Dr. Orit Peleg-Barkat is a senior lecturer in the Classical Archaeology Department at the Hebrew University specializing in Hellenistic and Roman art and architecture of the southern Levant. Having been schooled in both Classical Archaeology and Art history, her research draws upon both disciplines and their methodologies, as well as on historical and sociological theories concerning intercultural relations. She explores the interrelations between Jewish and non-Jewish societies during these periods and the reflection of ethnic and social identity within material culture through the study of change and evolution in stylistic trends, the introduction of foreign forms of art and architecture, processes of usurpation, acculturation, and transculturation of local societies, their relations with one another, as well as with the centers of power in the Hellenistic and Roman realms. Her research sheds considerable light on the tensions between local traditions and foreign cultural influences in a formative period for Judaism and Christianity, as well as on the role played by local rulers, such as the Hasmonean dynasty and Herod the Great, in advancing or rejecting cultural changes. Dr. Peleg-Barkat has excavated and is currently working at several sites, including En Gedi, Horvat Midras in the Judean Foothills, and the Old City of Jerusalem. The Israel Science Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, and others have funded these studies.

During her tenure with the Scholion group at Mendel, Dr. Peleg-Barkat will investigate the transformations experienced by the Idumeans after John Hyrcanus I conquered Idumea and incorporated it into the Hasmonean kingdom in the late second century BCE. Historical records suggest that the Idumeans were converted following the conquest, with debates over whether it was forced or voluntary. However, archaeological evidence points to the desertion of settlements in Idumea during that era, including in the Judean Foothills, Beersheba Valley, and Arad Valley, affecting both urban and rural sites. Some Idumeans appear to have migrated beyond the Hasmonean borders, as epigraphic evidence from Egypt shows a thriving Idumean community there, while others were relocated within the Hasmonean domain. This discrepancy between historical texts and archaeological data poses unresolved questions about the Idumean migration and their cultural impact on the Jewish society they joined.