Yuval Ben-Bassat

Yuval Ben-Bassat is a Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Haifa. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (2007) and previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on Ottoman institutional history, particularly petitions, urban governance, and borderlands. Key works include Late Ottoman Gaza (2024) and Petitioning the Sultan (2013). He employs interdisciplinary methods, combining GIS, archival materials, and oral histories to explore topics like Gaza’s urban politics, Ottoman economic projects, and heritage agriculture in the southern Levant. His edited volumes address broader themes such as Young Turk rule in Palestine and Mamluk history.

His recent studies analyze Ottoman-era maps, census data, and literary dialogues to reconstruct marginalized voices and spatial dynamics. Collaborations include work with Johann Buessow on urban factionalism and Dotan Halevy on WWI archives. Research interests span Ottoman Palestine’s socio-legal systems, environmental history, and the interplay between local and imperial governance.

Education:

• Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago (2007)

Key Research Themes: Ottoman petitions, urban institutions, Gaza’s history, digital humanities applications in historical geography, and agricultural heritage in arid regions.

Grants & Collaborations: Led projects on Ottoman cartography, heritage viticulture, and GIS-based urban analysis. Active in academic editing, co-editing volumes such as From the Household to the Wider World (2023) and Developing Perspectives in Mamluk History (2017).

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with archaeologists, geographers, and digital humanities experts to integrate fieldwork, archival analysis, and spatial technologies.