With funds from the Joe D. Seger Excavation Grant, several hundred line drawing illustrations were prepared for the final report on the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BCE) excavations at Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria. The excavation project was sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam.
Umm el-Marra was probably the site of ancient Tuba, capital of a kingdom in the Jabbul plain between Aleppo and the Euphrates valley in northern Syria. In the Early Bronze Age occupation, the earliest at the site, the excavations exposed a complex with ten monumental elite tombs. These included well-preserved mausoleums with luxury artifacts of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli. Also of particular interest were installations containing the skeletons of equids and other animals, indicative of sacrificial rituals and interments accompanying the main tombs. It is likely that the equids were the donkey x onager hybrids referred to as kungas in Early Bronze Age texts, highly valued and associated with royalty. The Umm el-Marra equids constitute the first archaeological attestation of these special animals. Given these results, the Umm el-Marra necropolis provides a highly unusual and large body of information on ancient Syrian elite mortuary practices and beliefs, including ancestor veneration and animal sacrifice.
Tomb 1, Skeletons B and C.
Among the illustrations produced with the assistance of the Seger Grant were architectural plans of the tombs (see Chapter 2 fig. 75), the equid installations (see Chapter 2 fig. 89), and architecture outside the tomb area (see Chapter 2 fig. 201). Plates of pottery drawings were produced for each Early Bronze occupation phase (see Chapter 3 fig. 2) and for pottery from the tombs (see Chapter 3 fig. 36). Further, drawings of non-ceramic finds were produced (see Chapter 4 fig. 179 and fig. 221).
Plan of Tomb 4. Chapter 2, Fig. 75.
Equid Installation. Chapter 2, Fig. 89.
Period VI ceramics. Chapter 3, Fig. 2.
Tomb 4, upper layer ceramics. Chapter 3, Fig. 36.
Chapter 4, Fig. 221.
Chapter 4, Fig. 179.
The manuscript of the book, preliminarily titled Animals, Ancestors and Ritual in Early Bronze Age Syria: An Elite Mortuary Complex from Umm el-Marra, was accepted for publication, pending revisions, by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, UCLA, in December 2021.
Beginning in late 2021, ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI) and its partners developed a series of tutorials and training modules in English, French, and Arabic aimed to help cultural heritage specialists perform surveys and condition assessments through open source tools and software, including QGIS, KoboToolbox, LibreCAD, and MetaShape. Through these tutorials, the ASOR CHI team has trained hundreds of archaeology professionals, university students, and heritage enthusiasts in northern Africa, in the Sahel region of western Africa, and in America. This summer, ASOR CHI is in the process of updating these tutorials, including adding new techniques and analytical tools. Work on these resources has been made possible by a grant from an anonymous donor.
While the goal of this project is to assist heritage professionals in documenting and mapping sites, these tutorials are also an excellent resource for anyone in the ASOR community who is looking to learn new skills and take advantage of open source software. ASOR remains committed to providing open-access online resources such as these for the benefit of the entire ASOR community.
ASOR Director for North African Cultural Heritage Projects
Dr. Hanan Charaf conducting KoboToolbox training with members of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) in Morocco.
KoBoToolbox and KoBoCollect Application: open source software package for location and descriptive data collection in the field can then be synched up with GIS software
Mapping Activities
QGIS: free and open source Geographic Information System (GIS)
LibreCAD: free open source computer-aided design (CAD) application for 2D design
Photogrammetry using Agisoft Metashape: software that performs photogrammetric processing of digital images and generates 3D spatial data
Dr. Charaf leading on-site training with the HAF team at a synagogue in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Summer has arrived at the Strange Center! Staff are still working remotely, with one staff member coming into the office to check mail a couple of times per week. One of the last moves we made before closing down in March 2020 was purchase a beautiful Queen Anne desk that will eventually find it’s home in one of our staff offices.
Orchid blooming in the Strange Center.
The first floor houses Andy’s and Meagan’s office spaces, and also contains the kitchen and work space for processing mail, printing, and scanning. The second floor has the ACOR/CAARI office, Marta and Felice’s offices, and the conference room. The third floor of the Strange Center is still empty and we hope to see the space being used by new colleagues and research associates in the upcoming years. We look forward to hosting our ASOR family at the Strange Center as travel and social interaction become easier.
Last fall saw the arrival of our Eastern Redbud tree in front of the building, made possible by William Andreas and planted in honor of China Shelton (ACOR, CAARI). The tree is now well-established and even bloomed a little this spring. We look forward to many more years of showy pink-purple blossoms in the spring and some much-needed shade during hot Alexandria summers.
Redbud tree in June.
The first blooms of the redbud tree in March.
King St. construction.
Construction of a multi-purpose building on King St. behind the Strange Center started this spring. The four-story building will have a mix of condos, retail, and restaurant space. The building will incorporate a historical building on the corner of King St. and Payne St. that previously housed a restaurant, as well as a parking lot next to it. So far, the construction seems to be going smoothly and there were even some archaeologists surveying and test-pitting the lot this spring.
Our neighborhood in Old Town Alexandria is primed for summer with arrival of a new neighbor across the street, Goodies Frozen Custard and Treats. Goodies occupies a previously unused old ice house (ca. 1931) on Commerce St., a perfect setting for frozen treats. They just opened Memorial Day weekend.
Ice House across from the Strange Center.
ASOR Summer Hours
As in previous years, ASOR staff have the option of taking a half day on Fridays during June, July, and August, with the understanding they will work the extra hours earlier in the week. This means that after 12:30 PM ETon Fridays, ASOR staff may not be around to answer emails and office phones. ASOR staff are grateful for the chance to have a somewhat longer weekend during the summer months. Normal hours will resume in the first week of September and we look forward to the day when we are all back in the Strange Center.
Rita Lucarelli receives a National Endowment for Humanities Summer Stipend
Congratulations to ASOR member Rita Lucarelli on being awarded a National Endowment for Humanities summer stipend for research leading to the publication of her book Agents of Punishment and Protection. Assessing the Demonic in First Millennium BCE Egypt. NEH’s summer stipends are designed to support scholars in preparation of a book, article, translation, archaeological report, or digital publication.
Lucarelli is Associate Professor of Egyptology in the Near Eastern Studies department, Faculty Curator of Egyptology at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and Fellow of Digital Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley . She holds a MA in Classical Languages and Egyptology from the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” Italy and a PhD from Leiden University. Her dissertation, The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion in the 10th Century BC, was published in 2006. Lucarelli’s current research centers around creating 3D models of ancient Egyptian coffins and examining the magical spells decorating these coffins as case-studies for investigating the materiality of the text in relation to ancient Egyptian funerary literature. She is one of the coordinators of Demonthings: The Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project and a frequent participant in ASOR’s Annual Meeting.
Detail from pedestal of inner coffin of Meretites, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City MO, Inv. No.2007.12.2.A-B. (Photo by Kea Johnston.)
Agents of Punishment and Protection. Assessing the Demonic in First Millennium BCE Egypt
Demonology is an integral, though often neglected aspect of the ancient Egyptian religion. Defining “demons” poses issues of ontological classification, especially when dealing with an ancient civilization whose sources of study are not always descriptive neither comprehensive. In the ancient Egyptian magical texts and representations, a variegated series of liminal beings act as agents of punishment but also of protection towards the living and the dead. A contextualized and in-depth study of each of the available sources, which will be carried out in the proposed book-project, is necessary to understand the role that those agents played in the ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and how people would communicate with demons through magical practices and the help of professional ritualists. By assessing the existence of an ancient Egyptian demonology, the author will also attempt a comparative study with other discourses on demons in the ancient world.
From Lepsius, K.R, Das Todtenbuch der Ägypter (nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin. (http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/467/)
This year the National Endowment for the Humanities provided $24 million in grants to support 225 humanities projects nationwide. The National Humanities Alliance released the following statement from its Executive Director Stephen Kidd on this April NEH announcement:
“The National Endowment for the Humanities will support Dialogues on the Experience of War programs for veterans in Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Virginia. With grants for research, preservation, and curricular innovation, the NEH will continue its crucial support of the humanities in higher education. And in addition to supporting exhibitions and podcasts, grants for public programs will support a nationwide reading and discussion program on women’s suffrage.”
“We are immensely proud of the NEH’s impact across the U.S. and will continue advocating for increased federal support for future grants in 2021 and beyond.”
ASOR encourages all of our members to consider applying for NEH grants and fellowships. Applications for NEH’s 2022 summer stipends will be available May 5th. The deadline for submission is September 22, 2021. Read more about applying here.
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]On January 1, 2021, Jennie Ebeling (Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville) assumed the editorship of ASOR’s Archaeological Report Series (ASOR-ARS), replacing Hanan Charaf, who edited the series for the previous six years. Jennie wishes to thank Hanan for her excellent work as ASOR-ARS editor and looks forward to working with chair of the ASOR Publications Committee Kevin McGeough, editor of the Annual of ASOR (AASOR) series William Caraher, and colleagues who are interested in publishing the results of their fieldwork with ASOR. She is particularly interested in working to develop ASOR’s digital publication program and looks forward to exploring new possibilities for archaeological site publication.
ASOR’s Archaeological Report Series, whose first published volume appeared in 1991, is devoted to the publication of:
final excavation reports
surveys
ethnoarchaeological fieldwork
All time periods are considered for publication and excavation projects need not be ASOR-affiliated. ARS will continue to publish works on those regions ASOR has been historically involved with, but will also seek novel scholarship on regions and topics beyond the boundaries of its traditional mandate, and of interest to its growing and diverse membership. There are no length requirements for ARS and volumes are not published on any fixed schedule. The most recent volume, ARS 27, Caesarea Maritima Excavations in the Old City 1989-2003 Conducted by the University of Maryland and the University of Haifa, Final Reports, Volume 1: The Temple Platform (Area TP), Neighboring Quarters (Area TPS and Z), and the Inner Harbor Quays (Area I): Hellenistic Evidence, King Herod’s Harbor Temple, Intermediate Occupation, and the Octagonal Harbor Church (edited by Kenneth G. Holum), was published in November 2020.
ARS also publishes the CAARI Monographs, a sub-series dedicated to Cyprus. This sub-series may include conference proceedings, final excavation reports, and essays pertaining to the history and archaeology of Cyprus. Cyprus and the Balance of Empires: Art and Archaeology from Justinian I to the Coeur de Lion is the most recent CAARI Monograph and is available for purchase through the ISD website.
Information on the submission process can be found on the ASOR website.
For further information, please contact Jennie at jennie.ebeling@gmail.com.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]
ANNUAL OF ASOR NEWS
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]Last year, Bill Caraher took over the editorship of the Annual of ASOR (AASOR) from Kevin McGeough, who took on the position of Chair of the ASOR Committee on Publications. With his continued support and encouragement and the collaboration of the Committee on Publications and of Jennie Ebeling, the new editor of the ARS, the Annual of ASOR embarks upon its second century of publication as a meaningful contributor to ASOR’s mission.
The Annual of ASOR was first published in 1920 making it ASOR’s oldest continuing publication, although its role has changed dramatically since its inception. Originally, AASOR published articles that would now be published in BASOR or JCS. Later, it became a venue for the presentation of site reports and cuneiform tablets (specifically the Nuzi materials). Both of these types of publications are now more appropriate for ARS or the JCS Supplemental Series.
In recent years, a variety of materials have been offered as AASOR volumes – festschriften, collections of essays, final reports, and the results of historic projects. Given its eclectic past contents and the mandates of ASOR’s other series and journals, now is a good time to clarify the mandate of the Annual. The defining character of the Annual is its flexibility. Over the last decade, this has allowed us to concentrate on a few key areas and AASOR has become a suitable location for:
Specialist studies that are perhaps too long or otherwise unsuitable for journal publication.
Publications of legacy material from projects that are no longer active in the field or in the regular publication of results.
Collections of articles on topics of interest to ASOR members and the discipline of archaeology more broadly.
As AASOR enters its second century of publishing, we’re particularly interested in publishing works that explore new approaches to archaeological publishing including publications that include digital data, novel interpretative strategies, and new ways of narrating the process of archaeological knowledge making.
Bill Caraher: william.caraher@und.edu[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
by Megan Perry, with tribute quotations by ASOR presidents and other leaders
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Arte and Martha Joukowsky in 2006. (Photo credit Barbara A. Porter)
Artemis A.W. Joukowsky, a long-time friend and supporter of ASOR, passed away on December 11, 2020 at the age of 89 due to complications of COVID-19. Arte had strong ties to Near Eastern archaeology, serving as President of the ACOR Board of Trustees for almost 20 years and assisting his wife Dr. Martha Sharp Joukowsky in her archaeological research and fieldwork in Jordan. Arte was born in Shanghai, China and immigrated as a child to New York with his family. He attended Brown University as part of the class of 1955, and later worked for American International Group (AIG), which took him and his family to many parts of the world, including Turkey and Lebanon. He maintained a strong and meaningful relationship with his alma mater, eventually serving as a Trustee, then Vice Chancellor and Chancellor, and finally as Chancellor Emeritus, along with other honorary positions.
Probably the most meaningful outcome of his time at Brown was meeting his beloved wife, Martha Sharp when they were both undergraduate students. Martha introduced Arte to the world of archaeology during their overseas stints and since 1982, as an archaeology faculty member at Brown University. After fieldwork in Lebanon, Hong Kong, Turkey, Italy, and Greece, Martha directed the Petra Great Temple Excavations in Jordan from 1993 to 2009. Arte joined Martha and her excavation team, which sometimes included other members of their family, in the field almost every summer and served as the official dig photographer. In 2004, Arte and Martha’s dedication to archaeological research culminated in the establishment at Brown of the Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, which has served as the home institution for many ASOR members. Arte and his family’s foundation also supported archaeological research and conservation projects and assisted local communities Jordan.
Arte presents ACOR Board member Mohammad Asfour the Distinguished Service Award in 1993. (Photo credit Bill Lyons)
Arte was involved with ASOR largely through his role as President of ACOR’s Board from 1992 until 2011. Dr. Pierre Bikai, then Director of ACOR, knew Arte and Martha from their days in Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s and felt the institution could benefit from his executive experience and connections. As president, Arte ensured ACOR’s financial survival during the difficult years after the First Gulf War and provided stalwart leadership as the institution grew both in size and scope in the 1990s and 2000s. Arte and his close friend Professor Jim Wiseman were both financially and administratively instrumental in securing ASOR’s long-time Boston home in Kenmore Square. His accomplishments were recognized in 2007 with a W.F. Albright Service Award presented at the ASOR Annual Meeting in San Diego. ASOR’s past president Tim Harrison noted that Arte provided support and wise counsel in his early years serving as ASOR president. Arte’s advice was sought and given to many.
Arte had a generous spirit, welcoming visitors with open arms at both the Great Temple excavation and at his and Martha’s home in Providence. He took great pride in showing off the work of Martha and her team while serving as the unofficial site steward. Arte quickly grew to love Jordan and its inhabitants and worked to give back to ACOR’s host country. In addition to his service to ACOR, Arte was a trustee of the King Hussein Foundation and received the Order of Independence medal from Jordan in 1996.
Arte is survived by his wife Martha Sharp Joukowsky, their three children, Nina Joukowsky Koprülü, Artemis Joukowsky III, and Michael Joukowsky, and eight grandchildren.
-Megan Perry
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Arte was a true gentleman whether in the field or in a Board room. Always nattily attired and full of warmth and vigor, it was always a pleasure to engage with him one way or another. He and Martha were a pair to be admired in so many ways. His efforts in behalf of ASOR in getting space at BU for so many years was only one of the many ways he was helpful to the ASOR family, especially ACOR. He will be sorely missed.
Eric Meyers
Past ASOR President, 1990–1996 and 2006–2007
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As President of the Albright Institute and later of ASOR I had the great pleasure of working for many years with Arte Joukowsky, ACOR’s long term Board Chair. While a determined promoter of ACOR, Arte took full view of the big picture of American archaeological work in the Middle East and provided formative support for ASOR and all of its overseas affiliates. This was featured specially in his initiative which gave the ASOR family a rent-free home at BU for two decades and led to the formation of the “656 Beacon Street Affiliates” group where the leadership of ASOR and the centers met annually for discussion on issues of mutual support. Arte was a thoughtful and most constructive participant in these meetings. He was also in all situations a most congenial host. I recall especially how warmly he received and accommodated me (and assuredly also other visitors) on a visit to Petra while Martha was excavating there. His formative support and leadership will be sincerely missed by ACOR and the whole ASOR family.
Joe Seger Past ASOR President, 1996–2003
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From the start, I felt a special affinity for Arte Joukowsky because we both grew up in China during World War II. I came to know him, though, through Martha and her enviable archaeological reputation. As vice-president for ACOR, and chair of its search for a president, it fell my lot to travel to Brown and talk Arte into filling that role—and what an amazing transformation in ACOR he was responsible for! Working with Pierre and Patricia Bikai, and later, with Barbara Porter, they put ACOR on a sound financial footing that has enabled its unparalleled success. Arte’s enthusiastic support for Martha’s work at Petra’s Great Temple, in and out of the field, was inspiring to behold. When I became ASOR president, I looked to Arte for counsel and advice—something I could always count on. In addition to his generous financial support for both ACOR and ASOR, he was ever ready and available to share his considerable administrative and business acumen with me during ASOR’s consolidation in Boston. Both ASOR and I have lost one of our most avid and dependable supporters but his heritage and influence live on to make us a stronger society.
Lawrence T. Geraty Past ASOR President, 2003–2006
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Arte was a tenacious champion for ASOR, as he was for so many other institutions and organizations dedicated to the study of the ancient world. This included timely interventions at critical moments in ASOR’s history, and it took on a very personal focus for me during the rocky early months of my first term, when he provided a steadying hand and wise counsel to a woefully inexperienced and unsure president. I will never forget our quiet conversations at the annual meetings, usually with a favorite drink in hand, and I will be forever grateful of his unwavering support and encouragement during that turbulent time. His calming influence helped instill confidence we could work through the seemingly insurmountable challenges we confronted, especially the deep structural deficits and organizational problems we faced, when so many others doubted ASOR’s future. Arte will be dearly missed. We have lost a true champion and friend. Thankfully, Martha and he have left a rich legacy that will live on, ensuring their shared passion for the study of the ancient world will continue to thrive and flourish.
Tim Harrison
Past ASOR President, 2007–2013
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Together with his wife Martha, Arte Joukowsky was one of ASOR’s most generous lifetime donors, and he was always generous with his time and wisdom as well. ASOR counted him as a dear and forever friend.
Susan Ackerman
Past ASOR President, 2014–2019
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ASOR has been truly blessed since its inception by a cadre of generous benefactors from the “real” world who have provided sage advice, organizational acumen, and financial resources that greatly enhance our wide-reaching endeavors. Arte Joukowsky was legendary among these for his energy, wisdom, and good will. We will miss him.
Sharon C. Herbert
ASOR President, 2020–present
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I became director of ACOR in May of 1991 when the effects of the first Gulf War had seriously impacted the institution. It was, in effect, closed and I needed help. So I called my friend of twenty years, Arte, and asked him if he would be willing to become the chair. He said yes and over the next fifteen years we worked together and laughed together and made ACOR the strong institution that it is now.
Pierre Michel Bikai
Past Director of ACOR
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I was fortunate to know Arte and his family since the late 1960s in Lebanon, and in the late 1970s in New York City. However it was the years working with him as ACOR Board President after I became the ACOR Director in 2006 that provided the chance to get to know him even better, and also benefit from his guidance and profound care for Jordan and ACOR. Special trips to Petra when he was there with Martha and the Brown team afforded me a chance to spend special time with them and so too visits to their wonderful home in Providence. He helped and influenced many individuals, including myself, and that is part of his legacy.
Barbara A. Porter
Past Director of ACOR
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Artemis Joukowsky was a person of great intelligence and an extraordinary leader. When assuming the presidency of the ACOR Board of Trustees in 1992 he demanded a thorough and long overdue review of ACOR’s mission, bylaws, and reorganization of its board. He then led a major fund-raising drive, funded in large part from his own resources, that literally saved ACOR from a precarious financial predicament in the aftermath of the First Gulf War. His leadership and personal generosity continued in the following years as ACOR paid off the mortgage on its permanent headquarters, expanded its physical plant and programs, and began building a significant endowment. He effectively delegated responsibility among the officers and other members of the ACOR board in order to fulfill its role while trusting in the administrative leadership of the ACOR Directors, initially Pierre and Patricia Bikai and then Barbara Porter. During Arte’s two decades (1992-2011) as President of the Board of Trustees, ACOR was literally transformed into one of the leading research centers of the Middle East.
ASOR mourns the passing of long-time member and trustee, Norma Kershaw, ז״ל (1924 – 2020), who passed away peacefully at her home in Mission Viejo, CA on September 14, at age 95. We share our condolences with Norma’s two daughters (Barbara Tiferet Rosenthal and Janet Kershaw McClennan), her son-in-law (Jeffrey Rosenthal), her four grandchildren, and her two great grandchildren.
Norma was born in New York City on New Year’s Eve in 1924. After helping her husband Reuben grow his real estate development business in Great Neck, and after rearing their children (Barbara and Janet), she went back to school. She completed the B.A. degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in anthropology and art history at Queens College in 1972. Two years later, she earned the M.A. degree in art history and archaeology from Columbia University.
Jim Sauer, Norma Kershaw, and Joan Scheuer visiting Tell Qarqar, Syria
Norma was an ASOR member for more than 50 years, and a trustee or honorary trustee for 40 years. She began excavating in 1971 at Gezer in Israel, and she also participated in excavations at Aphek (Israel) and Salamis (Cyprus). She was elected to the ASOR Board of Trustees in 1979, and was elected an Honorary Trustee in 1988. She was the founding President of CAARI—The Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, and she later served as its Treasurer. Among leadership positions in ASOR, she served as chair of ASOR Tours, and later as chair of ASOR Outreach and Lectures. She was passionate and well-loved teacher of archaeology and the ancient world, and she converted many of the students in her classes into supporters of archaeology and archaeological societies. She was the recipient of ASOR’s most prestigious award—The Richard Jonas Scheuer Medal. Not only was Norma a learned scholar and teacher, but she and Reuben were generous supporters of archaeological societies and academic institutions. She was the primary supporter of News@ASOR since its inception.
While we will miss Norma dearly, we remember and celebrate her life and many accomplishments. We have included three remembrances below: a detailed and complete remembrance by Thomas Levy, and two additional remembrances by William Schniedewind, and Andrew Vaughn.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Remembering Norma Kershaw ז״ל (1924 – 2020)
Thomas E. Levy, Distinguished Professor and Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands, University of California San Diego.
Norma loved the archaeology of Israel and the Middle East and she expressed this through a life-time of study, teaching, service and philanthropy. In Norma’s adult life journey, she was supported by her loving husband Rueben, known affectionately as Rube.
Tom and Alina Levy with Norma Kershaw
They were married in 1951 and celebrated their 61st anniversary before Rube passed away. After raising their children Barbara and Janet, in Great Neck, NY, Norma decided at the age of 43, to pursue her dreams of higher education. In an interview with the LA Times in 1996 Norma said that Rube asked, “Why do you want to go to school? You’re doing fine.”
And she said it was true—“I had a lot of friends; I was on the New York state higher education committee; I was active in the League of Women Voters; I was legislative chair for the school district. Things were OK, but I told [Rube], ‘I just have to do this. I feel very incomplete.’ I wanted to go when I was younger, but we didn’t have the money.” Norma went on to Queens College for her B.A. degree and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and then earned a Master’s degree in Archaeology and Art History from Columbia University, where she studied with the eminent art historian and archaeologist Edith Porada, graduating at the age of 49.
In 1970 while working on her B.A. degree, Norma met archaeologist William G. Dever at that American Institute of Archaeology (AIA) annual meetings that took place in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dever would go on to become one of the most prominent Biblical Archaeologists. At the time, Dever was working with the great American archaeologist, Nelson Glueck, at the Hebrew Union College excavations at the famous Biblical site of Tel Gezer in Israel. Dever insisted that if Norma was serious about archaeology, she should join the expedition and ‘get her hands dirty’ exposing the past. The following summer of 1971, Norma traveled to Israel and joined the excavation.
Norma at Tel Aphek, 1975
It was at Tel Gezer that summer, when I was 17 years old, that I had the good fortune to meet Norma down in the trenches. I was impressed that an “older woman”, in her early 40s was doing archaeology. Norma went on to join other excavations in Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, traveling extensively around the world, and often bringing her daughters to experience the excitement of archaeology and the world’s best museums. In the early 1980s, when I served as the Assistant Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, Norma made one of her many visits to Israel and the Albright Institute. Norma loved the ‘Albright’ because of its unique mission and ability to bring together Israeli and researchers working in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab lands together in dialogue.
Norma enjoyed being at the center of cutting-edge archaeology in the United States. In 1968, she helped establish the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Long Island Society, where she served as president from 1977 to 1981. In 1976, she became a life-member of the AIA and received their distinguished Martha and Artemis Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award in 1989. From 1980 to 1985 Norma served as the travel editor of the AIA’s ARCHAEOLOGY magazine. She also served as a founding editorial board member of Biblical Archaeology Review until she passed away. Shortly after moving to southern California, Norma founded the AIA’s Orange County Society in 1991, serving as its first president, and in 1992 joined the AIA Governing Board. In 1996, she was named the first female (and up until now, the only) Trustee Emerita of the AIA. It was her desire to share the significance of archaeology for world culture that infused Norma’s drive to play a role in so many of these scholarly institutions and museums.
In 1990, Rube and Norma retired to Mission Viejo, California, to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. Norma accelerated her archaeological and museum service in SoCal, becoming a founding member and devoted supporter of the American Research Center in Egypt, Orange County (ARCE-OC) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. In 2007, the museum named their new 300-seat auditorium the Norma Kershaw Auditorium. Norma loved to attend lectures there and always took studious notes on how each speaker could improve their future presentations. Following their lecture, Norma would button-hole the distinguished speaker and explain how they could reach the public more effectively. These suggestions were made not as a critic, but rather as a partner.
Norma was a devoted member of ASOR because it is the oldest, most distinguished and flagship organization for archaeological researchers from the United States and Canada working in the Middle East. Norma gave generously to the Albright Institute in east Jerusalem, where she became an honorary trustee. There is a garden in the back of the Albright Institute that bears her name and provides sanctuary for scholars from all religions and backgrounds meeting in the Holy City. Love for the archaeology of the island of Cyprus led Norma to become a 1978 founder and first president of CAARI—the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Center in Nicosia. She was elected as an ASOR Trustee in 1979, and she became an honorary trustee of ASOR in 1988, earning the Richard J. Scheuer Medal in 1997 and the Charles U. Harris Service Award in 2014.
When Norma and Rube first moved to Southern California, they thought about purchasing a palatial home near a golf course. However, as Norma reflected some years later, they decided they didn’t need a big house. Instead, they would rather use much of their wealth to support the institutions named above and local universities. It is in this context that I reconnected with Norma, and she and the Kershaw family became very close to my wife Alina and me, as they attended events at UC San Diego.
Sitting: Reuben and Norma Kershaw, D. N. Freedman Top: R. Friedman, J. Katzin, L. Stager, B. Halpern, T. Levy
In January of 2006, the UC San Diego Judaic (now Jewish) Studies Program (JSP) hosted an impressive evening around the topic of the Hebrew Bible and Archaeology at the campus Faculty Club for the JSP Board of Visitors, faculty and graduate students. Norma and Rube traveled down from Orange County to attend the celebratory event marking several decades since the founding of the program. Former University of California President and Former UC San Diego Chancellor Richard Atkinson welcomed the guests; the moderator was Jerome Katzin, an important philanthropist to our university, a founder of JSP, and an old Great Neck friend of Norma. At this time, JSP focused on the Hebrew Bible and Archaeology and our program was considered one of the finest in the United States. The faculty included Hebrew Bible scholars Professors David Noel Freedman ז״ל, Richard (Dick) Elliott Friedman, William H.C. Propp, Second Temple Period scholar David Goodblatt ז״ל, and me—Levantine and Biblical archaeology. Norma knew and highly respected Noel Freedman who she had meet when he served as Director of the Albright Institute in 1976–1977. Archaeology and Biblical Studies were the topics dearest to Norma, and by the end of the evening, she approached Dick. Later that evening, he called me at home to say, “Norma wants to endow a Chair for you.” I had to ask Dick to repeat this incredible news three times.
Top: W. Dever, W. Propp, T. Levy, D. Goodblatt, J. Magness Sitting: Reuben and Norma Kershaw
Later that year, in the spring quarter, the Jewish Studies Program hosted a public event to celebrate the inauguration of the UC San Diego Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the university’s beautiful Institute of the Americas with a symposium on Biblical Archaeology. Over 250 people attended the event that included lectures by leading scholars including William G. Dever, David Noel Freedman ז״ל, Richard Elliott Friedman, William Propp, David Goodblatt ז״ל, Jodi Magness, Lawrence Stager ז״ל, Ron Hendel, and Baruch Halpern. Norma played an important part in organizing the event, the program, table layout, menu, and protocols, even insisting on having a team of belly-dancers. It was important for her to use an event such as the establishment of the Chair to build positive relationships between scholars, the administration, and the public to strengthen archaeology in American society.
Tom Levy, Norma Kershaw, James Cameron, and Suzy Amis
Following the conference, I was privileged to edit a book to honor Norma entitled Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future—The New Pragmatism (Equinox, UK) that included papers by the speakers and more friends, colleagues, and students including: Shlomo Bunimovitz, Avraham Faust, David Ilan, Aaron Burke, Miroslav Barta, Aaron Brody, Assaf Yasur-Landau, Ann Killebrew, Eveline van der Steen, Daniel Frese, Tara Carter, William Schniedewind, Aren Meir and Alex Joffe. Around the same time that Norma established the Norma Kershaw Chair at UC San Diego, she also generously endowed a chair at UCLA, where Hebrew Bible scholar William Schniedewind became the inaugural holder of the Kershaw Chair of Ancient Mediterranean Studies. Today, this chair is held by UCLA archaeologist Aaron Burke. Thanks to the Norma Kershaw Chair at UC San Diego and its research mission, my students, colleagues and I have been able to carry out field work in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and India, all leading to a variety of published works. Norma took great pleasure in lending a hand to these expeditions and was always excited to hear about the results of the latest project when we returned from the field.
Norma and Rube Kershaw were part of what Tom Brokaw calls ‘The Greatest Generation;’ people who grew up in the Depression. Rube was part of the American forces who fought the Nazis in North Africa during World War II. As a Jewish family who prospered in post-war United States, the Kershaw’s deeply believed in the American university system and professional institutions and wanted to contribute to strengthening them for the future. As the ASOR community and the UC San Diego Jewish Studies Program reflects on Norma’s unique contribution to the study of Levantine archaeology in the United States, we can only hope that the UC San Diego will live up to Norma’s gift and fill the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands with a new archaeology hire when the current holder of this esteemed position retires. To Norma’s family – May the Omnipresent comfort you among the rest of the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem –
המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]William M. Schniedewind, Professor of Biblical Studies & NWS Languages, Inaugural Kershaw Chair in Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Director of Graduate & Undergraduate Studies, Near Eastern Languages & Cultures Department, UCLA.
Reuben and Norma Kershaw with William Schniedewind
I am profoundly saddened by the passing of Norma Kershaw. Norma passed away on September 14, 2020, at her home in Mission Viejo. She was a visionary, benefactor, and my friend.
I met Norma just twenty-five years ago while giving a public lecture in Riverside, CA. I was a young scholar, but she was a force of nature even at 70 years old. Norma started her academic pursuits later in life, completing a B.A. at Queens College and then an M.A. in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University at the age of 49. She worked on the excavation at Gezer with the Hebrew Union College and traveled extensively doing excavations and research in Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt. She taught at various colleges as a lecturer and won a distinguished teaching award from Hofstra University.
Her husband, Rube, and Norma retired to Mission Viejo in 1990, and she had a vision to build the study of archaeology and ancient Israel in Southern California. She was a founding member and avid supporter of various institutions like the Orange County chapters of the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Biblical Archaeology Society, and the Bowers Museum. She was there for every lecture at the Bowers Museum (where she donated the Kershaw Auditorium). Norma was always steering and advising the advancement of archaeology, Egyptology, and particularly the archaeology of Israel.
She was also an avid supporter of the Albright Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem. Indeed, one of the things that I admired about Norma was the practicality of her vision. At the Albright, for example, she endowed the “Kershaw Garden,” a courtyard where scholars would meet every afternoon to discuss their work, enjoy some tea or beer, and develop lifelong relationships. And she wanted to make sure scholarship was accessible through sponsoring lectures at the Bowers or her synagogue.
I was honored in 2007 to be the first holder of the Kershaw Term Chair in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies at UCLA. Norma also endowed a Chair in the Archaeology of Israel at UCSD (see above). These Chairs were a vehicle to support Norma’s vision for the archaeology of Israel. The UCLA Chair, in particular, supports graduate students, as well as the excavations at Jaffa, and now at Tel Dan.
Norma’s legacy will live on in her daughters, Janet and Barbara, as well as in all the people and institutions that she touched and supported. Her memory is indeed a blessing.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Andrew G. Vaughn, ASOR Executive Director
I received my first letter from Norma in December 2006, a few weeks before I officially started my position as ASOR Executive Director. Of course I had heard of Norma and her involvement in ASOR and other institutions, but I had never had a conversation with her. Her warm, yet direct letter would be the first of several dozen notes and cards, countless phone calls, and many visits in her home and elsewhere in southern California. Within a few weeks, Norma volunteered to be a counselor and adviser. She was talented scholar, gifted teacher, and one of ASOR’s most generous supporters. I am truly thankful for all of those things, but I will remember her most as a loyal, dear friend and encouraging mentor.
Norma at Tel Aphek, 1987
Norma became involved with ASOR more 50 years ago—she first visited the AIAR in 1968—yet it seems that she has always been a part of the ASOR family. Indeed, when then ASOR President Joe Seger presented Norma with the Richard J. Scheuer Medal (ASOR’s highest honor) in 1997, he observed as much. As noted above, Norma became involved in archaeology in her early 40s at Gezer, and she continued through the 80s at Salamis (Cyprus) and at Tel Aphek (see photo to the right above).
C. Meyers, A. Vaughn, E. Meyers, N. Kershaw
The first reference to Norma in the minutes of the ASOR Board (link) was in 1979, when she was elected as a trustee. The minutes and everyone’s memories reflect that Norma played a critical role in the governance and support of ASOR for the next 40 years. In 1983, she was instrumental in starting ASOR Tours, and she included a fundraising component in those trips (see the photo above from one of those trips to Syria). As recently as February of 2020, she counseled me on ways to reactivate and re-enliven ASOR Tours—unfortunately those plans are now on hold because of COVID-19.
Norma and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering at the Albright in Jerusalem
Later in the 80s, Norma became head of ASOR’s lecture series, and she yearned for ASOR to have a broader outreach program. More recently, she was an important adviser for the Friends of ASOR initiative. As ASOR was envisioning virtual outreach this past spring, Norma offered sage advice and asked excellent (but hard) questions. Her physical strength may have been slipping over the last year, but her mind and wit were as sharp as ever. Bill Schniedewind shared that even during a phone call the week before she passed, Norma was eager to participate in the discussion of ASOR’s name. She wanted to help us tell the story of “What is an ASOR?”
Concurrent with exhausting and important board service in many societies, Norma became an stimulating and motivating teacher in the Great Neck and New York areas. She was meticulous in her research, and she inspired countless other adults. She became something of an archaeological evangelist who converted many of the students in her classes into participants and supporters of archaeology and archaeological societies. Her love for the ancient world was magnetic.
It is rare to found one organization that continues beyond a person’s life, and yet Norma helped organize and establish three—CAARI, AIA Long Island Chapter, and AIA Orange County Chapter. All three organizations continue to thrive today. It is impressive just how many organizations Norma impacted. As you can see in the photos to the left and below, her name is found in organizations from Cairo, to Jerusalem, to California.
Norma’s philanthropic support extended even further. Norma knew that member communication was critical, and so she gave funds to support the newsletters of AIA and of ASOR. She also endowed a lecture series with the AIA. The support for News@ASOR was annual, and she indicated that she had made a legacy gift so that this vital membership communication tool would receive support in perpetuity. It is fitting that Norma’s legacy and support of archaeology will continue. Norma is certainly someone who advanced tikun olam with her life, wisdom, and wealth.
As stated in my beginning paragraph, I appreciated Norma’s friendship, encouragement, and sage counsel more than any type of financial support. She was an astute businesswoman and an accomplished scholar of the ancient world. We had numerous multi-day strategy sessions when I was a house guest in her home in Mission Viejo. She helped write development and outreach materials, and she continued to provide feedback and strategy through May of this year.
Norma Kershaw and Susan Ackerman
I will miss our frequent phone calls and the notes / letters that congratulated and encouraged. I knew that whenever a major announcement of a success went out electronically that I would receive a hand-written card or letter within 10-12 days. Even though only one of my children was able to meet Norma, she knew my children’s and parents’ names—she was truly interested to hear how they were doing.
I know that my experiences are shared by many. Norma was the same loyal friend to countless colleagues that she met during her involvement with AIA and ARCE chapters in New York and Orange County, or during her board service at the Bowers, AIA, and ASOR. She continued life-long relationships with students and colleagues from her teaching days. Her life was and will continue to be a blessing.
Janet, Barbara, and the entire Kershaw family: we offer our heartfelt condolences. In the (slightly adapted) words of Ruth (3:11), כי יודע כל–שער עמי כי אשת חיל היא “All the gate of my people know that she is a woman of worth.”[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Tom emerging from a Petra North Ridge tomb during the 2012 season. (Photograph by Jennifer Ramsay)
ASOR mourns the passing of long-time member, S. Thomas Parker (1950-2021), who passed away at Duke Hospital in Durham, NC after a brief illness on September 12, at age 71. We share our condolences with Tom’s wife and daughter (Mary Mattocks and Grace Parker), and his siblings.
While we will miss Tom dearly, we remember and celebrate his life and many accomplishments. We have included two remembrances below: a detailed and complete remembrance by Megan Perry, and an additional remembrance by Jeffrey Blakely with additional comments from others.
John Oleson, Grace Parker, Tom, Jenna Morton, and Bert deVries after Tom’s Festscrhift session at the 2017 ASOR meeting. (Photograph by Megan Perry)
In Memoriam: S. Thomas Parker (1950 – 2021)
Megan Perry, Professor of Biological Anthropology, East Carolina University
Thomas (Tom) Parker, well-known archaeologist of Roman Jordan and longtime ASOR supporter, passed away suddenly on September 12, 2021. Tom spent most of his childhood in the Chicago area and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in history and religion from Trinity University in 1972. He went on to doctoral studies in history at the University of California, Los Angeles, completing his dissertation in 1979 on his survey of Roman and Byzantine fortifications along the limes Arabicus in Jordan. He joined the History faculty at North Carolina State University in 1980, where he remained throughout his academic career. Tom had almost 50 years of archaeological experience in Jordan, Israel, and Cyprus, having excavated at Tell el-Hesi, Ashkelon, Idalion, Tell Hesban, and the Petra Household Excavations before directing his own field projects. The Tell el-Hesi excavation was a seminal moment for Tom, who not only met many future fellow archaeologists but also began intensively studying ceramic typology that would serve as a major focus for the rest of his career.
Tom directed or co-directed three multi-season excavation projects in Jordan: the Limes Arabicus Project, which expanded his PhD survey to include excavation the legionary fortress of Leijjun, the Roman Aqaba Project, recovering evidence of Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine Aila, and the Petra North Ridge Project, which I co-directed with Tom. He served as the ceramics specialist on all of his projects, but always with the goal of mentoring students or younger scholars in the field and in the laboratory. His kindness and patience fostered many budding scholars, and he always, always “knew what was best” for them. While many of his students eventually developed careers outside of history and archaeology, their experiences and his unwavering support and pride in their accomplishments profoundly shaped their lives. In turn, many of these former students contributed to a Festscrhift in his honor, published in 2017.
I first met Tom in 1993, when he visited Tell Nimrin to, among other things, meet me as that year’s Groot fellowship recipient. Tom helped established this ACOR fellowship in honor of his dear friend and Leijjun staff member, Jennifer Groot, who sadly died in 1987 at only 36 years of age. Creating this fellowship, which serves to support first-time excavators in Jordan, exemplifies not only Tom’s generosity but also his role as a mentor to young archaeologists. In the weeks since his death, many archaeologists in the region have commented on his support of beginning and even seasoned scholars. Suzanne Richard, director of the Khirbet Iskander project, recalls, “…as a field supervisor at el-Lejjun, I was so impressed with Tom’s expertise in the field, good leadership skills, calm dealings with staff and students, yet he was always vibrant, jolly, and personable.” Tim Harrison, former ASOR director “will always remember the interest he took in what I was doing … His interest and attention, coming from a senior colleague, was a real encouragement…” Monique Roddy, co-director of the Balu’a Regional Archaeological Project, remarks that “Tom was a wonderful mentoring archaeologist, even for those of us who were never his students!”
Tom faithfully supported ACOR and ASOR throughout his career. He served on ACOR’s board since 1987 and had been Second Vice President of the board from 2002 until his death. He also was an ASOR Trustee from 1989-1992 and served on ASOR’s Committee on Archaeological Policy (1986-1987) and on the Editorial Board of BASOR (1995-1998). Tom was someone always “a great person to have on an ASOR Committee,” according to Tom Levy. I first attended the ASOR Annual Meeting in 1995, and I don’t recall a year since then without Tom’s presence at the conference. Deb Foran, director of the Khirbet al-Mukhayyat Project, commented that this is where he will most be missed, for he “always sat in the front row, listened attentively, and asked insightful questions, no matter how senior or junior the speaker was.” This was often preceded by “his characteristic head turn and raise of the hand” once the Q&A period started, followed by “the gentle laughter because everyone knew he was going to have [a question] ready,” recalls his former student Tiffany Key.
Tom receiving the NC State’s Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Research Award in 2017. (Photograph by NC State)
Tom will be remembered for his warmth, his conviviality, his support, his mentorship, his friendship, his scholarship, his collaborations, his laughter, and of course, his singing and guitar playing. You know wherever he is, he’s encouraging those around him to join in: “On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair…”
Tom is survived by his wife, Mary Mattocks, and their beloved daughter Grace Parker.
Tom entertaining his fellow Hesi crew. (Photograph by Jeff Blakely)
In Memoriam: S. Thomas Parker (1950 – 2021)
Jeffrey A. Blakely, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tom and I were friends for just over 50 years, not close friends but good friends who shared a formative experience. In our field, half a century is simply a rounding error, but to friends it is much of our individual lifespans. The day we truly met is as clear to me as yesterday since it was the start of a life altering experience.
Tom and I each decided to participate in the archaeological field school at Tell el-Hesi in the summer of 1971. Soon after the end of the spring semester in early June 1971 we each made our way to the charter flight terminal at Kennedy Airport and boarded a Capital Airways flight for Le Bourget Airport in Paris. A bus tour of Paris and a night in a hotel saw us at Orly the next morning for a flight to Tel Aviv. It was dark when we arrived, boarding busses to our hotels in Jerusalem. After three days of orientation and extensive walking tours of the Holy City we got up and boarded the chartered busses for Hesi. We almost made it, but the drivers refused to cross a wadi so we had to shlep all of our luggage about a half a mile to Hesi’s new tent village. After finding our tents and throwing our luggage in we had to line up for work details since the camp was still a “work in progress.” Sue, the camp manager (and Larry Stager’s wife), “randomly” assigned jobs. Somehow if you were a large or muscular male you were put into one group, twelve guys. I happened to be standing next to Tom and we were paired as a work team. The new camp had not yet dug its outhouses. So we were taken down to six 1.5 x 1.5 meter probes outlined in string and told to keep straight sides and to go down 2.00 meters with picks and hoes. Yella, yella in case they were needed! So at precisely the same time Tom and I began our archaeological experience, digging a modern s****er. We had a number of hours in the hot sun to get to know each other, he from Trinity and me from Oberlin, he just having finished his Junior year and me my Freshman year. He was in history and looking at a potential career in archaeology. I was looking for a once in a lifetime experience. When we reached 2.00m one of the staff came over and noted that our balks were rather overcut … but don’t dare undercut them lest someone sitting on the throne experience a sad and memorable plunge. Once they were straight Larry Toombs hopped in and checked our balks. Below 50 cm of debris/wash we had gone through nothing but loess … no EB city here. Tom and I were friends from that point.
At Camp Hesi the chore details were daily experiences. Soon the botanist had me sorting things and others were pulled off for other recurring duties, but a core four remained unassigned, “Pope, Parker, Woodruff, and Zipris.” Somehow “randomly” Camp Manager Sue always assigned them to the crappiest jobs every day. It became a running joke around camp. In later years when Tom told the story he tended to exaggerate a bit, to wit: “the urinal is filthy, oh, we have no brushes so lick it clean”, or “the outhouses are mounding in the middle, so jump in and push the pile to the sides as you distribute the lime”, or, “I can’t think of a task so dig a big hole and then refill it.” Tom certainly got the short end here, but it was not quite as extreme as his story. Good story, though!
In 1971 Tom was assigned to a square in Field III, while I was in Field I. We both learned a lot and at the end of the season we headed back to college. By 1973 Tom was in Grad school in History and Archaeology at UCLA and I was a Junior at Oberlin. He had successfully applied to be an Area Supervisor while I had wanted to come back and dig again, but I received a field promotion so I, too, became an Area Supervisor. Tom remained in Field III digging the Iron Age fortification system and I remained in Field I digging Persian-Period pits and floors, both in 1973 and 1975. We learned how to dig and how to supervise. It served us well. Tom was also the co-writer and lead performer of the classic Hesi song “Big Mama Sift Some More” and the “permanent” host of the end of the dig parties. By 1977 he was doing his own research in Jordan. But, forever, he was a Hesi-ite at heart. He always came to the Hesi sessions at ASOR and he always would find time to sit and talk with me. His advice was always thoughtful and valued. He was a true friend of mine and of the project.
In 1996 my family and I were to spend a year in Jerusalem, and I came over early to set up school and other things for our son. In advance of this I contacted Tom. We had been friends for 25 years and in the summer of 1996 I was not doing my own research. So, I asked, can I pay my own way and come and simply dig and once again experience what drew me to the field? Tom was the only person I would ever want to work with in such a way … afterall, we were the only Hesi-ites running projects. Tom said, sure, but wouldn’t I rather supervise? No, no responsibilities, let me relive the joys of fieldwork again. Okay.
In late May 1996 after a day in the hot sun crossing the border from Elat to Aqaba I arrived at the project headquarters and I found the proper floor. I saw Tom down the hall and he motioned to me to come and talk in his room as soon as I dropped my bags in my room. I joined him and he had a grim face and he told me he had a big problem. One of his supervisors cancelled at the last minute and even though we had agreed I was to be a digger, could I supervise instead? Damn, I said sure I can do an Area, on a dig you do what is needed. But then he said, “No, you misunderstand” … it was one of the Field Supervisors and I would be overseeing six Areas; remember you just said you do what is needed. Somehow I think I fell into a well orchestrated plan, and a few years later when I actually asked if that was the case, all I got was a typical Tom Parker smile and a helpless shrug. I will always see that smile and shrug when I think of Tom.
Jeff Blakely
Comments in Remembrance of Tom Parker
“I will always remember the interest he took in what I was doing, even if it involved cultural periods much earlier than his own research focus… His interest and attention, coming from a senior colleague, was a real encouragement, and modelled a wonderful collegiality that continued over many years.” – Tim Harrison
“Even in 1980, as a field supervisor at el-Lejjun, I was so impressed with Tom’s expertise in the field, good leaderships skills, calm dealings with staff and students, yet he was always vibrant, jolly, and personable. He became a leader in the field but was still the same wonderful Tom.” – Suzanne Richard
“From the first time we met and worked together (1976 at Tall Hisban), I could see in him a rising star in the field. From my point of view, his star has set much too soon. We will miss him.” – Doug Clark
“The study of the archaeology of Jordan and the Roman Near East will not be the same without Tom Parker, nor will ACOR. Those of us in the field have lost such a warm, gregarious, vivacious, and endlessly supportive colleague.” – Elise Friedland
“Tom was the first ‘real’ archeologist that I met in Jordan (35 years ago) – he was so unpretentious, humble, full of humor – in one word: a ‘Kumpel’! – and yet: a world class scholar.” – Friedbert Ninow
“Thomas Parker was to me Sir Thomas Parker, a world-class scholar, an enthusiastic and charismatic field archaeologist, a great teacher and mentor, and a loyal and most enjoyable companion, fellow camper and friend… His scholarly achievements as an archaeologist of the Roman Frontier in the Southern Levant will be re-visited over and over again by future generations for decades to come.” – Øystein LaBianca
“Working in Jordan will never be the same without them both [Tom and Bert deVries, who passed away in March of this year]. We will miss their presence at every ASOR Conference and at every group meal at ACOR. They were both such amazing mentors and willing to help scholars of all ages and backgrounds. God grant comfort to Tom’s family and may his legacy live on in every young scholar and colleague that we each can assist and encourage just like Tom did.” – Cynthia Finlayson
“From my first interaction with Tom in the late 1980’s I was thankful of his presence, his humanity and his love of archaeology. Really, this is a major loss.” – Ian Kuijt
“Tom was the friendliest, most supportive colleague, and a great mentor. We will all miss him.” – Jonathan Ferguson
“Tom and I cross over more than 4 decades as active members of the Jordanian archaeological community, our mutual interest in Roman Frontier Studies, and our excavations at Petra. A great personal loss for me and for everyone. The epitome of an ambassador for our profession.” – David Graf
“I’ll never forget when we gave him his start in Jordanian archaeology as a field supervisor at Hisban in 1974…. For the last fifty years he’s been at the forefront of Jordanian archaeology and has touched the lives for good of all of us.” – Larry Geraty
“This is indeed a tremendous loss for us all. My deepest sympathies to his family. I will miss him greatly.” – Lisa Maher
“Tom was the biggest advocate of junior archaeologists and always had a smile on his face. He will be missed.” – Leigh-Ann Bedal
“A tremendous loss to his family, his friends, his students, and to archaeology in Jordan. It’s difficult to imagine Jordan without the presence and contributions of Tom Parker.” – Gary Rollefson
“He was such a nice person and a good scholar… It is difficult to think on works and not having him somwehere in the back as advisor and friendly colleague.” – Robert Wenning
“Tom, a gentleman and collaborator in support of ACOR’s vision, supported the institution by serving on many of the board’s committees, and always calmly responded to its challenges. Tom also nurtured camaraderie with everyone he met. Always thoughtful and encouraging. Tom threw great parties. Tom’s scholarship was impeccable.” – Martha Joukowsky via her daughter Nina Köprülü
“The flood of recollections and condolences reflect the place Tom held in the ASOR/ACOR community. STP was one of a kind, and we’ve suffered a great loss at many levels.” – Jerry & Pam Mattingly
“Everyone who knew Tom will miss him. He was a great scholar and a friend of many Jordanians. May his soul Rest In Peace.” – Moawiyah Ibrahim
“…he was a friend and colleague going back to 1975 when we first went to Jordan, and one of my daughters was a member on his digs…a strong supporter of ACOR both in his financial support and the time and effort he put into the fellowship program. We will miss him significantly and condolences to his family.” – Randy Old
“Tom was such a kind, funny, and supportive figure, and I have long admired his dedication to good and careful scholarship, his encouragement to younger scholars, and his commitment to Jordan. I’m grateful that I had the chance to get to know him.” – Björn Anderson
“Tom was a unique individual, a good friend to just about everyone he met, and he leaves a big gap in all sorts of places, most of all in our hearts.” – John Oleson
“It is a big loss to ACOR and to the field in Jordan. I also feel lucky to have got to know him over the 4+ years I have been on the ACOR board and I am grateful for that.” – David Nichols
“Tom was not only a wonderful mentor and colleague but also a true friend, working in Jordan and attending ASOR meetings will not be the same. I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to have learned from him and worked with him in the field. He will be truly missed by everyone who knew him and my heart goes out to his family.” – Jennifer Ramsay
“In our years at ACOR, Tom was very helpful to us in many ways. His work on the fellowship committee always led to ACOR having interesting and committed scholars. Tom was also a good colleague, ever generous with his expertise. We will miss him.” – Pierre and Patricia Bikai
“Tom Parker was a special person, and not just an amazing scholar, teacher, and leader. I will always be grateful for the ways that he supported me in my work and encouraged me a person. Neither ACOR nor ASOR would be the strong organizations that they are today without him..” – Andy Vaughn
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An ACOR Fellowship – the “S. Thomas Parker ACOR Memorial Fellowship” – is being established in Tom’s memory. The link below will direct you to his page. This fellowship will support students participating on archaeological projects and doing research in Jordan, continuing the tradition of mentorship so important to Tom.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]ASOR is pleased to announce that the Trustee Nominations Committee has selected highly qualified members to stand for election for four open positions on the ASOR Board of Trustees (two openings for Individual Representatives and two openings for Institutional Representatives). The ASOR Board sets the direction for ASOR and provides oversight for our organization. Among other responsibilities, members of the Board agree to attend two meetings each year at their own expense, to participate thoughtfully in the governance process, and to contribute financially to ASOR.
As described below, there are candidates for both the Individual and Instituational categories. All ASOR members are eligible to vote in the Individual Election while only Institutional Representatives of the 75 ASOR-member schools may vote in the Institutional Election. ASOR will once again conduct the elections by online ballot, and all members and Institutional Representatives will receive the appropriate ballot(s) on or about October 20, 2017. We will send out several reminders, and all ballots must be completed by 4:00PM Eastern Time on November 9. If you would like to receive a paper ballot or if you have difficulties completing the online ballot (once they are distributed), please contact Inda Omerefendic at 857-277-0417 or asorpubs@bu.edu.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]
Theodore Burgh is a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. He holds his degrees from the University of Arizona (M.A./Ph.D.), Howard University (M.A.), and Hampton University (B.A.). His research interests are the archaeology of ancient Israel and the Near East, the Hebrew Bible, archaeomusicology (the study of ancient music culture), the reconstruction of Syro-Palestinian and Near Eastern music culture and cataloging musical artifacts, utilization analysis of Syro-Palestinian sacred and secular space, and ethnomusicology.
Mission Statement:
I am truly grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve on the ASOR Board. It is an honor to be a part of ASOR’s distinguished history. It would be a privilege to continue to serve an organization that has provided so much for me.
I have been an active ASOR member since 1996, presenting numerous papers and chairing sessions. I have been a part of the membership committee for nearly fifteen years. On short notice, I also substituted for the 2012-13 Vice-President and chaired the 2012 ASOR Members Meeting.
As a trustee, I will continue to bring commitment and experience. Building on existing success, these are a few areas where I think ASOR could expand its services to the Academy generally and to members specifically. I would like to continue efforts to incorporate technology in ASOR’s development. ASOR is working to strengthen global connections and bringing excavations and archaeological conversations together in exciting new ways. ASOR understands that it is very difficult for some scholars and students in various parts of the world to attend ASOR conferences. However, thus, we have initiated discussions regarding implementing technology that could possibly live streaming or provide recorded lectures and papers delivered from these scholars and students. ASOR will also continue to explore how to possibly share specific lectures and symposiums in the same manner and incorporate Q&A whenever possible. To have top archaeological scholars sharing short clips within articles and reports that can be accessed any time would be invaluable sources.
Lastly, I would like to see continued energy with the membership and outreach committees. Efforts with such endeavors as Friends of ASOR will be essential to maintaining the organization’s future membership and developing inclusivity.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1503684320408{padding-right: 15px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Headshot-2.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”250″ hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Thomas Schneider
Thomas Schneider is Professor of Egyptology and Near Eastern Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Since 2012, he has also served ASOR as Editor of Near Eastern Archaeology and ex officio member on the Committee on Publications. He holds a Master’s degree, a doctorate, and a habilitation in Egyptology from the University of Basel. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna in 1999 and at the University of Heidelberg in 2003-4. From 2001 to 2005, he was a Junior Research Professor of the Swiss National Science Foundation at the University of Basel, and from 2005 to 2007, holder of the Chair in Egyptology at the University of Wales, Swansea. He was a visiting scholar at NYU in 2006, at Berkeley in 2012, and a guest lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2016. He has widely published onEgyptian interconnections with the Levant and the Near East (including Egypt and the Bible), Egyptian history and chronology and the history of Egyptology in Nazi Germany. He is founding editor of the Journal of Egyptian History, was the editor-in-chief of “Culture and History of the Ancient Near East” for Brill (2006-2013), and area editor history for the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.
Mission Statement:
For the past six years, I have had the privilege to experience ASOR from the specific perspective of editor of Near Eastern Archaeology. This perspective has, first and foremost, been an outstanding opportunity: An opportunity to be a creative part of the ASOR community; an opportunity to motivate scholars from across the world to write for NEA, and to disseminate knowledge on the Near East; an opportunity to work with a passionate editorial board and the ASOR leadership. Since my editorship has also coincided with the aggravation of the political and heritage crisis in the Middle East, being NEA editor has also meant to have my finger on the pulse of the time. In the preface I wrote for the June 2015 issue, I discussed Laurent Olivier’s comments about the role archaeology plays as a science not of the past but of the present: The way in which remains have escaped destruction is a direct reflection of how the present came about; the present is the repository of the past’s surviving materiality. The heritage crisis in the Middle East, flagged up in the September 2015 issue of NEA, shows how indispensable it is for ASOR to assume, in the present situation, a political role as an interpreter and guardian of the past’s material memory. In my prospective role as Trustee, I would see it as important to strengthen ASOR and to underscore its eminent political role in preserving that memory. I would also want to support ASOR in its advocacy – with many sister organizations – of the need to educate global society and advance research in history and the humanities.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]
Institutional Representative Nominees
(All institutional representatives will be asked to vote for two of the following two nominees)[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1503684320408{padding-right: 15px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/greene-1.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”250″ hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Joe Greene
Joe Greene, Deputy Director and Curator of the Semitic Museum of Harvard University, received his Ph.D. in archaeology in 1986 at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. He completed eight seasons of fieldwork in Carthage (Tunisia), directing the Carthage Survey from 1980 to 1983. He has been a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow in Jordan, a Fulbright Fellow in Cyprus, and has directed excavations and surveys in both countries. In 1987–88 he directed the USAID Cultural Resource Management Project in Jordan and in 2001–2001 served as a consultant to the Petra National Trust, a Jordanian NGO devoted to the preservation of the archaeological site of Petra. He has been editor of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) Archaeological Reports Series (2003–2008), of the ASOR Annual (2009–2014), and now serves as an editor for Manar al-Athar Publications based at Oxford Univeristy and as a board member for the Friends of Manar al-Athar. His research interests focus on archaeological survey and landscape archaeology of the Mediterranean/Middle East region with emphasis on the first millennium B.C./A.D., on cultural resource management in the Mediterranean/Middle East region, and on museums and the history of museums in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. Since the 1980s, he has led tours in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, most recently to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan in 2011, to Turkey and Greece in 2013 and to Central Asia and Iran in 2016. In 2014–2015 he was a member of a Harvard-based consulting museum group working in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Mission Statement:
In my 30-plus years as a member of ASOR, I have enjoyed manifold benefits of that membership. I have attended ASOR’s annual meetings, participated in its affiliated field projects, received its fellowships, served on its committees, edited its publications, and lived and worked at its overseas institutes. In 2015-2017, I served as an ASOR Trustee as the institutional representative for Harvard University. As a returning Trustee, I would, as before, play a role in assuring that these benefits continue to be available to rising generations of students of the ancient Near East.
To that end I believe that ASOR should strengthen its core functions–its publications and its annual meetings–as well as provide ongoing support for research through its fellowships and through the overseas institutes that it created and helped to build in Jerusalem, Amman, and Nicosia. ASOR, through its Committee on Publications, should continue to develop a robust presence in electronic scholarly publication. Through the Committee on Annual Meeting and Program, it should expand the scope and attendance of the annual meeting while helping to expand membership and ensure that this enterprise is self-supporting. ASOR must also find way to make its Committee on Archaeological Policy (CAP) relevant to the contemporary archaeological research environment, both at home and abroad. ASOR must also develop the financial means to support the initiatives of COP, CAMP, and CAP. It should also pursue new initiatives such as a formulation of a policy of professional conduct consistent with ASOR’s Mission and Strategic Plan, the ongoing, Survey on Field Safety, the Initiative on Women in ASOR and the Cultural Heritage Initiative.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1503684320408{padding-right: 15px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/C_Meyers.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”250″ hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Carol Meyers
Carol Meyers was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She went to Kingston High School, Kingston, Pennsylvania; made her B.A. with honors at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Meyers started to teach at Duke University in 1977. She writes and teaches in the areas of biblical studies, archaeology, and the study of women in the biblical world. She has been described as “one of today’s leading historians and field archeologists”. Her 1988 book, Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context, was the “first comprehensive effort to present a female-centred view of the Bible using historical rather than literary criticism”. Meyers has also written commentaries on Exodus, Haggai, and Zechariah.
Meyers served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2013. She also served as part of the revision team for the 2010 New American Bible.
She is married to fellow biblical scholar and Duke professor Eric M. Meyers.
Mission statement:
As a member of ASOR for many decades, I have seen this organization respond over and over again to many challenges–including economic, political, and technological ones–and come out stronger. I was privileged to be a member of the strategic planning committee that helped reorganize and refocus our energies. The hard work and dedication of its officers, board members, and members has made ASOR stronger than ever. My hopes for the future are that our organization will continue to meet challenges and carry its mission forth in these turbulent times. Our Syria initiative is a good sign that we are in fact doing that[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Congratulations to ASOR member Rita Lucarelli on being awarded a 
Norma enjoyed being at the center of cutting-edge archaeology in the United States. In 1968, she helped establish the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Long Island Society, where she served as president from 1977 to 1981. In 1976, she became a life-member of the AIA and received their distinguished Martha and Artemis Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award in 1989. From 1980 to 1985 Norma served as the travel editor of the AIA’s ARCHAEOLOGY magazine. She also served as a founding editorial board member of Biblical Archaeology Review until she passed away. Shortly after moving to southern California, Norma founded the AIA’s Orange County Society in 1991, serving as its first president, and in 1992 joined the AIA Governing Board. In 1996, she was named the first female (and up until now, the only) Trustee Emerita of the AIA. It was her desire to share the significance of archaeology for world culture that infused Norma’s drive to play a role in so many of these scholarly institutions and museums.
I received my first letter from Norma in December 2006, a few weeks before I officially started my position as ASOR Executive Director. Of course I had heard of Norma and her involvement in ASOR and other institutions, but I had never had a conversation with her. Her warm, yet direct letter would be the first of several dozen notes and cards, countless phone calls, and many visits in her home and elsewhere in southern California. Within a few weeks, Norma volunteered to be a counselor and adviser. She was talented scholar, gifted teacher, and one of ASOR’s most generous supporters. I am truly thankful for all of those things, but I will remember her most as a loyal, dear friend and encouraging mentor.
It is rare to found one organization that continues beyond a person’s life, and yet Norma helped organize and establish three—CAARI, AIA Long Island Chapter, and AIA Orange County Chapter. All three organizations continue to thrive today. It is impressive just how many organizations Norma impacted. As you can see in the photos to the left and below, her name is found in organizations from Cairo, to Jerusalem, to California.
The support for News@ASOR was annual, and she indicated that she had made a legacy gift so that this vital membership communication tool would receive support in perpetuity. It is fitting that Norma’s legacy and support of archaeology will continue. Norma is certainly someone who advanced tikun olam with her life, wisdom, and wealth.
