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2019 LIST OF APPROVED SESSIONS
Paper proposals may be submitted to the following sessions per the instructions on the Call for Papers from January 15th – February 15th, 2019.
ASOR Standing Sessions
Member-Organized Sessions and Workshops for the 2019 Annual Meeting
- Addressing the Practical and Symbolic Roles of Boats in Antiquity
- Ambiguity in the Ancient Near East: Gender and Identity
- Application of Geoarchaeological Research Methods to Near Eastern Archaeology (Workshop)
- Archaeology as a Tool for Enhancing Participant Welfare, Social Cohesion, and Education
- Archaeology of the Near East and Video Games
- Best Practices for Digital Scholarship
- Between Cities: Exchange and Urban Networks
- Change and Continuity in the Seventh Century Near East
- Creative Pedagogies for Teaching in the Ancient Near East and Egypt: Next Steps – Collaborating, Sharing, and Validating Creative Approaches to Teaching (Workshop)
- Early Bronze Age Urban Society: A View from Titriș Höyük, Turkey
- Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World
- Encoding Data for Interdisciplinary Use and Digital Collaboration
- Experimental and Experiential Archaeology
- Houses and Households in the Near East: Archaeology and History
- Idumea in the Hellenistic Period: Identities and Culture
- Interconnected Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia–the Third to Early Second Millennium B.C.E.
- Isotopic Investigations in the Ancient Near East and Caucasus
- Marine Adaptation in the Mediterranean: From Prehistory to Medieval Times
- Meeting the Expenses: Ancient Near Eastern Economies
- Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History
- New Directions in the Historical Geography of the Ancient Near East
- Preserving the Cultural Heritage of the Madaba Region of Jordan (Workshop)
- Small-scale Industries in the Galilee: Oil Lamp Manufacturing (Workshop)
- State and Territory in the Ancient Near East: Mapping Relationships and Challenging Paradigms
- Study of Violence from the Region of the Ancient Near East and Its Neighbors
- Talking About: Jobs, Fieldwork, and Family (Workshop)
- The Iron Age IIA at Tel Abel Beth Maacah: Chronological and Geopolitical Aspects
- The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- The Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Discoveries and Implications from the Greater Hesi Region and Beyond
- The Secret Lives of Objects: Museum Collections, Hidden Histories, and Repatriation Efforts
- Thinking, Speaking, and Representing Animals in the Ancient Near East: New Perspectives from Texts and Images
- Toward and Archaeology of Crafting (Workshop)
- Tracing Transformations in the Southern Levant: The Transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age at Tel Lachish and Beyond
- Trade, Economic, and Polity in the 10th Century B.C.E. Southern Judah/Canaan (Workshop)
- Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age: Presentations in Honor of Suzanne Richard
- Yerushalayim, Al Quds, Jerusalem: Recent Developments and Dilemmas in the Archaeological and Historical Studies from the Bronze Age to Medieval Periods
Descriptions of Sessions & Workshops
ASOR-Sponsored Sessions
Ancient Inscriptions: Recent Discoveries, New Editions, New Readings
Session Chairs: Michael Langlois, Strasbourg/University of France; Anat Mendel-Geberovich, Tel Aviv University
Description: The focus of this session is epigraphic material from the Near East and Wider Mediterranean. Paper proposals that consist of new readings (of previously published inscriptions) or constitute preliminary presentations of new epigraphic discoveries are of special interest.
Approaches to Dress and the Body
Session Chair: Megan Cifarelli, Manhattanville College
Description: Traces of practices relating to dress and the body are present in many ways in the archaeological, textual and visual records of the ancient world, from the physical remains of dressed bodies, to images depicting them, to texts describing such aspects as textile production and sumptuary customs. Previous scholarship has provided useful typological frameworks but has often viewed these objects as static rappings of status and gender. The goal of this session is to lluminate the dynamic role of dress and the body in the performance and construction of aspects of individual and social identity, and to encourage collaborative dialogue within the study of dress and the body in antiquity.
Archaeology and Biblical Studies
Session Chair: Jonathan Rosenbaum, Gratz College
Description: This session is meant to explore the intersections between History, Archaeology, and the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts.
Archaeology and History of Feasting and Foodways
Session Chairs: Margaret Cohen, Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Deirdre Fulton, Baylor University, and Elizabeth Arnold, Grand Valley State University
Description: The Archaeology and History of Food and Feasting session addresses the production, distribution, and consumption of food and drink. Insofar as foodways touch upon almost every aspect of the human experience—from agricultural technology, to economy and trade, to nutrition and cuisine, to the function of the household and its members, to religious acts of eating and worship—we welcome submissions from diverse perspectives and from the full spectrum of our field’s geography and chronology.
Archaeology of Anatolia
Session Chair: James Osborne, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
Description: This session is concerned with current fieldwork in Anatolia, as well as the issue of connectivity in Anatolia. What, for example, were the interconnections between Anatolia and surrounding regions such as Cyprus, Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, and Europe?
Archaeology of Arabia
Session Chairs: Mark Kenoyer, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Steven Karacic, Florida State University
Description: This session seeks contributions covering a wide spatio-temporal swath from the Paleolithic to the present centered on the Arabian Peninsula but including neighboring areas such as The Horn of Africa, East Africa, and South Asia. Contributions might be tied to the region thematically (e.g pastoral nomadism, domesticates, or agricultural strategies), methodologically (e.g. Landscape archaeology, or satellite imagery technologies) or through ancient contacts such as trade along The Red Sea, Persian/Arabian Gulf or Indian Ocean.
Archaeology of the Black Sea and the Caucasus
Session Chair: Lara Fabian, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg
Description: This session is open to papers that concern the archaeology of the Black Sea and Eurasia.
Archaeology of the Byzantine Near East
Session Chair: Melissa Bailey Kutner, Northwestern University
Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Byzantine period.
Archaeology of Cyprus
Session Chair: Nancy Serwint, Arizona State University
Description: This session focuses on current archaeological research in Cyprus from prehistory to the modern period. Topics may include reports on archaeological fieldwork and survey, artifactual studies, as well as more focused methodological or theoretical discussions. Papers that address current debates and issues are especially welcome.
Archaeology of Egypt
Session Chairs: Krystal Pierce, Brigham Young University; Kerry Muhlestein, Brigham Young University
Description: This session is open to research on all areas related to the archaeology of Egypt, including current and past fieldwork, material culture, textual sources, religious or social aspects, international relations, art, and history.
Archaeology of Iran
Session Chairs: Holly Pittman, University of Pennsylvania; Mehrnoush Soroush, Harvard University
Description: This session explores the archaeology of Iran.
Archaeology of Islamic Society
Session Chair: Beatrice St. Laurent, Bridgewater State University
Description: This session explores the archaeology of Islamic society.
Archaeology of Israel
Session Chair: J.P. Dessel, University of Michigan
Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in Israel.
Archaeology of Jordan
Session Chairs: Marta D’ Andrea, Sapienza Università di Roma; and Barbara Reeves, Queen’s University
Description: This session is open to any research from any period relating to the Archaeology of Jordan. The session is open to papers on recent fieldwork, synthetic analyses of multiple field seasons, as well as any area of current archaeological research focused on Jordan.
Archaeology of Lebanon *Cancelled for 2019
Session Chair: Hanan Mullins, ASOR
Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in Lebanon.
Archaeology of Mesopotamia
Session Chair: Lauren Ristvet, University of Pennsylvania
Description: This session seeks submissions in all areas illuminated by archaeology that relate to the material, social, and religious culture, history and international relations, and texts of ancient Mesopotamia.
Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze and Iron Ages
Session Chair: Eric Welch, University of Kansas
Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Archaeology of the Near East: The Classical Periods
Session Chair: Michael Zimmerman, Bridgewater State University
Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Classical periods.
Archaeology of Arabia
Session Chair: Michael Harrower, Johns Hopkins University; Peter Magee, Brynn Mawr
Description: This session seeks contributions covering a wide spatio-temporal swath from the Paleolithic to the present centered on the Arabian Peninsula but including neighboring areas such as The Horn of Africa, East Africa, and South Asia. Contributions might be tied to the region thematically (e.g pastoral nomadism, domesticates, or agricultural strategies), methodologically (e.g. Landscape archaeology, or satellite imagery technologies) or through ancient contacts such as trade along The Red Sea, Persian/Arabian Gulf or Indian Ocean.
Archaeology of the Southern Levant
Session Chair: Owen Chesnut, North Central Michigan College; Josh Walton, Capital University
Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in the southern Levant.
Archaeology of Syria
Session Chair: Clemens Reichel, University of Toronto; Caroline Sauvage, Loyola Marymount University
Description: This session is concerned with all areas of Syria that are illuminated by archaeology.
These include a discussion of recent archaeological excavations, history, religion, society, and texts.
Art Historical Approaches to the Near East
Session Chairs: Allison Thomason, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; Kiersten Neumann, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
Description: This session welcomes submissions that present innovative analyses of any facet of Near Eastern artistic production or visual culture.
Bioarchaeology in the Near East
Session Chair: Sherry C. Fox, Arizona State University
Description: This session welcomes papers that present bioarchaeological research conducted in the Near East. Papers that pose new questions and/or explore new methods are encouraged.
Career Options for ASOR Members: The Academy and Beyond
Session Chair: Emily Bonney, California State University Fullerton
Description: Applicants for tenure-track positions at universities and colleges confront diminished demand for faculty. Increasingly junior scholars are forced to look for adjunct or temporary appointments and face the possibility of no appointment at all. This three-year session aims to provide insights into alternative careers for both the next generation of ASOR scholars and those interested in a career change. Each year one or two panels of four to six scholars who developed careers outside the academy will discuss their careers, answering fundamental questions in 15- to 20-minute presentations. How did they discover the job opportunities that became a meaningful career? Did they begin in the academy and leverage that experience to gain access to a different career or were they able to move from graduate school into this work? How important, if at all, was a post-doc in the choices they had? How long did it take to get into the position where they have spent most of their professional lives? What additional training did they need? Have they been able to continue their research and/or excavation projects: that is, what was the overall impact of the career choice on their scholarship? Sessions will include time for questions and discussion.
Cultural Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, and Management
Session Chairs: Glenn Corbett, American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR); Suzanne Davis, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan
Description: This session explores theory and practice in the areas of archaeological site and collections conservation, presentation, education, and management. Discussion of community-engaged projects is especially welcome.
Digital Archaeology and History
Session Chair: Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, University of Central Florida
Description: This session will present papers that describe significant advances in or interesting applications of the digital humanities. Topics may include public digital initiatives, 3D scanning and modelling, spatial analysis (GIS and remote sensing), social network analysis, textual analysis, textual geographies, digital storytelling, data management etc. In addition to methodological topics, the session also welcomes papers that focus on broader debates in the digital humanities.
Environmental Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
Note: When submitting an abstract online for this session, select the session titled “Archaeology of the Natural Environment: Archaeobotany and Zooarchaeology in the Near East”
Session Chairs: Melissa Rosenzweig, Miami University; Madelynn von Baeyer, University of Connecticut
Description: This session accepts papers that examine past human resources (flora and fauna) uses and human/environment interactions in the Ancient Near East.
Gender in the Ancient Near East
Session Chair: Stephanie Lynn Budin, Independent Scholar
Description: This session pertains to on-going archaeological, art historical, and/or anthropological work and research into the construction and expression of gender in antiquity, ancient women/womanhood, masculinities (hegemonic and otherwise), Queer Theory, and the engendering of ancient objects and spaces.
History of Archaeology
Session Chair: Kevin McGeough, University of Lethbridge
Description: Papers in this session examine the history of the disciplines of Biblical Archaeology and Near Eastern Archaeology.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Seals, Sealing Practices, and Administration
Session Chairs: Sarah Scott, Wagner College; Oya Topçuoğlu, Northwestern University
Description: This session invites submissions touching on any aspect of glyptic studies. Papers may approach seals and sealings as object, text, and/or image, and rely on multiple strands of evidence. Applied methodologies from a variety of disciplines are encouraged. While seals and sealings form the core subject of investigation for this session, papers that rely on a wide range of comparative objects are welcome. Glyptic-related topics covering the full geographical and chronological horizon of the ancient Near East are considered
Landscapes of Settlement in the Ancient Near East
Session Chairs: Jesse Casana, Dartmouth College; Emily Hammer, University of Pennsylvania
Description: This session brings together scholars investigating regional-scale problems of settlement history and archaeological landscapes across the ancient Near East. Research presented in the session is linked methodologically through the use of regional survey, remote sensing, and environmental studies to document ancient settlements, communication routes, field systems and other evidence of human activity that is inscribed in the landscape. Session participants are especially encouraged to offer analyses of these regional archaeological data that explore political, economic, and cultural aspects of ancient settlement systems as well as their dynamic interaction with the natural environment.
Maritime Archaeology
Session Chair: Caroline Sauvage, Loyola Marymount University
Description: This session welcomes papers that concern marine archaeology in terms of methods, practices, and case studies in areas throughout the Near East.
Prehistoric Archaeology
Session Chair: Yorke Rowan, University of Chicago
Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Prehistoric Near East, particularly in the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic
Reports on Current Excavations – ASOR Affiliated
Session Chair: Jack Green, ACOR
Description: This session is for projects with ASOR/CAP affiliation.
Reports on Current Excavations – Non-ASOR Affiliated
Session Chair: Daniel Schindler, Elon University
Description: This session is for projects without ASOR/CAP affiliation.
Technology in Archaeology: Recent work in the Archaeological Sciences
Session Chairs: Andrew Koh, Brandeis University
Description: This session welcomes papers that examine the issue of technology in archaeology.
Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East
Session Chair: Tobin Hartnell, American University of Iraq, Sulaimani; Darrell J. Rohl, Calvin College
Description: This session welcomes papers that deal explicitly with theoretical and anthropological approaches to ancient Near Eastern and east Mediterranean art and archaeology.
Member-Organized Sessions
Addressing the Practical and Symbolic Roles of Boats in Antiquity
Session Chairs: Douglas Inglis, Texas A&M University; Miroslav Bárta, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University in Prague
Description: Boats were essential to life and death along the waterways of Ancient Egypt and the Near East. They facilitated long-distance travel and trade, state formation, the construction of the pyramids, and even navigating the world beyond. Their importance to maritime societies resulted in their use as persistent symbols, as well as their integration into religious and cultural metaphors throughout the region. This double session will examine the significance of watercraft as both cultural and technological objects, and explore their integration into cultic practice, funerary beliefs, and displays of social status.
Ambiguity in the Ancient Near East: Gender and Identity
Session Chairs: Elizabeth A. Knott, New York University; Lauren K. McCormick, Syracuse University
Description: Ambiguity in the Ancient Near East explores ambiguity as a fruitful strategy of signification across ancient Near Eastern cultures. This year, we invite presenters whose work investigates constructions of gender. Gender was one productive form of identity construction in the ancient Near East, enabling the definition of individuals and peoples in relationship to larger social groups. This session explores gender as a site of identity formation and/or transgression that tells us about ancient Near Eastern mentalities more generally. Was gender fixed in binary terms? Under what circumstances were traditional categories of gender blurred, and for what purposes, or to what effects? We welcome papers that explore ANE gender as it was defined by culturally-prescribed actions, or gender as it relates to ancient professions, political or other forms of leadership, law, sexuality, and/or ritual. Papers could also explore the difference between ancient and modern systems of classification, the role of ambiguity and liminality in interpersonal relations, and/or constraints beyond gender that might lead to ambiguous identity in the ANE. Papers on social and cultural constructions and expressions of identity are also welcome. Presenters are invited to make use of archaeological, art historical and/or textual data.
Application of Geoarchaeological Research Methods to Near Eastern Archaeology (Workshop)
Workshop Chairs: Howard Cyr, University of Tennessee; Shawn Bubel, University of Lethbridge
Description: Geoarchaeology has long been a component of Near Eastern archaeological research programs. Recent innovations in geoscientific techniques and sample collection strategies have greatly increased the variety of information available through geoarchaeological studies. Geoarchaeology complements other multi-disciplinary archaeological specialties such as paleobotany, isotope analysis, faunal analysis, and archaeo-geophysics. However, of these specialties, geoarchaeology seems the least accessible to the general archaeological community. With continued interest in environmental reconstruction, landscape analysis, environmental archaeology, and political ecology, the methods and techniques of geoarchaeology have much to offer Near Eastern archaeological research programs. The primary objective of this workshop is to increase the accessibility and applicability of geoarchaeological studies to Near Eastern archaeologists. The workshop will be conducted as a round table discussion open to all interested in the application of geoscientific techniques to the archaeological record. Since inter-disciplinary research strategies will play a role in much of the discussion, archaeological specialists are encouraged to attend.
Archaeology as a Tool for Enhancing Participant Welfare, Social Cohesion, and Education
Session Chairs: Stephen D. Humphreys, Durham University; Rona Evyasaf, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Description: An increasing body of peer-reviewed research demonstrates that participation in archaeological fieldwork offers physical, psychological, and social benefits. Participant-oriented archaeology is now being used to aid military veterans struggling with PTSD and provide an outlet for children with autism, as well as to promote civic renewal, build community, and bridge social divisions. This focus on enhancing benefit to excavation participants is distinct from established attempts to increase outreach and generate popular interest (usually termed ‘community archaeology’ or ‘public archaeology’), which are intended to benefit the study and preservation of archaeological sites and encourage collaboration with archaeologists in meeting research objectives. As our society becomes more dependent upon artificial means to remain connected, archaeology provides an opportunity to interact in person while pursuing a relevant, unifying research objective, ie. the excavation and preservation of a site. This approach to archaeology is in its infancy but could potentially impact the manner in which archaeological projects are funded, promoted, and conducted. We welcome proposals depicting innovative projects attempting to use archaeological fieldwork, archival work, or other forms of engagement with the material record to benefit participants, promote social benefit, and to advance the idea that archaeology can contribute to the public good.
Archaeology of the Near East and Video Games
Session Chair: Tine Rassalle, University of North-Carolina at Chapel Hill
Description: For centuries, the written word was the preferred medium for transferring archaeological academic knowledge to the broader public. With the advent of modern communication technology like radio, TV, and the internet the possibilities to interact with the audience were broadened. Video-games have since the 1980’s been a part of this new wave of telecommunication, but they remain underrepresented as a Aeld of study in academic scholarship. In this session, we aim to correct this by offering a multidisciplinary discussion of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of archaeology
and video gaming. Archaeogaming, as it is often called, is a systematizing framework that includes the use of archaeological methods within game worlds, the creation of video-games for, or about, archaeological practices, or the critical study of how archaeology is represented in video-games. Themes can include using archaeological tools and methods to conduct archaeological investigations into synthetic worlds, exploring heritage through play, and the use and ethics of virtual reality in digital spaces. In this session, we aim to present a diverse array of topics that sit on the intersection of the archaeology of the Near East and video games, opening up debate on the multifunctionality of this medium for research, education and heritage management.
Best Practices for Digital Scholarship
Session Chairs: Sarah Kansa, Alexandria Archive Institute; Charles E. Jones, Penn State University
Description: We expect to offer perspectives on a variety of topics such as open access publication, data collection, data publication, Creative Commons/copyright, data access, sustainability, self-archiving, negotiating author agreements, and the like.
First year topic: Networking and Publishing: Navigating social media, conventional and digital dissemination services
Second year topic: Best practices in different sub-disciplines (ceramics, lithics, zooarch, GIS)
Third year topic: Best practices in publishing digital content
Between Cities: Exchange and Urban Networks
Session Chairs: Shana Zaia, University of Vienna; Robert C. Kashow, Brown University
Description: Cities first emerged in the fourth millennium B.C.E. in ancient West Asia and Egypt and quickly became the centers of civilization. As such, cities were also the centers of economic, ideological, and cultural exchange. This session will feature papers that speak to issues such as the movement of goods and/or people, economic and socio-cultural relationships between cities, changes in urban networks related to political or ideological forces, and any other subjects related to inter-city relationships. We invite proposals that speak to these themes from methodologies including, but not limited to, literary, philological, archaeological, and anthropological approaches.
Change and Continuity in the Seventh Century Near East *Cancelled in 2019
Session Chairs: Stephen Humphreys, Durham University; Ian Randall, Brown University
Description: The nature and extent of the changes caused by the emergence and expansion of Islam in the mid-7th century C.E. continue to generate considerable debate. Due to the nature of the evidence this transitional period has most often been examined in light of broad political, administrative or economic shifts, with increasing emphasis being placed on regional variation and environmental stressors. Yet there are the beginnings of significant cultural transformations occurring during this period as well, and signs of transition at this scale have recently been the focus of much work despite practical and
methodological barriers. The proposed 3-year session attempts to place a renewed emphasis on change and continuity in daily life through this turbulent period as demonstrated by architecture, art, and material culture. Over three years, the session will examine material practice (2018), changes in the urban and rural environment (2019) and mortuary and zooarchaeological approaches (2020). These sessions provide an opportunity for contributors to explore topics related to daily activity, belief, and interaction among elites and non-elites alike in or around the 7th century.
Creative Pedagogies for Teaching in the Ancient Near East and Egypt: Next Steps – Collaborating, Sharing, and Validating Creative Approaches to Teaching (Workshop)
Session Chair: Marta Ameri, Colby College; Helen Dixon, Wofford College
Description: As enrollments in the humanities continue to drop and students demand more immersive class experiences, faculty teaching the ancient Near East are looking to more creative pedagogical tools and methods to improve student experience and encourage continued engagement with the study of the ancient world. These pedagogies range from single creative projects, to the increasing use of digital tools, or even semester-long collaborations with faculty in other disciplines.
Following on last year’s Creative Pedagogies sessions, this workshop invites participants to again share their experiences in undertaking non-traditional pedagogical approaches to the study of the ancient world, and to take the next steps in thinking about the role of such strategies in today’s academy. Participants in this workshop will consider three questions that were raised in the 2018 sessions: 1) How do we share new ideas and approaches? 2) How can collaborations with colleagues inside and outside our institutions lead to innovation in teaching? 3) How can we encourage institutional actors to recognize, support, and reward the efforts involved in developing these creative projects? Presenters will be asked to limit their presentations to 5-7 minutes so that most of the session can be devoted to discussion and planning.
Early Bronze Age Urban Society: A View from Titriș Höyük, Turkey
Session Chair: Timothy Matney, University of Akron
Description: This session addresses continuing research based on the excavations conducted at the Early Bronze Age urban center of Titriș Höyük from 1991-1999. The themes of the session revolve around the lived experiences of commoners at an ancient Near Eastern urban center through studies of their houses and households, technology and craft production, food production, storage and consumption, mortuary ritual, and social organization. The contributions to this session will be carefully integrated to provide a synthesis of daily life at the site. Although focused on a single case-study, the contributions to this session will present an exploration of the broader implications of the results from Titriș Höyük for our understanding of urbanization in the Early Bronze Age.
Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World
Session Chairs: Sarah Kielt Costello, University of Houston – Clear Lake; Diana Stein, Birkbeck University of London
Description: Ecstatic experience played a vital role in the ancient world, a subject that has hitherto received little systematic attention. In large part, this is because the methods and performance of ecstatic rites are usually secret, the visual and textual allusions enigmatic or abstract, the associated cultic equipment often ritually broken and decommissioned, and the experience’s universal core and impact on belief systems frequently obscured by a veneer of culturally specific objects and interpretations. Nevertheless, the rewards of scholarly inquiry are potentially great, with patterns and commonalities that cross-cut the civilizations of pharaonic Egypt, the ancient Near East, the Bronze Age Aegean, and the classical Mediterranean. Our session seeks papers on all aspects of this experience: How was the experience defined and by what means was it achieved? Who was involved? Where and when were its rites carried out? How was it referred to in literature and art? What was its relation to myth and religion?
Encoding Data for Interdisciplinary Use and Digital Collaboration *Cancelled for 2019
Session Chairs: Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) and Andrews University; Amy Gansell, St. John’s University
Description: Data encoding entails an analog-to-digital conversion in which the characteristics of an object, text, image, or archaeological site can be represented in a specialized format for computer handling. Once encoded, data can be stored, sorted, and analyzed through a variety of computer-based techniques ranging from specialized data-mining algorithms to user-friendly mobile apps. Especially when using linked open data, researchers around the world can collaborate on the collection, encoding, and analysis of data. A single encoded corpus could be analyzed concurrently by multiple projects, and encoded data can be linked across corpuses to facilitate broader, potentially interdisciplinary, studies.
This three-year session offers a venue for the presentation of methodologies, projects, and discoveries based on encoding or encoded data. We describe and demonstrate a wide spectrum of research that will include studies of stratigraphy, object typologies, provenance, cultural heritage, epigraphy, e-philology, and prosopography. Ultimately we will show the value of cyber-research as a powerful resource for revealing otherwise imperceptible information about ancient Near Eastern time. We welcome art historians, historians, epigraphers, philologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists, including prehistorians, Bible scholars, Hittitologists, Egyptologists, Aegeanists, and Byzantinists. This session will inspire new networks and designs for digital collaboration.
Experimental and Experiential Archaeology
Session Chair: Tracy L. Spurrier, University of Toronto
Description: This session will feature recent research involving experimental and experiential archaeology projects. This type of work allows archaeologists to put themselves into the past to better understand the production processes of everyday life activities, and to attempt to access ancient human existence, albeit through the lens of our modern perspectives. Experimental and experiential archaeology projects test archaeological interpretations of ancient manufacture by reconstructing objects and recreating their production methods. Through the experiments, one can try to identify the intentions and goals involved in ancient production and to understand the limitations and challenges that may have been present throughout these processes. This includes, but is not limited to, craft production, food preparation, building construction, tool making, technological innovations, and much more. The act itself of conducting an experiment replicating past procedures, as opposed to simply studying them, allows for greater insight into the complexity of the overall process as well as personally experiencing the physicality of a task and other related sensations. The outcomes of experimental and experiential archaeology projects are invaluable for many reasons: testing hypotheses about ancient manufacture, use as pedagogical tools for education purposes, for creating accurate living history museums, and in simulation models and exercises.
Houses and Households in the Near East: Archaeology & History
Session Chairs: Laura Battini, CNRS, Collège de France, Paris; Aaron Brody, Pacific School of Religion; Sharon Steadman, SUNY Cortland
Description: Recent studies have foregrounded the importance of the house and household in multiple periods and over varied regions of the Near East and North Africa. Various methods have been employed including household archaeology and textual studies, viewed through frameworks of anthropological and social theories. This session aims to continue the conversation between varied sub-disciplines and regions by highlighting the structural, social, and ritual data and interpretations from domestic settings. Themes are not limited, but may include culture, economy, gender, ethnicity, and religion taking a bottom-up approach to understanding the ancient world. Varied methodologies, including household archaeology, domestic micro-archaeology, 3-D reconstructions, etc. welcome.
Idumea in the Hellenistic Period: Identities and Material Culture
Session Chair: Oren Gutfeld, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Description: Positioned between the First and Second Temple periods, relatively little attention has been paid to the archaeology of the Persian and Hellenistic periods in Israel in general, and to that of Idumea (roughly equivalent to the southern Judean Lowland and the northern Negev Desert) in particular. In recent years, however, the rich results of excavations in such sites as Horbat Midras, Horvat e-Rasem, Maresha, Horbat ‘Amuda and Horbat Beit Loya (Lehi) have greatly increased our understanding of settlement history in the region during this time. Based on the ceramic and numismatic evidence, a picture emerges of satellite/peripheral villages of Maresha first established in the late Persian (5th–4th cent. B.C.E) or early Hellenistic period (4th–3rd cent. B.C.E.) and abandoned and/or destroyed during the Hasmonean Revolt of 167–164 B.C.E. – and not, as previously believed, during the conquests of John Hyrcanus ca. 113/112 B.C.E. These conclusions are indeed novelties in the modern scholarship of Israeli archaeology, worthy of presentation and discussion in the 2019 conference.
Interconnected Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia–the Third to Early Second Millennium B.C.E.
Session Chairs: Nadia Ben-Marzouk, University of California, Los Angeles; Amy B. Karoll, University of California, Los Angeles
Description: For many communities around the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia, the late third millennium marked a new period of interconnectivity. As interregional exchange networks underwent intensification, the crystallization of new communication arteries resulted in the invention and exchange of new technologies and practices, the negotiation of new identities, and the establishment of shared ideologies. The goal of this session is to bring together specialists from different regions to investigate the social processes that resulted in establishing a landscape of interconnectivity during the late third millennium, providing the backdrop for the so-called internationalism of the early second millennium B.C.E. This session welcomes any paper whose goal is to better understand the nature of contact between communities during this period. Potential papers might: compare and contrast the power and identity negotiations employed by emergent elites; analyze the contexts and causes of technological innovation, adaptation, or rejection in the wake of increasing internationalism; examine the causal mechanisms of economic intensification; explore the changing relationship between community and landscape as a result of shifting exchange networks; or investigate the mechanisms resulting in the development of shared practices, styles, or ideologies between regions.
Isotopic Investigations in the Ancient Near East and Caucasus
Session Chairs: G. Bike Yazıcıoğlu-Santamaria, University of Chicago; Maureen E. Marshall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Description: Biogeochemical research on the human condition in the ancient past is a rapidly growing field. Isotopic investigations targeting questions about climate change, human mobility, animal trade, herding strategies, crop management, diet and subsistence, and infant-feeding practices in the Broader Ancient Near East have increased in number over the past decade. However, biogeochemical techniques and understandings continue to develop and be re-evaluated, necessitating venues for scholarly exchange, comparison, and discussion. The objective of this session is to encourage a dialogue among researchers conducting and using biogeochemical techniques in the region, integrating analytical methods with social and historical questions. In consecutive years the session will incorporate the results of most recent and ongoing research in the region with methodological advances in techniques and approaches, in tandem with the developing agenda of the “Archaeological Isotopes Working Group” Business Meetings.
Marine Adaptation in the Mediterranean: From Prehistory to Medieval Times
Session Chairs: Assaf Yasur-Landau, University of Haifa; Gil Gambash, University of Haifa; Thomas E. Levy, University of California San Diego
Description: Maritime connectivity, comprising trade, migration and other marine interactions, served also as an adaptive strategy for risk management in the environmental uncertainty of the Mediterranean. The eastern Mediterranean, with its rich archaeological record, provides an ideal laboratory to test models of connectivity and adaptation to maritime environment in Mediterranean micro-regions. Natural anchorages and artificial harbors are pivotal interfaces between land and sea and the place in which interregional interactions occur, in connection with coastal communities. This session aims to explore case studies of maritime and coastal activities in the eastern Mediterranean between the epi-paleolithic period and the Medieval period and explore the role of these activities in the changing patterns of human adaptation to the Mediterranean environment. The breadth of the topic and the numerous recent innovations related to it would justify a double session.
Topics to be highlighted:
1. The impact of climate change and political changes on patterns of maritime activity
2. The impact of new ship- and port-building technologies on local economy and culture.
3. Changing patterns of aquaculture and animal husbandry in coastal micro-regions
4. Diachronic changes in coastal settlement patterns and their causes
5. Tools for studying human and natural ecosystems
Meeting the Expenses: Ancient Near Eastern Economies
Session Chair: Raz Kletter, University of Helsinki (CSTT)
Description: The topic of the session is the economies of the Ancient Near East, moving beyond the dichotomy between “ancient” and “modern” economy. Planned for two-three years, the sessions will include papers based on written as well as archaeological evidence relating to different ANE cultures/societies, mainly of the Bronze and Iron Ages. The session is open to lectures on economic modes of exchanges (barter, bullion, the transition to coinage); systems of measures and of defining value; wealth deposits (hoards); dynamics of prices and salaries; markets; and trade and traders.
Each year we will focus on a certain subject, though additional lectures (as long as they relate to ANE economies) are welcomed.
2017: Measuring value: hoards and systems of weight
2018: Markets and traders
2019: Prices, salaries, and the transition to coinage
Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History
Session Chair: Steven Edwards, University of Toronto
Description: Recent bibliometric analysis shows that network research is flourishing across the humanities and social sciences. Near Eastern archaeologists and historians are well-positioned to take advantage of network approaches given the range of data at their disposal. However, there remains an urgent need for a rigorous focus on the appropriate application of network terms, concepts and techniques in Near Eastern studies. What kinds of questions can network analyses help us answer? What types of data are amendable to such analyses? How can formal network methods be integrated into traditional Near Eastern research frameworks? To address these questions, this session explores recent efforts that incorporate network approaches to the study of both material cultural and textual data. These case studies demonstrate the potential of network methods and models to address socio-political complexity and change over various spatial and temporal scales.
New Directions in the Historical Geography of the Ancient Near East
Session Chairs: Chris McKinny, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi; Kyle Keimer, Macquarie University; Aharon Tavger, Israel Heritage Department at Ariel University
Description: This session aims to provide a platform at ASOR for archaeologists and historians to present original research related to Historical Geography. We would like to have topical discussions that are more narrowly defined by chronological or regional considerations. While we hope to see studies connected with the historical geographical details of the Hebrew Bible and other related texts, we also would like to see the discipline of historical geography be applied to texts and regions beyond both the southern Levant and the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Preserving the Cultural Heritage of the Madaba Region of Jordan (Workshop)
Workshop Chairs: Douglas Clark, La Sierra University; Suzanne Richard, Gannon University; Andrea Polcaro, Perugia University; Marta D’Andrea, Sapienza University of Rome; Basem Mahamid, Department of Antiquities, Madaba
Description: This workshop seeks to encourage collaborative presentations, panel discussions, and structured conversations focused on issues in the Madaba Region of central Jordan, as defined by the Department of Antiquities: the area between southern Amman, the eastern desert, the Wadi Mujib, and the Dead Sea. Archaeological issues—whether generically archaeological, geo-political, architectural, anthropological, ethnographic, conceptual and theoretical, cultural heritage- or community-related, or technological—are enlarged, enriched, and enhanced when approached collaboratively in a regional context.
2019
Madaba Region strategies and plans for preserving cultural heritage and fostering community archaeology. This would involve short reports/conversations among excavations/projects already carrying out heritage protection initiatives and/or community archaeology (such as Hisban, Tall Madaba, MRAMP, Mukawir, Lahun?), those with plans to do the same (`Umayri?), MOTA/DoA initiatives, USAID/ACOR/SCHEP endeavors, all in the service of cross-pollination of ideas and practices in the region.
2020
Collaborative presentations/conversations among Madaba Region archaeological excavation projects, centered on the current Madaba Archaeological Museum where regional finds are stored, studied, and displayed. In hopes of success on our application for a US Ambassador’s grant (AFCP – Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Protection), how should we conceive a totally upgraded and repurposed storage and research facility for our collective artifacts?
2021
Collaborative presentations/conversations among Madaba Region archaeological excavation projects, centered on the proposed new Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum where regional finds will be displayed in a state-of-the-art facility. For example (one among many), one innovative feature imagined for the new museum is the use of a room in the introductory section of the Madaba Archaeological Park West as a springboard for exploring archaeological sites in the region, equipped with regional maps and directional indicators to these sites, including hard-copy and digital (perhaps smart-phone) access to information about the sites and directions for getting to them. Other issues involving the new museum will provide ample subject material for collective thinking and planning.
Small-scale Industries in the Galilee: Oil Lamp Manufacturing (Workshop)
Workshop Chairs: James Riley Strange, Samford University; Adi Erlich, University of Haifa
Description: This workshop will occur in two parts within the same schedule time-block. The first part will present an overview of village-centered lamp manufacturing technologies used in Galilee in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, with some comparative information from manufacture and distribution of other small ceramic objects, namely terracotta figurines from Hellenistic and Roman Palestine. Both wheel-made and mold-made lamp making will be covered. In the second half of the workshop, attendees will have an opportunity to carve designs into lamp molds and to make clay lamps. Yeshu Dray will supply 4–6 soft chalk blanks and small hand tools for carving decorations in molds. James Strange will supply moist clay for impressing into molds. Note: This workshop is not accepting paper/presentation proposals.
State and Territory in the Ancient Near East: Mapping Relationships and Challenging Paradigms
Session Chair: Heidi Fessler, Independent Researcher
Description: This session explores connections between polities and geography, and how ancient people negotiated systems of power and government within their physical settings. Our knowledge of political geography in the ANE is filtered through centuries of scholarship at times promoting notions of control that could use amended analyses. In light of this, this session welcomes papers that reinterpret dynamics between polities based on supporting archaeological or textual discoveries, or experiment with theoretical approaches that enlighten our understanding of an established data-set. Papers could argue, for instance, that a different model of control is more appropriate to explain evidence of a geopolitical relationship than previously put forth, or show how recent archaeological or textual discoveries require us to reevaluate our understanding of the power dynamics in a region. Special attention to how people in the ancient world perceived their own geopolitical structures or how geography served to define a city or region is encouraged.
Study of Violence from the Region of the Ancient Near East and Its Neighbors
Session Chairs: Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) and Andrews University; Leann Pace, Wake Forest University
Description: Violence is a common motif that appears throughout the well-studied narrative and historical texts and images from the region of the ancient Near East and its neighbors, from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. Although depicted in both divine and human realms (e.g. Enuma Elish, Stele of Vultures, Chronicles, Battle of Qadesh, Baʿlu Cycle, Torah, Josephus), violence, whether physical or psychological (e.g. interpersonal, corporate, or structural), has been insufficiently studied from the perspectives of intention, motivation and legacy. During this three-year session, we will investigate the topic of violence through different methodological frameworks: (1) in 2017, the anthropology and hermeneutics of text and image analysis, (2) in 2018, the intentions (voluntary or not) and motivations of the authors in their use of violence as part of the narrative arc, and (3) in 2019, examining the contexts of violent acts and violent actors (who, why, how) in text and image and the social, moral, and political implications of their violence. We welcome abstracts from art historians, philologists, historians, anthropologists, and scholars interested in extending their analysis of violence beyond the bounds of traditional text-oriented approaches and determinism. We envision an interdisciplinary session attracting papers from Prehistorians, Assyriologists, Bible scholars, Hittitologists, Egyptologists, Aegeanists, and Byzantinists alike.
Talking About: Jobs, Fieldwork, and Family (Workshop)
Workshop Chairs: Beth Alpert Nakhai, The University of Arizona; Jennie Ebeling, University of Evansville
Description: This ASOR Initiative on the Status of Women workshop explores ways in which people, especially women, who work in Near Eastern archaeology manage the challenges of jobs, fieldwork, and family. For most people in today’s workforce, integrating professional and family responsibilities is complex and often stressful. In many cases, the intersection of patriarchal norms with 21st-century expectations creates heavy burdens for women. For everyone who does fieldwork, the addition of weeks or months spent abroad further complicates already complicated lives.
In this workshop, individuals (whether engaged in fieldwork or not) will reflect upon the ways in which they have accomplished or modified their goals, the ways in which they have succeeded, and the ways in which they have been stymied by personal and/or professional obstacles to success. The workshop format avoids traditional presentations. Rather, a call through the ISW Facebook page will solicit short personal statements, which will be read at the beginning of the workshop.
This will be followed by an open-mic session, during which attendees are invited to contribute their thoughts and concerns regarding this critically important matter. The focus will be on opening conversations, sharing ideas, and considering solutions to problems shared by many of us. Toward that goal, the workshop will steer clear of detailed personal narratives, public accusations, and the like.
The Iron Age IIA at Tel Abel Beth Maacah: Chronological and Geopolitical Aspects
Session Chairs: Bob Mullins, Azusa Pacific University; Naama Yahalom-Mack, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Description: This session will provide a comprehensive update to seven seasons of archaeological excavations at Tel Abel Beth Maacah; an ASOR-affiliated project carried out on behalf of Azusa Pacific University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before excavations began in 2013, virtually nothing was known about the site, despite references to it in the Hebrew Bible. Since then we have produced abundant evidence for robust occupation during the second and first millennia B.C.E. The Iron Age is particularly notable in light of the interesting sequence of religious cult throughout Iron Age I-IIA, the extensive administrative-industrial complex with evidence of bronze and iron metalworking, and in the upper city, what appears to be a citadel from the 9th century B.C.E., inside which was found the small faience head of a bearded Levantine male now on display in the Israel Museum
The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Session Chair: Jason Ur, Harvard University
Description: This session highlights research on all aspects of history and archaeology focused on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and adjacent areas
The Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Discoveries and Implications from the Greater Hesi Region and Beyond
Session Chairs: Kara Larson, Mississippi State University; Geoffrey Ludvik, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Description: Archaeological research in the Greater Hesi region began with excavations on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1890, continued with the Joint Archaeological Expedition starting in 1970, and now continues with the Hesi Regional Project through survey and excavation. While most current studies have focused on the Iron Age occupations in the Greater Hesi region, new research seeks to re-visit and reanalyze material from Early Bronze Age excavations across the Southern Levant. This session will include an interdisciplinary collection of papers focused on the Early Bronze Age occupations in the Hesi and Negev regions, specifically presenting new evidence for socioeconomic activities and interregional connectivity during this important period. In addition to papers presenting previously unpublished excavation and survey results, the session will include papers presenting new research using archaeometric techniques, isotopic analyses, and other quantitative methods, as well as new theoretical perspectives in light of the revised Early Bronze Age chronology (i.e. Regev et al. 2012). In all, this session will explore new avenues of research in the Early Bronze Age Southern Levant with an emphasis on synthesizing these new interpretations with discoveries from other sites and helping contextualize the Hesi region in the Early Bronze Age world.
The Secret Lives of Objects: Museum Collections, Hidden Histories, and Repatriation Efforts
Session Chairs: Lissette Jimenez, San Francisco State University; Kiersten Neumann, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
Description: Objects have unique histories, beginning with where they were made, followed by how they may have been used, discarded, discovered, bought and sold, stored, and displayed. The lives and stories of objects persist as archaeologists, art historians, and museum professionals continue to appropriate, objectify, and re-contextualize them in an attempt to uncover the histories and sometimes hidden truths surrounding these artifacts. Researching and contextualizing objects can shed light on issues of provenance and provenience; raise discussions of repatriation; and potentially redefine the histories of disciplines. The focus of this session will be on the importance of context and object histories and how current object-based research encourages a dialogue of challenging ethical issues.
Year one of this multi-year session will highlight the importance of object research and context. Contributions to this session will focus on collections research, archival research and redefining disciplinary histories, and repatriation efforts. Year two will focus on the creation of counter histories and narratives through cultural institutions, exhibitions, research, and publications. Contributions will explore how the reception and meaning of objects changes based on their mode of presentation. Lastly, year three will explore the application of technology or digital humanities projects to the study of objects and collections. Contributions to this session will discuss the benefits of interdisciplinary and collaborative object-based research and suggest future possibilities for object and collections studies.
Thinking, Speaking and Representing Animals in the Ancient Near East: New Perspectives from Texts and Images
Session Chair: Laura Battini, CNRS-Collège de France, Paris
Description: In the ancient Near East, animals have always been important; employed by humans as a labor force, as food, as transportation, and for enjoyment, they are represented everywhere (works of art, furniture, dress, everyday objects, amulets) and arecmentioned in private and official texts. This session focuses on “official” and popular representations of animals to better understand the complex relationships between men and animals. The first year papers concerning birds are encouraged. The second year the focus will be on two special animals, dogs and equids, because of their particular relations with men. Finally, pets will be the topic of the third year.
2019: Birds are particularly linked to deities: bird wings characterize all the gods, being symbols of their heavenly origin. More specifically, some deities are linked to a particular bird: Ashtarte is linked to the doves, Nanshe or Old Babylonian Ishtar to the geese, Papsukkal to a walking bird, Shuqamuna and Shumalia to a bird on a pole. Representations of birds go on in the Parthian time (goose like bird on a tall pole). The specific links bird/divinity till exists in the Greeek and Roman worlds : Zeus/Léda to the swan, Athéna to the owl, Junon to the peacock, Minerva to the owl. In this session we would like to better understand the links between gods and birds, why it is so widespread and in so different societies. But this search can not be separated by the comprehension of the feelings that humans had for birds
Toward an Archaeology of Crafting (Workshop)
Workshop Chairs: Emily Miller Bonney, California State University Fullerton; Leann Pace, Wake Forest University
Description: This workshop aims to reconsider traditional modes of conceptualizing making in prehistoric societies. We interrogate the notion that the dominant material from which an object is made (metal, clay, wood, plant fibers, etc.) defines the skills the artisan needs as there is little site-based evidence for such full-time specialists. We will explore evidence for a redefinition of specialist that does not depend primarily on the dominant material, challenging ideas about craft specialization. During the three years for which the workshop is proposed we will consider first whether specific sites or artifacts indicate the presence of cross-craft activities with people specializing in certain ways of making, for example controlled use of heat. Can we identify knowledge that transcends traditionally defined craft boundaries? Physical craft skills may be learnt through manipulation of materials and tools. Do these in turn help shape what a craftsperson does? Second, are specialists defined by type of artifact produced rather than materials or methods? And third, what role do the consumers of these artifacts play? The workshop, in which participants will present papers of nor more than 6 minutes, aims to test ideas, compare evidence and debate a revised approach to studying and discussing production activities.
Tracing Transformations in the Southern Levant: The Transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age at Tel Lachish and Beyond
Session Chairs: Felix Höflmayer, Austrian Academy of Sciences; Katharina Streit, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Description: The aim of this session is to present first results of the project “Tracing Transformations” and the Austrian-Israeli excavations at Tel Lachish. Tracing Transformations reassesses the chronology, material culture, and history of the southern Levant at the turn from the Middle to the Late Bronze Ages, especially regarding connections with Egypt, the end of the Second Intermediate Period and the dawn of the New Kingdom. In this session we will present our newest excavation results at Tel Lachish and the “Tracing Transformations” project and discuss both excavation results and historical conclusions in a wider interregional context and in the framework of ongoing scholarly debates regarding this critical period.
Trade, Economics, and Polity in the 10th Century B.C.E. Southern Judah/Canaan (Workshop)
Workshop Chair: Jeffrey A. Blakely, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Description: Recent discoveries at Timna, Tel Eton, Khirbet Ra’i, Khirbet en-Nahas, Tel Dor, and the Hesi region relating to mining, the domestication of camels, climate, communication, and even simply unexpected but significant sites like Khirbet Ra’i and Khirbet Summeily do not fit with the accepted regional understanding and are changing our interpretations of what the south was like in the late 11th and early 10th centuries B.C.E. This workshop would bring together representatives of these and other projects to provide the time and a forum for an open discussion of the new discoveries and their interpretation. A few short presentations would summarize the newest finds before a panel discussion would discuss inter-relationships between sites and discoveries.
Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age: Presentations in Honor of Suzanne Richard
Session Chairs: William G. Dever, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona; Jesse C. Long, Jr., Lubbock Christian University
Description: In recognition of the significant contribution that Suzanne Richard has made to the archaeology of the Early Bronze Age in the southern Levant, this session will represent the best of scholarship in her areas of interest and publication in the field. Professor Richard is best known for her work on the Early Bronze Age, especially the EB III-IV. More recently, she is concerned with interconnectivity in the Levant during the Early Bronze Age, including the critical transitions between the northern and southern Levant with the Chalcolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. The papers in this section will reflect recent scholarship on urbanism and cultural transitions in the Bronze Age.
Yerushalayim, Al Quds, Jerusalem: Recent Developments and Dilemmas in the Archaeological and Historical Studies from the Bronze Age to Medieval Periods
Session Chairs: Yuval Gadot, Tel-Aviv University; Gideon Avni, Israel Antiquities Authority; Joe Uziel, Israel Antiquities Authority
Description: This session will be devoted to the presentation of new archaeological and historical research related to the political, social and economic history of Jerusalem from the Bronze Age to the Medieval periods. The importance of Jerusalem for the history and archaeology of the Southern Levant cannot be overestimated. For over three millennia the city has stood as a center of political, economic and religious affairs. As such it has attracted the attention and imagination of scholars across the globe and finds from the city and its region echo in the public realm. The session will present an assortment of studies relating to the most recent finds from the many excavations conducted within the city and its hinterland, focusing on several major topics in which significant contribution to the knowledge of Jerusalem’s history has been made.
The 2019 planned session will be devoted for discussing the contribution of science based methodologies to the explorations of Jerusalem’s past. It will also host lectures presenting new finds from the city.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1490571214409{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_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_1490225688999{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !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] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism
Gertrude Bell with Sir Percy Cox and Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia. Basra, April 1916. Photograph: Imperial War Museum.
Ann Searight on the balcony of the British School, Baghdad 1963. Photograph: Ann Searight.
