginning of Zionist Aliyot. Had the Zionist movement not arisen, it is doubtful whether the development to which this study is devoted would have occurred at all. The motivating force behind that process is without doubt the Jewish Zionist element. That explains why Jews are the major protagonists in this book. Based on many written sources, it focuses on the major developments and events during a 150-year period that culminated in the establishment of Israel. Click here for the English edition, published by De Gruyter in collaboration with Magnes Press

This book is the first attempt to review the history and the fall of the Jewish community that existed in Beit She' an from the late 19th century until the outbreak of the Arab Revolt in 1936. The story of the community, which has been almost completely forgotten by the public and academic consciousness, is based on an initial study of several public and local archives, as well as a thorough study of dozens of primary and secondary sources of various types: press clippings, academic and autobiographical sources, oral interviews and others. Beside presenting the history of the community itself, which includes the unique challenges it experienced during its fifty years of existence and the organizational and ideological processes which characterized it, the study is also a base for a better assessment and understanding of the several small Jewish communities that existed during this period in a number of Arab cities and towns: Be'er Sheva, Ramle, Nazareth, Samakh, Jericho and others. This is accomplished by comparing the events in Beit She' an to those which took place in other communities, while trying to identify the factors that led to the collapse of these communities during the Mandate period, and to the withdrawal of the Zionist movement from its substantial support to their continued existence. The book also deals with different questions of ethnic and national Jewish identity, the relations between marginal communities and the leading national institutions, and issues relating to Zionist historiography over the past century.

Baruch Kimmerling (1939-2007) was one of Israel's outstanding critical sociologists. In this volume, Israeli and Palestinian scholars of several disciplines and generations offer a series of studies on Israel and Palestine, past and present, in dialogue with the research agenda Kimmerling has advanced. Essays discuss Zionism and militarism, frontier and colonization, social protest and the limits of democracy, the sociology of fear and the politics of home -- and Kimmerling's own trajectory.

The book starts with the description of the historical background of the settlement of Mesopotamia and the emergence of the Sumerian culture in the fourth millennium BC. It continues into the Old Assyrian trade in the beginning of the second millennium BC. There are many books on the history and archeology of the region but emphasis of the book is on the economic institutions and the economic life of the people. The book is based on first class sources for the third millennium period and original sources from the period of the Old Assyrian trade. The central motive of the book is the description of the economy as one with characteristics of market economy with economic institutions such as property rights, market, money, credit and means of enforcement.