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What is Archaeology? Trends and Currents in Contemporary Archaeological Discourse in Israel. 
Thursday, December 27, 2012. Room 496, Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University

9.00-9.30: Reception

9.30-9.45: Opening statement – Assaf Nativ and Mark Iserlis

9.45-10.00: Shlomo Bunimovitz, Children of three paradigms: my generation in Israeli archaeology


Session One: Archaeology and the personal; Chair Shlomo Bunimovitz

10.00-10.30: Yifat Thareani, Margins’ Girl: On frontiers as multi-cultural archaeological spaces

10.30-11.00: Haggai Misgav, Archaeology and contemporary religious conceptions

11.00-11.15: Recess


Session Two: Archaeology as profession; Chair Oded Lipschits

11.15-11.45: Ianir Milevski, What is archaeology? A materialist dialectic approach

11.45-12.15: Alon Shavit, Community archaeology in Israel: on the connection and discord between the archaeological community and society

12.15-12.45: Eran Arie, Archaeology in a museum: visit and Critique

12.45-14.00: Lunch break


Session Three: Archaeology as a discipline; Chair Yuval Goren

14.00-14.30: Steve Rosen, Archaeology: a personal perspectivemarshalltown_46114s_trowel

14.30-15.00: Amihai Mazar, The rusty Marshalltown

15.00-15.30: Yuval Yekutieli, Archaeology as a story

15.30-15.45: Recess


Session Four: Summary and discussion; Chairs Mark Iserlis and Assaf Nativ

15.45-16.15: Summaries: Rafi Greenberg, Avi Gopher, Snait Gisis

16.15-17.00: Discussion

HT: Jack Sasson

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“Scattered throughout Israel are dozens of archeological exhibits, indoor and outdoor, that anyone can visit at no charge.” Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am recommend three of those sites to visit.
Iraqi authorities captured two smugglers in possession of rare statues and coins.

The Dallas Museum of Art is sending one of its 2nd century mosaics to Turkey after determining that it was probably stolen years ago from the area of Edessa.

The Jewish philanthropist who funded the excavation of the bust of Nefertiti was expunged from the records by the Nazis but is now being honored for his contributions.

Shmuel Browns has opened a new online store for products with his photographs and artwork.

El Al is offering reduced rates on winter flights to Israel.

Charles Savelle on the new Pictorial Library of Bible Lands: If you teach the Bible, plan to go to the
Bible lands, or have been there before, I would suggest you check this resource out.

HT: Jack Sasson, Joseph Lauer

Amarna, limestone, gypsum and rock crystal bust of Nefertiti, 18th dynasty, adr070511363
Bust of Nefertiti.
Photo by A.D. Riddle.
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Accordance Bible Software has just announced an End of Year Sale which includes $40 off the American Colony Collection. This is one of the “staff favorites,” and Martha Holladay writes,

My favorite module is the BP American Colony.  The ability to view photos which illustrate the way the land looked in Biblical times helps bring Bible study alive.  Also, the historical views of Israel before modern technology and the founding of the nation are fascinating.  This module is an excellent resource for teaching illustrations as well.

I agree! The Accordance edition of this collection has a number of improvements over the original edition, and this is a great deal for a limited time.

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Recreation of feast in fields of Bethlehem, such as described in the book of Ruth
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From the Christian News Network:

Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe is a road that was traveled by Jesus and the disciples in the ancient town of Bethsaida.
In conducting a dig near the Northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, which was originally meant to serve as a mission to find artifacts from the Roman period, archaeologists came across a distinctive discovery.
“We uncovered a paved street from the time of Jesus’s disciples, which runs westward through the residential area from the corner of the Fisherman’s House down toward the Jordan valley,” Nicolae Roddy of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, one of the leaders of the dig, told the publication Popular Archaeology. “I tell people that Andrew, Peter and Phillip almost certainly walked on it because they would have had to have gone out of their way to avoid it!”

The article does not include a photo, and I don’t see any other reports on this besides this brief one.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Bethsaida house of fisherman, tb060105684

Newly discovered road ran from the “house of the fisherman” shown above toward the Jordan River. Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.
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Archaeologists working at Acco have discovered harbor remains and four shipwrecks from the early 19th century.

Deane Galbraith summarizes a new article in which Yigal Levin rejects the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as Shaaraim and proposes instead that it is the Israelite encampment.

Bible History Daily has a short story on a new exhibit about Famous Americans Who Made Holy Land Tours. Featured tourists include Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Muriel and Jeremy Josse Collection of Holy Land Maps includes more than 250 maps of late 19th- and early 20th-century Palestine and the African continent.

Harvard University is returning to archaeology in Iraq after nearly a century, but they’re doing so without touching the ground.

National Geographic has word (and photos) of the Oldest Pharaoh Rock Art Rediscovered in Egypt.

Bible History Daily posts more than a dozen high-res images of “King David’s Tomb.” You need a subscription to read Jeffrey Zorn’s related article, but the images are available to all. And if you ever teach about the subject, you should grab the nicely colored drawings from Weill’s excavations while they’re available (below the photos).

The city of Jerusalem has approved plans for rebuilding the second of two domed synagogues in the Old City. Both were destroyed in the 48 war, and the Hurvah Synagogue was rebuilt several years ago. A donation of $12 million is launching the rebuilding of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue.

For a look at what’s going on in the broader world of biblical studies in the past month, head over to the Carnival.

HT: David Coppedge

Tiferet Israel Synagogue, tb010312424
Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Jerusalem
Photo from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands
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From Art Daily:

The British Museum today announces that one of its most iconic objects, the Cyrus Cylinder, will tour to five major museum venues in the United States in 2013. This will be the first time this object has been seen in the US and the tour is supported by the Iran Heritage Foundation.

You have to skip to the end of the article to see where and when the object will be on display:

  • Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 9th March – 28th April 2013
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 3rd May – 14th June 2013
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 20th June – 4th August 2013
  • Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 9th August – 22nd September 2013
  • J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Los Angeles, 2nd October – 2nd December 2013

What is the Cyrus Cylinder?

The Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform (cuneiform is the earliest form of writing) on the orders of the Persian King Cyrus the Great (559-530BC) after he captured Babylon in 539BC. It is often referred to as the first bill of human rights as it appears to encourage freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire and to allow deported people to return to their homelands. It was found in Babylon in modern Iraq in 1879 during a British Museum excavation and has been on display ever since.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, gave an interesting 20-minute talk on the Cyrus Cylinder at TED last year. The museum has posted a full translation of the inscription.

One caveat: visiting this exhibit does not excuse you from visiting the British Museum! (And before you go, you should purchase this excellent guide.)

HT: Jack Sasson

Cyrus Cylinder, tb112004173
The Cyrus Cylinder in the British Museum
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