He is best known for helping establish the Department of Archaeology at the Hebrew University and being one of the first academics to recognise the age and importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[1] Sukenik was born on August 12, 1889, in the town of Belostok, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire (today Białystok in Poland).

Unlike the other graves in the cemetery, which are covered by uniform limestone blocks, the couple's gravestones are uniquely decorated with carvings and motifs of the Second Temple era.

[7] In addition to his important excavations in Jerusalem (including the "Third Wall" and numerous ossuary tombs), he played a central role in the establishment of the Department of Archaeology of the Hebrew University.

[1] In 1941, he discovered a burial cave in the Kidron Valley containing an ossuary belonging to a "Cyrenian" and inscribed "Alexander son of Simon".