Ron E. Tappy is the G. Albert Shoemaker Professor of Bible and Archaeology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the Director of the James L. Kelso Museum, and the Project Director of The Zeitah Excavations. He conducted a surface survey at Tel Zayit in 1998 and, to date, has completed nine seasons of excavation at the site, where his research focuses on the nature of borderland settlements during the Iron Age.