Dr. Rami Arav is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion as well as the Department of History at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. from New York University in Near Eastern Languages and Literature. Since 1987, Dr. Arav has directed excavations in the Biblical city of Bethsaida—he is also the director of the Consortium of the Bethsaida Excavations Project headed at UNO, as well as the director of the John and Carol Merrill expedition to the Cave of Letters. Professor Arav has published extensively in both scientific and popular literature, on the archaeology and history of the Land of Israel and of Bethsaida in particular. His latest books are Bethsaida, a City by the Northern Shores of the Sea of Galilee, Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 in a series of 5 books (vol 1-3 co-authored and co-edited with Dr. Richard Freund, Harry Truman University Press, Missouri); Jesus and His World: Archaeological and Cultural Dictionary, co-authored with John Rousseau (Fortress Press, 1995) and Cities Through the Looking Glass (Eisenbrauns, 2007).