Nahman Avigad

Nahman Avigad (Hebrew: נחמן אביגד, September 25, 1905 – January 28, 1992), born in Zawalow, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary, now Zavaliv, Ukraine), was an Israeli archaeologist.

[1] In 1969, Avigad was invited to undertake the excavation of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, devastated by the 1948 war and its aftermath.

Built to defend Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah in the late 8th century BCE, there remains an 80-foot (24 m) stretch of wall, 23 feet (7.0 m) thick, rising from bedrock west of the Temple Mount.

[4] According to Bible scholar Frank Moore Cross, Avigad "was Israel's most distinguished epigraphist in his generation, and one of the great figures in the history of Hebrew and Jewish epigraphy.

A complete bibliography and a biography can be found in the festschrift published in Avigad's honor: Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies.