ASOR Blog
2016
November 2016
Gender in Ancient Egypt: Norms, Ambiguities, and Sensualities
PODCAST
In a recent Friends of ASOR podcast, I spoke with Uroš Matić over Skype about his recent Near Eastern Archaeology 79.3 article, “Gender in Ancient Egypt: Norms, Ambiguities, and Sensualities.” Interested in reading Matić’s full NEA article?
October 2016
Engendering the Israelite Harvests
PODCAST
In a recent Friends of ASOR podcast, I called Jennie Ebeling, co-director of the Jezreel Expedition in Israel, to talk about her recent Near Eastern Archaeology 79.3 article, “Engendering the Israelite Harvests.”
Reduced to Her Bare Essentials
PODCAST
In a recent Friends of ASOR podcast, I called Stephanie Budin, ancient historian with a focus on ancient Greece and the Near East, to talk about her recent Near Eastern Archaeology 79.3 article, “Reduced to Her Bare Essentials: Bronze Age Piriform Pendants in the Levant.”
September 2016
Top 10 Things To Do In San Antonio
By: Richard Coffman, ASOR Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Earlier this year, I wrote a News@ASOR post extolling the virtues of spending several days in San Antonio at a world-class resort attending the presentation of world-class papers by world-class scholars. I said it before and I will say it again—if there ever was an ASOR Annual Meeting to attend, this is the one.
Surrogacy and the Archaeological Object
Based on a THEORY paper delivered by Rick Hauser at the 2015 ASOR Annual Meeting
The layout of this paper and its manner of access are different from the usual paper presented on this website. SURROGACY is not made to be viewed/apprehended in one sitting.
A Different Sort of Community Outreach in Jordan–Building a Museum: the MRAMP Project
By: Suzanne Richard, Douglas R. Clark, Andrea Polcaro, and Marta D’Andrea
The Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project (MRAMP) pilot field season took place from May 8-21, 2016. We would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous funding provided by a Harris Grant administered through ASOR for general expenses, along with a special grant from the Alessandrini Group (Studio Strati), which covered the expenses of our Italian architectural team.
August 2016
3 Things Threatening Cultural Heritage in Syria and Iraq
The Islamic State and other radical groups engaged in the conflict in Syria and Iraq over the last three years receive much of the blame for the destruction of cultural heritage in that region.
4 Ways You Can Help Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage plays an active role in people’s everyday lives. It is a way for people to express themselves, but it also connects us. Even though our cultures, our language, our religion, or our ethnicity may be very different, there are certain elements within cultural heritage that act as touchstones that bring us together.
July 2016
The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project: The Ceramic Repertoire from the Early Pottery Neolithic to the Sasanian Period
By: Katia Gavagnin, Marco Iamoni, and Rocco Palermo
The present article discusses the preliminary results of the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project, an on-going archaeological project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, an autonomous territory in North-Eastern part of the country, which borders with Turkey and Iran.
June 2016
New Evidence for Middle Bronze Age Chronology and Synchronisms in the Levant
By: Felix Höflmayer, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology
A sound and secure chronological framework is the backbone of history. Only when we know when certain events took place, we can try to answer the questions how and why they happened. In times when historical information is scant, it can be challenging to resolve questions of absolute calendrical dates.
The Empire and the “Upper Sea”: Assyrian Control Strategies along the Southern Levantine Coast
By: Yifat Thareani, Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew Union College
Being the world’s first political rule to adopt an imperial structure – Assyria was a land-locked power with no real maritime experience. Ideologically, the Assyrians believed that the Mediterranean (the “Upper Sea”) and the Persian Gulf (the “Lower Sea”) should be unified under the hegemony of a single Mesopotamian ruler.
May 2016
TerraWatchers, UCSD, and ASOR CHI Partner to Monitor Archaeological Sites
By: Stephen H. Savage, Michael Danti, and Thomas Levy
Warfare has been raging almost continuously across some part of the Middle East for more than forty years. It has gone hand-in-hand with social and political revolutions in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, destabilizing the entire region and encouraging widespread looting and destruction of archaeological sites, museums, and portable cultural heritage.
Teaching Heritage in Classrooms
By: Olga Sushinsky
The first time I walked into my daughter’s playgroup, I saw a model of St. Peter’s Cathedral from Rome placed on the top shelf of the art/music classroom. Having walked around, I noticed the model of St. Basil’s Cathedral from Moscow in another room along with models of other similar landmarks.
Eating Archaeology
By: Inda Omerefendic, ASOR Publications and Fulfillment Manager
On Monday night after work, I headed over to Boston University’s Archaeology Department for “Eating Archaeology,” a night filled with food, drinks, and a competition where one team’s dish was to be declared the winner.
April 2016
Easy Tips For Promoting Your Dig
Ever wish more people knew about your dig site and the research being completed? Here are 5 easy tips to promote your research, increase your visibility to potential funders, and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Sex Crimes in the Laws of the Hebrew Bible
PODCAST
In a recent special Near Eastern Archaeology issue on crime and punishment in the Bible and the Near East, Dr. Bruce Wells authored the article, “Sex Crimes in the Laws of the Hebrew Bible.”
World Heritage Day Symposium Twitter Recap
ASOR and AIA (The Archaeological Institute of America), in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution and The George Washington University Capitol Archaeological Institute, commemorated International Day for Monuments and Sites (also called World Heritage Day) at the Ring Auditorium at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of the Smithsonian Institution on Monday, April 18, 8:30AM-12:30PM.
March 2016
Crime and Sexual Offense in Hatti
PODCAST
In a recent special Near Eastern Archaeology issue on crime and punishment in the Bible and the Near East, Dr. Ilan Peled authored the article, “Crime and Sexual Offense in Hatti.”
An Early Islamic Homicide at Qasr Hallabat, Jordan
PODCAST
In a recent special Near Eastern Archaeology issue on crime and punishment in the Bible and the Near East, Dr. Megan Perry co-authored the article “An Early Islamic Homicide at Cahser Hallabat, Jordan” with Kathryn Parker and R. Taylor Montgomery.
February 2016
Violence and the City: On the Yahwist’s Leviathan
PODCAST
Continuing our look inside the recent special Near Eastern Archaeology issue on crime and punishment in the Bible and the Near East, we spoke with Dr. Robert Kawashima about his article, “Violence and the City: On the Yahwist’s Leviathan.”
Sacred Violence: When Ancient Egyptian Punishment was Dressed in Ritual Trappings
PODCAST
Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Kerry Muhlestein about his recent Near Eastern Archaeology article, “Sacred Violence: When Ancient Egyptian Punishment was Dressed in Ritual Trappings.”
January 2016
Virtual Bible Project
PODCAST
At the 2015 ASOR Annual Meeting, I met with Dr. James Strange and Dr. Daniel Warner to talk about their Virtual Bible Project: Animated Mapping Series. They hope to present on the project at the 2016 ASOR Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Twitter Recap: Protecting Our Shared Heritage in Syria— International Summit to Promote Collaboration
On Friday, December 11, 2015 at 12:30PM there was a free and open to the public symposium at the National Geographic Society Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, DC.
