Through a massive open online course (MOOC) on Jerusalem, Prof. Aren Maeir enables people around the world to engage with Bar-Ilan content and encounter\u2014often for the first time\u2014nuanced information about Jewish history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"
Shortly after concluding his first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on biblical archaeology in 2019, Prof. Aren Maeir of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology was approached at a lecture by a fellow attendee. \u201cHe began speaking with me as if were friends, but I had no idea who he was,\u201d Maeir recalls. \u201cFinally, he explained that he\u2019d been a student in my MOOC. \u2018After eight weeks together,\u2019 he said, \u2018I felt like I knew you. After all, you were speaking to me the entire time.\u2019\u201d It was then, says Maeir, that he realized how effective a digital format can be, not only in conveying information, but also connecting with students. When President Prof. Arie Zaban invited ideas for enhancing Bar-Ilan\u2019s Basic Jewish Studies curriculum a few years later, Maeir was therefore happy to suggest an online course about Jerusalem, open to the entire world.<\/p>\n[embed]https:\/\/youtu.be\/v5rS2o1ISXA?si=vnPasq7p3sV9KzRG[\/embed]\n
The result\u2014the eight-lesson, English-language \u201cJerusalem: A Journey Through Time\u201d\u2014is the first academic online course to delve into the geography, early history, and archaeology of Jerusalem, as well as its place in broader political and religious contexts. Along with enriching the educational experience of hundreds of Bar-Ilan students each year, it will bring individuals across the globe into the Bar-Ilan classroom, offering what is for many their first encounter with the world\u2019s most coveted city. No less important\u2014particularly during a time of increasing anti-Israel sentiment\u2014the course will help international students get to know a deeply knowledgeable and engaging Israeli. \u201cApart from providing knowledge, this course has the potential to shift people\u2019s perceptions about Israel and the Jewish people,\u201d says Maeir. \u201cI view it as a long-term contribution to the state, one that just happened to be great fun to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with lectures, \u201cJerusalem: A Journey Through Time\u201d includes visits to major excavations\u2014some of which are not yet open to the public\u2014and interviews with leading scholars, including archaeologists Profs. Israel Finkelstein and Amihai Mazar and historian Prof. Jodi Magness.<\/p>\n
The importance of Jerusalem | Historical and geographical background | History and methods of archaeological research in Jerusalem | The contribution of science archaeology<\/p><\/li>
The beginnings of the city | archaeological remains from the Bronze Age | the el Amarna letters<\/p><\/li>
Jerusalem during the Iron Age | debates about David and Solomon | archaeology and the Bible | water sources and systems in early Jerusalem<\/p><\/li>
The First Temple | sites around Jerusalem: Ketef Hinnom, Motza, and Ramat Rachel | Jerusalem as capital city<\/p><\/li>
Jerusalem under the rule of Persia and Greece | archaeological remains from the Persian and Hellenistic periods | Judaism in the Hellenistic and early Roman Period<\/p><\/li>
The early Roman period | archaeological remains from the Second-Temple Period and the Temple Mount | water sources and systems in the Second Temple Period | the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans<\/p><\/li>
The late Roman Period | archaeological remains of Aelia Capitolina | the fate of Jews from the late Roman Period<\/p><\/li>
Byzantine Jerusalem | archaeological sites from Byzantine Jerusalem | Byzantine churches in Jerusalem | Jerusalem after Byzantium<\/p><\/li><\/ul>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2907,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/2907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presidentreport.biu.ac.il\/2025\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}