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[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:asor@bu.edu” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”http://asorblog.org/” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{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 responsive_align=”left”]ASOR HAS LARGEST NUMBER OF DONORS EVER—457 IN FISCAL YEAR 2018
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]Our members (i.e., you) are truly amazing. Not only did ASOR have its highest number of members ever during Fiscal Year 2018 (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018), and not only did we have record attendance at this year’s Annual Meeting, we had more individual donors in FY2018 than in any previous year: 457 discrete contributors!Indeed, thanks to the generosity of these 457 members, ASOR far exceeded the goal we had set for ourselves in July 2017 of 425 discrete donors. When we set that goal, we aimed to surpass our previous record of 417 donors in a year. We admittedly hoped to reach 450, but we were not sure that we could do it. But you, our members, came through![/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_line_chart style=”modern” x_values=”FY2010; FY2011; FY2012; FY2013; FY2014; FY2015; FY2016; FY2017; FY2018″ values=”%5B%7B%22title%22%3A%22Number%20of%20Donors%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%22188%3B%20235%3B%20282%3B%20353%3B%20417%3B%20400%3B%20405%3B%20402%3B%20457%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22blue%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Gifts%20and%20Private%20Grants%20(in%20%24000’s)%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%22140%3B%20157%3B%20241%3B%20350%3B%20404%3B%20295%3B%20288%3B%20357%3B%20483%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22turquoise%22%7D%5D” title=”Donor Participation Since 2010″][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]In the end, we were helped in our efforts by two challenge gifts. An anonymous trustee pledged $5,000 towards the Annual Fund if we received gifts from 50 donors who had made contributions in past years but had not given in FY2018. We reached that goal in about 10 days.
Next, more anonymous trustees pledged a little more $11,000 for the Annual Fund from if we could reach the mark of 425 discrete donors. We had just three weeks to reach our goal, but the response — 457 total donors — was overwhelming. The gifts made in the final two months ranged from $10 to $10,000. As is so often the case with ASOR, it was a true team effort for the good of our organization and our shared mission.
Why does high donor participation matter?
This large number of donors (almost 25% of our membership) is something that distinguishes ASOR from almost all other learned societies. And it matters, as the high level of donor participation from our membership engages the attention of foundations and major donors outside ASOR and helps us attract gifts and support from them.
Your donations also enable ASOR to carry out our mission. Subscriptions and memberships only account for about a quarter of our annual budget, so we rely on grants and donations from our members and friends. Even modest gifts add up to create significant support for ASOR, Truly, every donor is important, and every gift is meaningful.
Fiscal Year 2018 Honor Roll of Donors
If you are one of the 457 people who made a gift to ASOR in Fiscal Year 2018, thank you so much for your support. Indeed, because of the loss of our rent-free office space at Boston University and the cost of relocating to our new home in Alexandria, VA, your support has never been more crucial.
Please take this opportunity to check out everyone who contributed in FY2018 by clicking on our Honor Roll of Donors. We hope that you will also review the list of FY18 Honorific and Memorial Gifts. If we made an error in listing your name on the FY2018 Honor Roll of Donors or with the listing of Honorific and Memorial Gifts, we ask that you kindly e-mail us so that we can correct the mistake.
If you would like to get a head start on joining the list of donors to ASOR for Fiscal Year 2019 (ends June 30, 2019), please click on the “Donate Now” button below!
OTHER WAYS TO DONATE
| Donate By Phone | Donate By Mail | Make A Pledge (Donate Later) |
|---|---|---|
| Call ASOR: 617-236-0408 |
ASOR P.O. Box 15729 Boston, MA 02215 |
E-mail ASOR |
relationship to kinship and age-grade terminologies. The author argues that dumu is essentially a kinship term “son/daughter, one’s own child, offspring,” which lacks any age connotations. In contrast, di4-di4-la(2) designates children as an age grade. As in other languages, words for children as kinship and children as minors often exchange their semantic domains. Lu2 tur-ra, lit. “minor” is another age-grade term. In contrast, it has a pronounced social connotation and denotes those under patriarchal or professional authority, including children, youths, and young unmarried, or even recently married, individuals, as well as junior professionals.
Recent surveys on the eastern hillsides of Bamou Mountain near the current frontiers of Iran and Iraq have led to the discovery of an ancient broken stele in the area of the Sarab-e Sey (Seyed) Khan spring. The stele was made from a large slab of limestone that was broken and of which only two fragments have been recovered so far. The remaining pieces of the stele had a full-size image of a person in a long robe holding a crook in his right hand, undoubtedly a representation of the god Amurru; his left foot rests on the back of a sitting goat while grasping the goat’s horns with his left hand. Another, smaller figure stands to the right of the main figure, near his left shoulder, with in front of him carved a star which could be the symbol of Ishtar. The highly damaged nature of the stele and the absence of an inscription does not allow any precise dating, but it may be proposed that the stele of Sey Khan dates to the Old Babylonian period.
Amorite tribal and military leader who led groups of Amorite warriors between ca. 1890 and 1860 BCE. He managed to conquer large swaths of northern Babylonian and the Lower Diyala region. In the wake of these conquests, numerous small Amorite kingdoms were set up by his subordinates. The most important one was Sumu-la-El (1880–1845 BCE), who founded the First Dynasty of Babylon. After Sumu-abum’s death, Sumu-la-El subjugated several other petty kings in Babylon’s vicinity and built a string of fortresses around his territory. Through his actions he formed the core of the Babylonian kingdom.
kakrime Inscription. I revisit the most common arguments brought up against the inscription’s authenticity and then discuss it in the context of other Kassite inscriptions known from later copies. I additionally address the proposed financial motivations for possible forgers as well as potential anachronisms and the Sitz im Leben of the copies discovered in the library of Assurbanipal.
Europeans who excavated the great Assyrian cities in the mid-nineteenth century discovered colossal alabaster figures, hundreds of wall panels, and innumerable smaller items that they wished to send home. The journey was perilous and much was lost, most notably sculptures from Khorsabad and elsewhere that were on a French convoy attacked near the Tigris-Euphrates confluence in 1855. There has been much uncertainty over what perished on this and other occasions. This paper integrates the relevant sources, identifies antiquities lost during transport from Khorsabad, the Northwest Palace at Nimrud, the Southwest and North Palaces at Nineveh, and other sites, and compares the loss of original photographs, squeezes and paper archives after arrival in Europe.
Esagil. The main activities described deal with Nabû and Nanāya in their cellas: Ezida and Euršaba, respectively. These two tablets clearly belong together, and—together with other tablets now lost—may have originally constituted a series of rituals for the whole year that were connected, in a way or another, to the New Year Festival of Nisan. A striking aspect of BM 40790 and BM 40854+ is the presence of female deities and of female and sexually ambiguous cult attendants. The two texts show a new perspective on temple rituals, in which female agency appears stronger than previously assumed.
ever since sites have been open for visitation. However, those responsible for interpreting archaeological sites for presentation to the public often fail to take advantage of a site’s interpretive potential. Interpretation of archaeological sites is a relatively recent activity in Jordan, as is their valuing and heritage management. This study explores issues relating to site interpretation and the potential benefits of improved interpretive strategies. Based on an analysis of the literature and on an exploratory study at the site of Tabqat Fahl (ancient Pella) the author offers concrete recommendations for revealing the potential of the site and improving the interpretive media choices that can be used to communicate the site’s themes to visitors. The aim is to preserve the site into the future and to revitalize it by improving the standard of information about the natural and cultural heritage value found there. Realizing the full potential of the site of Pella is a task that will require the cooperation of a wide range of disciplines and institutions, including historical, architectural, and archaeological.
that have suffered near or complete destruction over the past one hundred years, they also provide insight into the mindset, aims, and agendas Bell held when she produced these images. Her photographs taken at two sites in particular, Assur and Ukhaidir, highlight some of her attitudes and motivations at the time. On the one hand, in the case of Assur, the photos reflect her admiration for her European archaeological colleagues’ skill at excavation and concede their claim to the ancient city’s glorious past. On the other hand, the photographs highlight her efforts to showcase her own archaeological knowledge. Many also reflect a sympathetic stance towards the people of modern Mesopotamia, acknowledging their vital presence and often regarding them as the inheritors of the country’s rich ancient legacy.
southeastern part of the lower city of Maresha, SC 89 bears graffiti depicting four ships. The graffito on the western wall contains a very long warship and additional prows of two warships. The graffito in the entranceway contains a single merchant vessel. The graffiti were scratched into the soft chalk stone with a sharp tool and are typologically datable to the Hellenistic period. The graffito of the warship—the first from Maresha—represents a Macedonian galley according to the authors. They theorize that if the locals were the artists, the ships depicted should represent their vessels. Who did the actual hard labor of the quarrying of these future tombs? The authors suggest the possibility that captives or slaves carried out the task.
Iran. Hunting scenes and zoomorphic depictions, mostly ibexes, are the main subjects of rock art in the Domab area. All panels are made on the schist rocks that can be seen all over the region. Several scattered panels that bear geometric markings and depictions of ibexes have also been identified. The petroglyphs of Domab show similarities in terms of subject matter, style, and iconography to the rock art of other regions of central Iran, such as Teymare and Qameshlu national park. The current evidence suggests hunters as the possible creators of some of this rock art.
lack materials suitable for radiocarbon dating. To correct recent misinterpretations of the method, we provide examples of how archaeomagnetic dating curves are calibrated and show how, in some instances, the technique can provide superior results. We emphasize that no single dating technique is capable of resolving the challenging chronology controversies in the Levant, and instead argue that multiple dating methods must be integrated in order to achieve the highest possible temporal resolution.
Arameans, and Phoenicians. A survey and five seasons of excavation have revealed an occupation sequence ranging from EB II until modern times with peak occupation dating to MB IIB and Iron Age I–IIA. The robust continuity in settlement from the Late Bronze Age until Iron Age II is a unique phenomenon in this region and sheds important light on the site’s transition from a Canaanite city-state to an Iron Age territorial kingdom, particularly acute in this region, between the Israelite kingdom and that of Aram-Damascus.
dear friend Norma passed from this life on the morning of June 7. She was an amazing person. Though greatly infirmed through her last months, she held firm to her passions and opinions. Gravelly of voice but sweet and loving of spirit she remained alert to news of (and from) her many ASOR and Albright friends, and like a mother hen she still brooded over the affairs of the Albright Institute where she had lived and worked, and for which as a Trustee she had spearheaded fundraising efforts for many decades.
