The primary focus of Lipschits' research is the Southern Levant, and the land of
Judah in the
Iron Age,
Persian,
Hellenistic and
Hasmonean periods.
Judah under Babylonian rule Through his application of
Biblical criticism, critical studies of historical sources and archaeological data, Lipschits has maintained that contrary to the conservative interpretation of the Biblical narrative, the country during this period was shaped by the presence of foreign empires, starting in the 8th century BCE with the
Neo-Assyrian Empire. This stands in contrast to the understanding of Jewish history as divided into
First and
Second Temple periods, with a settlement and cultural "gap" in the mid-6th century, explained by the Biblical narrative of the
Babylonian exile. Lipschits has demonstrated in his book
The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah Under Babylonian Rule (2004) that significant parts of Judah remained inhabited during the Babylonian rule. This work which is based on his doctoral dissertation has granted him the ''Ish-Shalom Prize for the Best 'First-Fruit' Book in the Research of the History of Israel''.
Ramat Rachel excavations From 2004 to 2010 Oded Lipschits has co-directed the excavations at
Ramat Rachel with
Manfred Oeming of the
Heidelberg University. The expedition unearthed a royal palace and garden, that existed south of
Jerusalem from the 7th–2nd centuries BCE. The excavation has provided essential archaeological data on the 6th and 5th century BCE. Lipschits has demonstrated in a series of articles that during the
Persian rule the administrative and economic center of the
Judean province has shifted from
Tell en-Nasbeh north of Jerusalem, to Ramat Rachel, and not to Jerusalem as previously thought. Lipschits then continued the study with his colleagues, expanding the framework to the first appearance of stamp seals in Judah, such as the
LMLK seals and published a book titled
Age of Empire: The History and Administration of Judah in the 8th-2nd Centuries BCE in Light of Storage-Jar Stamp Impressions.
Tel Moza excavations Since 2018, Lipschits has co-directed the
Tel Moza Expedition Project with Shua Kisilevitz. Tel Moza is a key site located a walking distance from Jerusalem. The focus of the project is a temple complex dated to the Iron Age IIA period (10th-9th centuries BCE), which existed parallel to Jerusalem. ==Selected publications==