Hamdan Taha

Taha was raised in al-Shuyukh, a town in the West Bank.{{citation |title=In the limelight: Hamdan Taha |work=This Week in Palestine |year=2011 |page=60 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32983130}} He studied archaeology at the universities of Birzeit, Jordan, and the Free University of Berlin where he respectively completed a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a doctorate of philosophy.{{cite web |url=https://yam.ps/page-489-en.html |title=Dr. Hamdan Taha |date=8 November 2016 |website=Yasser Arafat Museum |accessdate=31 March 2025}}

In 1990 Taha joined Birzeit University's Palestinian Institute of Archaeology – which had been created three years earlier – as a professor of archaeology. He worked there for two years.{{Cite journal |last=Al-Houdalieh |first=Salah Hussein A. |date=2009 |title=Archaeology Programs at the Palestinian Universities: Reality and Challenges |journal=Archaeologies |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=166 |doi=10.1007/s11759-009-9097-9}}

Taha was involved in the establishment of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in 1994, and from 1995 to 2004 was its director general.{{Cite journal |last=Taha |first=Hamdan |date=2010 |title=The Current State of Archaeology in Palestine |journal=Present Pasts |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=19 |doi=10.5334/pp.17 |doi-access=free}} From 1995, the Palestinian Authority was responsible for archaeology in the Gaza Strip and Areas A and B of the West Bank, and some parts of Area C.{{Cite journal |last=Taha |first=Hamdan |date=2010 |title=The Current State of Archaeology in Palestine |journal=Present Pasts |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=17 |doi=10.5334/pp.17 |doi-access=free}} In this capacity, Taha was involved in a number of archaeological projects. He led rescue excavations at Jericho in 1997 with Nicolò Marchetti,{{citation |last=Evangelista |first=Manuela |year=1998 |title=The Secrets Come Tumblin' Down |work=Galileo |archive-date=22 July 2011 |url=https://server11.infn.it/pub/galileo/galileo_eng/archivio/mag/980131/8_art.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722035608/https://server11.infn.it/pub/galileo/galileo_eng/archivio/mag/980131/8_art.html}} Khirbet Belameh in 1997–98,{{citation |title=W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem: Project Descriptions of Albright Appointees 1996–1997 |year=1997 |work=American Schools of Oriental Research Newsletter |volume=47 |issue=3 |url=https://www.asor.org/pubs/news/47_3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031103192004/https://www.asor.org/pubs/news/47_3.html |archive-date=3 November 2003}} and at the site of Bir el-Hammam monastery on Mount Gerizim in 2001.{{Cite journal |last=Taha |first=Hamdan |date=8 July 2016 |title=The Monastery of Bir el-Hamam, Mount Gerizim, Palestine. Site Management and Presentation |url=https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ra/article/view/1946 |journal=Restauro Archeologico |volume=23 |issue=2 |language=en |pages=36 |doi=10.13128/RA-18442}} Along with Moain Sadeq, the director of the Department of Antiquities in Gaza, Taha was involved with negotiations with Israel about the return of artefacts excavated in Palestine during the Israeli occupation.{{Cite journal |last=Balter |first=Michael |date=2000 |title=Artifacts Prompt Tug-of-War |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.287.5450.33b |journal=Science |language=en |volume=287 |issue=5450 |pages=33 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5450.33b|url-access=subscription }}

File:Hisham Palace in Jericho2.jpg (also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar) in the West Bank.]]

In 2002, the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage merged with the Department of Cultural Heritage and was part of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. From 2004, Taha worked as Assistant Undersecretary for the Antiquities and Cultural Heritage Sector until 2012, and then as an undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities until 2014. Taha advocated for Palestine joining UNESCO,{{citation |last=Perry |first=Tom |title=Palestinians to push heritage agenda at UNESCO, seek status for Bethlehem |date=10 October 2011 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/opinion/palestinians-to-push-heritage-agenda-at-unesco-seek-status-for-bethlehem-idUS3147226028/ |accessdate=31 March 2025}} and was subsequently the coordinator for World Heritage initiatives in Palestine.{{citation |last=Feldinger |first=Lauren Gelfond |title=Unesco: the view from Israelis and Palestinians |date=8 November 2017 |work=The Art Newspaper |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2017/11/08/unesco-the-view-from-israelis-and-palestinians |accessdate=31 March 2025}} During this time he remained involved with fieldwork projects and led research excavations with Donald Whitcomb at Hisham's Palace, an early Islamic archaeological site in the West Bank, from 2006 until 2014 when Taha retired.{{citation |last=Whitcomb |first=Donald |title=Rotors above Mafjar, tesserae at our feet |year=2015 |page=12 |work=News & Notes |volume=227 |publisher=The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago |url=https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/nn227.pdf}}{{Cite journal |last1=Whitcomb |first1=Donald |last2=Taha |first2=Hamdan |date=1 February 2013 |title=Khirbat al-Mafjar and Its Place in the Archaeological Heritage of Palestine |url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/jemahs/article/1/1/54/242296/Khirbat-al-Mafjar-and-Its-Place-in-the |journal=Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=54 |doi=10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.1.1.0054 |issn=2166-3548}}

Taha has used his position to insist that international projects at archaeological sites in Palestine involve collaboration with Palestinian archaeologists.{{Cite journal |last=Bohannon |first=John |date=21 April 2006 |title=Palestinian Archaeology Braces for a Storm |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.312.5772.352b |journal=Science |language=en |volume=312 |issue=5772 |pages=352–353 |doi=10.1126/science.312.5772.352b|pmid=16627711 |url-access=subscription }} Taha characterises Palestinian-led archaeology as aiming to "write an inclusive narrative of [Palestinian] history, drawing on primary sources that incorporate the voices of all peoples, groups, cultures and religions that have lived on the land of Palestine".{{citation |last=Taha |first=Hamdan |title=Reclaiming history |date=July 2022 |work=This Week in Palestine |issue=291 |page=31 |url=https://www.academia.edu/86273322}} He has also criticised the Israeli government's approach to heritage in the region.{{citation |last=Berg |first=Raffi |title=Israel heritage plan exposes discord over West Bank history |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21973708 |work=BBC News |date=16 April 2013 |accessdate=31 March 2025}} When the Israel Museum held an exhibition on King Herod in 2013, Taha criticised the display of artefacts excavated in the West Bank which were removed without consultation with Palestinian authorities.{{citation |last=Haq |first=Husna |title=Israel's controversial King Herod exhibition |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20130117-israels-controversial-king-herod-exhibition |website=BBC Travel |date=18 January 2013 |accessdate=31 March 2025}}

{{reflist}}

{{scholia}}

• {{ResearchGate}}
• {{Academia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taha, Hamden}}

Category:Birzeit University alumni

Category:University of Jordan alumni

Category:Free University of Berlin alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Academic staff of Birzeit University

Category:Palestinian archaeologists

Category:20th-century archaeologists

Category:21st-century archaeologists

Category:People from Hebron Governorate