April 18, 2013 – Michal Dayagi-Mendels will retire on May 1, 2013, after over forty years of dedicated service, culminating in her role as Chief Curator during the renewal of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archeology Wing. During her tenure, first as Curator and then Frieder Burda Senior Curator of Israelite and Persian Periods and then as Chief Curator, her accomplishments have been many – through exhibitions, publications, and participation on the Museum’s behalf in the boarder archaeological community. Upon her retirement, Michal will be succeeded by Haim Gitler as the Museum’s Tamar and Teddy Kollek Chief Curator of Archeology.
Haim was born in Mexico City, made Aliya in 1974, and completed his BA in Archeology and Classical Studies at the Hebrew University in 1987. He joined the staff of the Museum in 1987 as Assistant Curator of Numismatics, mentored by Ya’akov Meshorer, and he became Curator of Numismatics in 1994, working with Ya’akov to reconceive our presentation of coins in the galleries in that same year. And in 2010, he oversaw the creation of the new Numismatics Gallery in our renewed Archeology Wing. Among the exhibitions and publications that he has produced in the Museum, highlights include: ‘The Coin of Coins: A World Premier’ in 2004 and ‘White Gold: Revealing the World’s Earliest Coins’ in 2012.
While serving on the Museum’s staff, Haim completed his MA in Archeology from the Hebrew University in 1993 and his PhD from Nicolaus Copernicus University in 2011. He also serves as President of the Israel Numismatics Society and as a member of the Committee of the Bank of Israel for Coins, Banknotes, and Commemorative Coins, and he lectures in Numismatics at Tel Aviv University. He is also active professionally worldwide, representing the Museum and its numismatics holdings through lectures, publications, and participation in international professional associations.
This is the official website of The Israel Museum.
Haim Gitler has an Academia account, you can find all his academic life and work here.
We reported on the White Gold exhibition and congress.
On that occasion Ursula Kampmann wrote two articles about numismatics in Jerusalem. You can find these articles here and here.