Lawrence E. “Larry” Stager (January 5, 1943 – December 29, 2017) was a distinguished American archaeologist and scholar of Old World prehistory, best known for his long career at Harvard University. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD from Harvard, where he studied Syro-Palestinian archaeology and the history of the Ancient Near East under prominent scholars such as Frank Moore Cross and G. Ernest Wright.
In 1986 Stager became the inaugural Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel in Harvard’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and later served as Director of the Harvard Semitic Museum. His teaching and research focused on ancient Canaanites, Israelites, and Philistines, integrating archaeological evidence with biblical history.
He is renowned for directing the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon: a major, decades-long excavation of the Philistine port city in Israel that produced extensive insights into Iron Age civilizations. Stager’s work helped shape modern understanding of ancient Near Eastern societies and their material cultures.