Researchers identify likely assassin of British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey

Researchers Yosef Garfinkel and Roy Marom identified Palestinian rebel commander Issa al-Battat as the likely organizer of the 1938 assassination of British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey.

The study, published in the Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, challenges the long-standing belief that Starkey was a random victim of violence during the Arab Revolt against British rule in Mandatory Palestine. The researchers used British colonial records, intelligence documents, and Palestinian oral histories to reconstruct the events.

They found that Starkey was targeted due to a bitter land dispute between his archaeological expedition at Lachish and residents of the nearby village of al-Qubayba. While the British authorities expropriated land for the excavations, many local families did not receive full compensation until 1943, five years after Starkey was killed. The investigation revealed that local families resented losing access to cultivated land and trees.

The researchers also found a 1937 petition from a local landowner complaining about a lack of promised payment. By combining these archives with memories from descendants of al-Qubayba residents, the study argues the murder was a deliberate act of revenge rather than an act of random banditry. The researchers conclude that the ambush near Hebron was likely organized to distance the village from the crime.

This finding provides a new historical perspective on how colonial archaeology, land ownership, and political resistance intersected during the British Mandate.