Following the establishment of the State of Israel, Dr. Shmuel Yeivin, first Director of the Antiquities Department suggested to Prime Minister Ben-Gurion that an “archaeological survey of Israel be conducted for future generations to know what is concealed within the borders of the State”.

In 1964, the “Archaeological Survey of Israel” was established as an association (link to history of the “Agaf Ha`Atiqot”). Its many survey teams  contributed a great deal of  new information about remnants of the past scattered throughout the country. The first director of the “Archaeological Survey of Israel” was Dr. Ze’ev Yeivin (Shmuel's son), followed by Dr. Amos Kloner and Dr. Rudolph Cohen. With the establishment of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Surveys Branch of the Excavations and Surveys Department took responsibility for conducting surveys.

The purpose of the Archaeological Survey of Israel is to conduct a comprehensive survey of antiquities and historic sites, including their being mapped, measured, photographed and scoured for related material.

The decision which areas to survey first is based on  infrastructure development plans. The survey must precede any infrastructure development and the antiquities mapped before they are destroyed. 

The sites on the map are presented separately, in geographical order from north to south, and from west to east. Their names are usually the names appearing in the Register of Monuments and Archaeological Sites, (Hebrew) published in the Government Register no. 1091, 18 May 1964 plus corrections and additions from 1964 to 1998. Other site names are derived from the British Survey Reports of Western Eretz-Israel (Conder and Kitchener 1881-1883), and from names given during the British Mandate (1940).

The maps are published in Hebrew and English, the first being Atlit, published by the “Archaeological Survey of Israel” and the Department of Antiquities. Today the maps are published by the Publications Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The Survey Archives has a file for each surveyed site, containing all material compiled by the survey team – a detailed report, drawings, photos, and negatives, a list of finds that were transferred to the IAA storerooms, and more. The files are open for study in accord with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law and IAA Archives regulations.

The survey has already covered close to ¼ of the total area of Israel. Twenty-five maps have been completed and await publication, another 30 are in preparation, 38 have already been published, totalling  328  maps.

The Emergency Survey of Judea, Samaria and Golan was conducted outside the framework of the Archaeological Survey. 

The Archaeological Survey provides important information about archaeological sites in Israel. Modern survey methods are varied and improve with each survey. The surveyor acquires skills and experience and a better understanding of the area. In recent years, together with the survey, regional research has been conducted in the geographic area of the survey thereby increasing the surveyor’s knowledge of the area of his responsibility.

Archaeological surveying is an efficient tool. It is the least expensive and quickest way of gathering information from surface remains and should be continued and directed toward areas destined for development in the near future. The abundance of data accumulated in the IAA Archives in the last 100 years (including British Mandate Archives) has resulted in a reorganization of the data base for all archaeological sites in Israel.

To reorganize the material, the IAA has taken the following steps:

A.     Integrated a new central computer program (GIS)

      * Data entry of sites and unification of information in a data base.
* Transfer of scientific data gathered by inspectors (GPS data) for surveyed sites, archaeological excavations, exploratory excavations, etc. to a listing of sites, or to a concentration of special information (e.g. a map of sites where infrastructure development is planned).

B.     Preparation of a map of selected sites in Israel.

* Centralization of information from the regions.

* Incorporation of the information into regional maps.

* Production of a map presenting sites, and including information and text.