Ph.D. Haggai Olshanetsky
Biography
I am a historian and archaeologist focusing on the Hellenistic and Roman periods, as well as occasionally working on earlier periods. My research interests are diverse, and range from ancient Judaism, military history, environmental history, economics and the integration of minorities in antiquity. I obtained all my degrees from Bar-Ilan University in Israel, including a BA in Criminology and General History, an MPhil in General History, MA in Archaeology and a PhD in Classical Studies. My doctoral thesis dealt with Jewish military service in the Hellenistic and Roman armies.
I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel, and I am part of the SNSF project “The Roman Egypt Laboratory: Climate Change, Societal Transformations, and the Transition to Late Antiquity.” At the University of Warsaw, I am currently teaching Biblical Hebrew for beginners, as well as being part of the project “The Dawn of Monotheism? Judean religion(s) in Persian and Early Hellenistic Period (5th-3rd cent. BCE) in the light of iconographic, epigraphical and Biblical sources.”
Most important scholarly articles
Haggai Olshanetsky. “Were there Jewish Gladiators? A Re-Evaluation of the Available Archaeological and Textual Evidence.” ‘Atiqot 111 (2023): 119-147.
Haggai Olshanetsky and Lev Cosijns. “Did We Stop Throwing Away the Garbage? Negating Urban Collapse in Elusa in the Sixth Century.” Israel Exploration Journal 73/1 (2023): 88-104.
Haggai Olshanetsky. “Keeping Kosher: The Ability of Jewish Soldiers to Keep the Dietary Laws as a Case Study for the Integration of Minorities in the Roman Army.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 113/1 (2023): 59-82. https://doi.org/10.1353/jqr.2023.0012
Lev Cosijns and Haggai Olshanetsky. ‘Response and Comments on “Environment and horticulture in the Byzantine Negev Desert, Israel: sustainability, prosperity and enigmatic decline”’ Graeco-Latina Brunensia 27/2 (2022): 5-14. https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2022-2-1
Haggai Olshanetsky. “The Israelite-Judaean Military Service in the Armies of Assyria.” Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 27/1 (2021): 33–46. https://doi.org/10.47743/saa-2021-27-1-2