Associate Professor of Pre-Islamic Iranian studies. His specialization is the study of civilizations and cultures of the pre-Islamic Iranian world through their material remains and visual representations. His research interests encompass the archaeology, art, and religions of pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia, including Zoroastrianism (with a particular focus on religious iconography), the culture of the Eurasian nomads, the Sogdian civilization, and the “Silk Roads”.
Prof. Shenkar is currently director (together with Dr. Sharof Kurbanov of the Tajik Academy of Sciences) of the excavations at the Sogdian town of Sanjar-Shah (5th-9th centuries CE) in northern Tajikistan.
Teaches Modern Standard Arabic and has been teaching in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Sudies since 1989. In the course of his work he has been nominated more than 15 times for the list of best teachers in the Faculty of Humanities. Dan has written three textbooks for teaching literary Arabic. These books are used by hundreds of students throughout Israel.
