Jan/Feb 2019 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (45/1) is now on newsstands

The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) is pleased to announce the publication of the January/February 2019 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR 45/1), which is on newsstands now.

During my first year as Editor, I am particularly proud of the number of new authors who have contributed to BAR, as well as the number of women and young(er) scholars we’ve been able to publish. We’ve also implemented a few changes, such as our new policy against publishing unprovenanced objects.

As I begin my second year as Editor, you can look for a few more gradual changes, including a redesign in the second half of 2019, a new website, more video and online resources, and a very special double issue highlighting some of the best archaeologists and biblical scholars in the academy.

This Jan/Feb issue is the annual “Digs” issue, so if you’re interested in going on an archaeological excavation, this issue has info on active excavations, contact info, and (perhaps most importantly) scholarship information ($2,000 awards–see pg. 27) for volunteers who want to go and excavate.

The featured articles include:

“Digs 2019: A Day in the Life”
By Robert R. Cargill
When the alarm clock blares at 4 a.m., it’s time to get up and start the dig day. Join BAR Editor Robert R. Cargill in his trademark tie-dye shirt as he walks you through a typical day in the life of an archaeological dig participant. It’s always grueling but never dull. And find out what excavation opportunities are available in the Holy Land this summer!

“The Last Days of Canaanite Azekah”
By Oded Lipschits, Sabine Kleiman, Ido Koch, Karl Berendt, Vanessa Linares, Sarah Richardson, Manfred Oeming, and Yuval Gadot
Excavations at Late Bronze Age Tel Azekah reveal various aspects of daily life in this Canaanite city, including its close interactions with Egypt. The gruesome discovery of four human skeletons poses questions about the final days of Azekah and how those dramatic events might be related to the Bronze Age collapse of Mediterranean
civilizations.

“Commander of the Fortress? Understanding an Ancient Israelite Military Title”
By William M. Schniedewind
From Tel Arad to Kuntillet ‘Ajrud to Jerusalem, Biblical scholar William M. Schniedewind guides BAR readers on a survey of ancient Israelite seals and inscriptions with an enigmatic title that has been variously translated “Governor of the City” and “Commander of the Fortress.” Who was this figure? Discover his importance and place in ancient Israelite and Judahite society.

“The Legend of Tel Achzib, Arkansas”
By Dale W. Manor
Excavations are underway at Tel Achzib—meaning “ruin of deception”—in Searcy, Arkansas. Created by archaeologists at Harding University, this artificial tell serves as a Biblical archaeology lab that introduces students to excavation technique and methodology. Especially for students unable to travel and dig in the Biblical lands, Tel Achzib offers a valuable, informative, and fun experience.

Also check out the columns in the issue:

FIRST PERSON
“A Little Jot on a Jerusalem Column”
By Robert R. Cargill

CLASSICAL CORNER
“Phidias and Pericles: Hold My Wine”
By Diane Harris Cline

BIBLICAL VIEWS
“Safeguarding Abraham”
By Dan Rickett

ARCHAEOLOGICAL VIEWS
“Tall Jalul: A Look from Behind the Jordan”
By Constance Gane

REVIEWS
“King David’s Stronghold at Khirbet Qeiyafa?”
In the Footsteps of King David: Revelations from an Ancient Biblical City by Yosef Garfinkel, Saar Ganor, and Michael G. Hasel
Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir

Enjoy! And click here to subscribe to both print and online versions.

 

 

Credits for “Bible Secrets Revealed” – Wednesdays at 10/9c on History

Below is the credit sequence for “Bible Secrets Revealed” on History.

I am pleased to serve as Consulting Producer on the show, but am equally proud of the work done by one of my students (and 2x Azekah archaeological excavation alum), Sanna Miller, a phenomenal artist who possesses an inexplicably keen eye for all things fascinating, as well as the contributions made by my colleagues in Israel at the Israel Antiquities Authority, Tel Aviv University, and my good friend Dr. Oded Lipschits.

And of course, Executive Producer Frankie Glass is simply a tremendous professional, with whom I am always pleased to work.

Don’t miss the next episode of Bible Secrets Revealed, “The Promised Land“, which debuts on History on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013 at 10pm/9c.

Share your comments on Twitter with the hashtag #BibleSecretsRevealed. And feel free to submit questions to Bible History Daily, where I’ll be answering some of your questions throughout the remainder of the series.

Robert Cargill lectures on Tel Azekah, Digital Archaeological Modeling, and the Digital Humanities at Iowa

I recently gave “Studio Talk” about Tel Azekah and Digital Archaeological Modeling entitled “Digi-Tel Azekah: Digitally Modeling Archaeological Remains on the Judean-Philistine Borderline” at the University of Iowa Digital Studio for Public Arts & Humanities (DSPAH). I presented with my Dept. of Religious Studies graduate student, Cale Staley.

If you have ever asked the following questions:

What is Digital Humanities?
What is Digital Humanities at the University of Iowa?
What is Digital Archaeological Modeling?
Why is the Digital Humanities important?
How do the Digital Humanities help my research?
How do the Digital Humanities help my instruction?

and most importantly,
why should I join Iowa’s archaeological dig in Israel next summer?
(besides losing weight, getting fit, getting a great tan, traveling the Holy Land, and earning 6 units doing undergraduate research)…

…then watch this video and all your questions will be answered.

With thanks to Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot, and Manfred Oeming for making The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition possible.

(and of course that’s the picture that YouTube chooses to use as the cover image.)

Lecture by Prof. Oded Lipschits: “The Myth of the Empty Land and the Myth of the Mass Return”

Don’t miss the lecture by my Tel Azekah colleague and Tel Aviv University Professor of Archaeology, Dr. Oded Lipschits, recently given at the University of Chicago entitled, “The Myth of the Empty Land and the Myth of the Mass Return.”

Give it a view.

Take a Tel Aviv University history course – “The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem” – online for free!

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pleased to announce that during the upcoming academic year, Tel Aviv University will be offering two on-line history courses. The courses are available within the content management framework of “Coursera”, an education company that offers courses online for anyone to take, for free!

I am thrilled that one of these courses is being offered by my Tel Azekah excavation partners, Dr. Oded Lipschits and Ido Koch – two of the smartest (and if I may, kindest and funniest) scholars you’ll ever meet.

They are teaching a course online called “The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem”. The course description is as follows:

The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem (click to access the course)
Professor Oded Lipschits, Ph.D. and Ido Koch
Starting date: Oct 1, 2013 (6 weeks long)

About the Course
The period of the demise of the Kingdom of Judah at the end of the sixth century B.C.E., the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the exile of the elite to Babylon, and the reshaping of the territory of the new province of Judah, culminating at the end of the century with the first return of exiles – all have been subjects of intense scrutiny in modern scholarship. This course takes into account the biblical textual evidence, the results of archaeological research, and the reports of the Babylonian and Egyptian sources and provides a comprehensive survey and analysis of the evidence for the history of this 100-year-long era. The course includes a detailed discussion by Prof. Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University, with guest lectures by leading scholars dealing with the archaeological and biblical aspects of this debated topic.

This is a unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge of the history of Israel and the Middle East. And this is YOUR CHANCE to take an online course with one of the best archaeologists and historians in the world. DO NOT miss this opportunity to be able to say, “I took a course from Prof. Oded Lipschits and Ido Koch of Tel Aviv University”.

SIGN UP TODAY!

Preview the course here:

About Tel Aviv University: Tel Aviv University (TAU) – Israel’s largest and most comprehensive institution of higher learning – is home to over 30,000 students studying in nine faculties and over 125 schools and departments across the spectrum of sciences, humanities and the arts. During the upcoming academic year, TAU will be offering two on-line history courses within the framework of Coursera – an education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.

Dig This Summer in Israel at Tel Azekah with the University of Iowa

I’d like to invite all who are interested to join us this summer for the second season of exploration at Tel Azekah, Israel. The University of Iowa is proud to be joining with Tel Aviv University and the University of Heidelberg as part of an international consortium of universities participating in the Lautenschläger Archaeological Expedition at Tel Azekah.

Tour the Holy Land and spend a summer doing archaeological research for university course credit.

For more information, visit the Azekah Facebook page, or visit the Iowa Azekah Information page. Biblical Archaeology Review also has information on Azekah. You can also read through last year’s Azekah blog.

2013 season details are also available here.

Excavation dates: July 13 – August 23, 2013.

Excavation Directors: Dr. Oded Lipschits, Dr. Manfred Oeming, Dr. Yuval Gadot

Iowa Team Director: Dr. Robert Cargill

Consortium members: You will meet students from around the world, including those from Collège de France, Duke University, Georg-August-Universität-Göttingen, Heidelberg University, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Macquarie University, Moravian College, Moravian Theological Seminary, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Tel Aviv University, Universität des Saarlandes, Université de Lausanne, University of Iowa, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, and the University of Zurich.

Accommodations: Students stay in the Nes-Harim guest-house, a mountaintop village of fully air-conditioned wooden cabins, located on in the midst of a green and lush forest. Students enjoy accommodations and full board, with three delicious meals a day, their own private bar, as well as full complementary Wi-Fi internet services in classes and the surrounding area.

Schedule:

Saturday Evening: The excavation week begins on Saturday evening, with buses that bring students from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or weekend trips to the Nes-Harim guest-house. After a quick dinner, students attend opening lectures and introductions to the week ahead.

Saturday to Thursday: Students wake up very early to work and begin digging as the sun rises over the Judean hills and the Elah Valley. At 9:00 we gather for wonderful Israeli breakfast served on-site at beautiful Tell Azekah, eating and enjoying the breathtaking view of Judean Lowlands. Afterwards, we continue digging until noon, at which point students take the short bus drive back to the Nes-Harim guest-house. Students eat lunch, shower, nap, read, and enjoy time until the time for pottery washing. In the afternoon, students gather for pottery washing where they clean pottery collected that morning in the field, and look for seal impressions and ancient inscriptions. Later, and in the evening, students enjoy dinner a rich academic program, complete with lectures from the world’s leading archaeologists, and enjoy guided tours of the lovely landscape where the ancient history of various nearby excavations is recounted by leading scholars.

Thursday afternoon: Students depart for weekend trips on Thursday afternoon. Two options are available during the excavation weekends (Thursday afternoon – Saturday afternoon):

1. Students may take part in organized tours to other parts of Israel (for an additional fee).
2. Students may take advantage of the complimentary bus service to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem (leaving the guest-house on Thursday afternoon and returning on Saturday afternoon). Studetns are responsible for their own accommodations on the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv weekends.

Friday and Saturday: Free time to enjoy weekend tours or free time in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Saturday afternoon: Buses bring students from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or weekend trips to the Nes-Harim guest-house.

Weekend Tours: Each weekend, students will take tours of various sites in the Holy Land including, the Sea of Galilee, Tel Aviv, Caesarea, the Mediterranean coast, Jerusalem, Qumran, En Gedi, Masada, Dead Sea, Bethlehem, the Herodium, and the Jordan River. And this year, I am planning a special trip weekend for Iowa students to Petra, Jordan – the city carved from stone.

University course credit: Students interested in earning university credit for the excavation can join one or two of the academic courses. (Cost per course: $300 total)

• Archaeology and History of the Judean Lowland: one session (July 13th – August 10th) 3 credits
• Archaeological Fieldwork – Theory and Methods: one session (July 13th – August 10th) 3 credits
• An additional course, Theological Aspects of Archaeological Work, is also available through the University of Heidelberg:  one session (August 3rd – August 23rd)
  

Click here for further information about the academic program.

Program Cost: The cost of the summer excavation program depends on how long you participate. I encourage all Iowa students to come for 3 or 6 weeks.

Registration fee: $50 USD

Weekly cost (Saturday night to Thursday evening): $585 USD. This price includes: participation in the excavation, weekly room accommodations (up to 4 people in a room), full board (morning coffee, breakfast at the field, fruit break at the field, lunch, afternoon coffee and dinner), 24-hours internet service, transportation from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to the camp on Saturday night and from the camp to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon, transportation to the site and back on working days and transportation to midweek tours, security and first aid in the Nes Harim accommodations, all academic lectures and workshops, afternoon archaeological programs and social activities, educational mid-week tours to archaeological and historical sites in the region.

Breakdown by week:

• Two weeks: $1170 USD ($1150 USD for return team members)
• Three weeks: $1755 USD ($1725 USD for return team members)
• Four weeks: $2340 USD ($2300 USD for return team members)
• Five Weeks: $2925 USD ($2875 USD for return team members)
• Six Weeks: $3510 USD ($3450 USD for return team members)

Price does not include: Flights to and from Israel; personal health insurance; weekend tours and board; free time room and board from Thursday evening to Saturday evening.

Iowa students and staff participate in the 2012 excavations at Azekah.

If you are interested in participating in the excavation, or as traveling/participating with the University of Iowa team, please contact Dr. Robert Cargill at robert-cargill@uiowa.edu.

To download the registration form, click here and email it to: azekah.excavations@gmail.com.

 I’m looking forward to seeing you all this year at Azekah!

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!

Profs. Oded Lipschits and David Vanderhooft win 2012 G. Ernest Wright ASOR Book Award

Dr. Oded Lipschits, Tel Aviv University

Dr. David Vanderhooft, Boston College

Congratulations are in order to Profs. Oded Lipschits and David Vanderhooft on being awarded the 2012 G. Ernest Wright ASOR Book Award.

From Eisenbrauns:

We at Eisenbrauns congratulate Oded Lipschits and David Vanderhooft, who were awarded the 2012 G. Ernest Wright Award by the American Schools of Oriental Research for their recent Eisenbrauns book The Yehud Stamp Impressions: A Corpus of Inscribed Impressions from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods in Judah.

This award is given to the author(s) of the most substantial volume dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean. This work must be the result of original research published within the past two years. Read more on the ASOR web site.

We’re celebrating by offering all the books they edited or wrote for us at a 30% discount.

Congratulations to my colleagues, and let us celebrate with a toast at Azekah next summer. You’re buying. ;-)

Impromptu, on-site history of LMLK seals by Tel Aviv University’s Omer Sergi

Today (August 2, 2012) at Tel Azekah, Chaim Tzemach unearthed a jar handle with a LMLK seal impression on it. Area S-2 Supervisor Omer Sergi (a Ph.D candidate in archaeology at Tel Aviv University waiting for his beloved advisor, Dr. Oded Lipschits, to finish reading and sign his dissertation ;-) identified the object and immediately broke into a quick lecture on LMLK seals for the student volunteers who had never heard of them.

What is most impressive is that it is a completely impromptu, yet highly informative lecture about LMLK seals given from the balk of a Tel Azekah Area S-2 square to students who had just pulled one out of the earth!

What follows is video I took of that lecture from the balk, which is the best 3-minute summation I’ve ever heard of LMLK seal impressions. In fact, I’ll incorporate this video into my “Jerusalem from the Bronze to the Digital Age” course at the University of Iowa.

Watch and learn.