In 1990 Taha joined Birzeit University's Palestinian Institute of Archaeology – which had been created three years earlier – as a professor of archaeology. He worked there for two years.[2][3]
Taha co-led excavations at Hisham's Palace (also known as Khirbat al-Mafjar) in the West Bank.
In 2002, the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage merged with the Department of Cultural Heritage and was part of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.[4] From 2004, Taha worked as Assistant Undersecretary for the Antiquities and Cultural Heritage Sector until 2012, and then as an undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities until 2014.[1] Taha advocated for Palestine joining UNESCO,[10] and was subsequently the coordinator for World Heritage initiatives in Palestine.[11] During this time he remained involved with fieldwork projects and led research excavations with Donald Whitcomb at Hisham's Palace, an early Islamic archaeological site in the West Bank, from 2006 until 2014 when Taha retired.[12][13]
Taha has used his position to insist that international projects at archaeological sites in Palestine involve collaboration with Palestinian archaeologists.[14] Taha characterises Palestinian-led archaeology as aiming to "write an inclusive narrative of [Palestinian] history, drawing on primary sources that incorporate the voices of all peoples, groups, cultures and religions that have lived on the land of Palestine".[15] He has also criticised the Israeli government's approach to heritage in the region.[16] When the Israel Museum held an exhibition on King Herod in 2013, Taha criticised the display of artefacts excavated in the West Bank which were removed without consultation with Palestinian authorities.[17]
123"Dr. Hamdan Taha". Yasser Arafat Museum. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
↑Al-Houdalieh, Salah Hussein A. (2009). "Archaeology Programs at the Palestinian Universities: Reality and Challenges". Archaeologies. 5 (1): 166. doi:10.1007/s11759-009-9097-9.
