Register and receive 25% off the purchase of this book!
Friends of ASOR is excited to launch our new webinar series on August 9 at 8pm EDT, featuring Dr. Eric H. Cline. An internationally renowned archaeologist with more than thirty seasons of excavation experience, Prof. Cline has conducted fieldwork from Greece and Crete to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. Drawing on his upcoming book, Digging Deeper, Cline answers questions archaeologists are most frequently asked:
How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? Who gets to keep what is found? How do you know what people from the past ate, wore, and looked like?
This lecture will be filled with insights and practical advice about how archaeology really works. The webinar will conclude with a live Q&A session with Prof. Cline.
Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology, Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute, and former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at The George Washington University, in Washington DC. A National Geographic Explorer, Fulbright scholar, and NEH Public Scholar with degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, he is an active field archaeologist with more than 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience, including ten seasons at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) in Israel and eight seasons at Tel Kabri, also in Israel, where he is currently Co-Director. Winner of the 2014 “Nancy Lapp Award for Best Popular Book” from the ASOR for his book “1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed,” which was also considered for a Pulitzer Prize, and winner of the same award again in 2018 for his book “Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology,” he is also a three-time winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s “Best Popular Book on Archaeology” Award (2001, 2009, and 2011). A popular lecturer who has appeared frequently on television documentaries, he has also won national and local awards for both his research and his teaching. He is the author or editor of 20 books, which have been translated into sixteen languages, as well as nearly 100 articles, and several recorded lecture courses. His previous books written specifically for the general public include “The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age” (2000); “Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel” (2004); “From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible” (2007); “Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction” (2009); “The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction” (2013); “1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed” (2014); “Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology (2017); and, most recently, “Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon” (2020).
Every registration for this webinar includes a coupon code for a 25% discount off and free shipping for Dr. Cline’s new book from Princeton University Press, Digging Deeper (retail price: $12.95)!
Every registrant for this webinar also has exclusive access to a subscription discount from Biblical Archaeology Society: 1 Year of All Access to Biblical Archaeology Review (library, digital, and print) for only 99 cents/month! You will be emailed the link to the offer after you register and pay.
You will be e-mailed the Zoom Webinar link prior to the lecture on August 9, 2020.
All proceeds from this lecture are used to fund scholarships for members impacted by COVID-19 as well as increasing ASOR’s virtual resources, which are free to the public.
Interested in sponsoring these webinars? Several levels of support from $50-$1,000 are available. Please email membership@asor.org with questions or sign up for a sponsorship while registering for this event.
Ready to explore more about ASOR Membership? Click here for more details about discounts for events and other benefits of membership! Memberships start at $40 for the year as an Associate Member.
You can now purchase the link to the recording of any webinar. You can also purchase the bundle packages of all webinars from the 2020-2022 seasons. Please e-mail membership@asor.org for purchase details.
To see a printable pdf of the webinar titles from the 2020-2021 season, please click here. To see a printable pdf of the webinar titles from the 2021-2022 season, please click here.
Where Are They Now?: A Preview of 2022 ASOR-Affiliated Fieldwork Projects Michael Given (University of Glasgow), Xenia-Paula Kyriakou (Florida Gulf Coast University), Stephen Batiuk (University of Toronto), Monique Roddy (Walla Walla University), Kent Bramlett (La Sierra University), Friedbert Ninow (La Sierra University), and Michael Hoff (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) | March 8, 2022
Tel Rehov: A Major Bronze and Iron Age City in the Jordan Valley Amihai Mazar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Nava Panitz-Cohen ( Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Nota Kourou (Athens University), Naama Yahalom-Mack (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Robert Mullins (Azusa Pacific University) | February 10, 2022
Archaeogaming: Why Video Games Deserve Their Own Archaeology Tine Rassalle (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Shannon Martino (Morton College), Matthew Winter (University of Arizona), Michael Zimmerman (Rhode Island) | April 18, 2021
Copy of e-mail sent to Annual Meeting registrants on July 23, 2020
Dear ASOR Friends and Colleagues,
As you have undoubtedly read in various ASOR outlets, the COVID-19 pandemic forced ASOR to move to a virtual meeting out of concern for the safety and well-being of our members and staff.
We (and all of the ASOR staff) will miss seeing you in Boston. The Annual Meeting has been the highlight of our year because it is the time when we get to connect in person with the larger ASOR family. We know that the same is true for our members—even as we all realize that the pandemic left us with no other choice.
While we will miss seeing everyone, ASOR is embracing the opportunity to develop a virtual event that can deliver the robust content of our 2020 academic program in a manner that will serve our community most effectively. We have even had a few members register for the Virtual Meeting who would not have been able to attend in person!
The Virtual Meeting will include both prerecorded presentations and synchronous discussion of research. We are in the process of consulting with the ASOR Program Committee and Session/Workshop Chairs about the requirements for our academic program. The schedule and format of the virtual meeting will be announced (in early August) after we finalize the selection of a third-party virtual partner in light of this consultation. All of this takes some time, and we appreciate your patience as we rework the meeting into a successful virtual experience.
In the meantime, we also want to review some logistics…
Hotel Reservations: If you made a reservation at the Westin Boston Waterfront, your room should have been cancelled automatically. You should have received an e-mail with that cancellation. If you did not receive an e-mail (please check junk mail), we encourage you to review your Bonvoy (Marriott) online account or to contact the hotel (800-937-8461) to confirm that your room has been cancelled.
Conference Registrations: Even though we anticipate greater costs to produce the virtual meeting than an in-person meeting, ASOR has made a commitment to make the Virtual Meeting accessible to the entire ASOR family.
Scholarships: ASOR will meet 100% of scholarship requests for registrations for anyone that has been negatively impacted (directly or indirectly) by COVID-19. In addition, if someone is not currently a member, we will provide membership scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis. To apply, simply e-mail asor2020@asor.org with a brief request.
Transfer your registration—choose one of the following two options:
Do nothing and your registration will be transferred: Your previously paid fee will be applied to the virtual meeting registration. The difference (if any) between the two rates will help ASOR cover our increased costs of the virtual conference and for scholarships. Click here for Virtual Meeting Registration rates.
Request a credit to your ASOR account for any overage: E-mail asor2020@asor.org by August 25, 2020.
Credits can be used for any future ASOR purchase
Alternatively, you can request a refund check for the difference
Cancellation / Refund: If you do not wish to participate in the Virtual Annual Meeting, we ask that you cancel by choosing one of these three options. Please send your request to asor2020@asor.org by August 25, 2020.
You may request a refund check (the usual administrative fees are waived)
You may request a credit to your ASOR account (future memberships, meetings, etc.)
You may designate the registration fee as a donation towards scholarships
Last, but certainly not least, we hope that you and all of the ASOR community are safe and managing these unprecedented circumstances in good health. All of us at ASOR look forward to seeing you online in November!
Warm regards,
Andy Vaughn, ASOR Executive Director (executive-director@asor.org)
Arlene Press, ASOR Director of Meetings & Events (meetings@asor.org)[/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 Meagan Shirley and Joe D. Seger[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]The last article on ASOR’s history concluded with the foundation of ACOR and the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. This article encompasses ASOR’s history from the 1970’s to the present.
The Jerusalem school was named the W. F. Albright Institute in 1970, but the transfer of property title from ASOR to the AIAR Board occurred only in the mid-1990’s. Between 1970 and 1990 ASOR continued to provide support in its budget for each of the overseas centers as the Boards of the centers worked their way to independence. ASOR’s offices in the United States assumed responsibility for the entire organization’s administrative and academic activities. ASOR had central offices at Yale and elsewhere from much earlier which assumed responsibility for administration.
The Jerusalem School, now the home of AIAR, ca. 1930
Beginning in 1966, ASOR made its home at the Harvard Semitic Museum under the leadership of President G.E. Wright. ASOR maintained offices in Cambridge until the appointment of James A. Sauer in 1982, who worked at the University of Pennsylvania. The appointment of Sauer as ASOR President prompted another move to Philadelphia where ASOR took up residence at 4243 Spruce Street. During its tenure in Philadelphia, ASOR thrived due to its close proximity to the university. In 1984 in conjunction with the University Museum, ASOR received an NEH Grant to fund Summer Institutes in Near Eastern Archaeology. These consisted of summer programs taught by ASOR members and leading scholars in the field of archaeology.
The James F. Strange Center, ASOR’s new home in Alexandria, VA.
Following a six-year tenure at Johns Hopkins University, ASOR moved to Boston University in 1996. 656 Beacon Street in Boston remained the home of ASOR for 20 years until Boston University decided to sell the building in which ASOR was located. A New Office Committee was formed and headed by Board Chair Richard Coffman to decide what the best course of action should be for ASOR. It was determined that would be to, “purchase a facility to serve as ASOR’s permanent and independent home. The Board has also determined, again through extensive discussion and through site visits, that the optimal location for our new office is in the Washington, D.C., area” (Ackerman 2018).For the first time in ASOR’s history, the organization is independent of the various universities’ complimentary office space. Through the generous donations of our membership, ASOR was able to purchase an office space outside of Washington, D.C. in Alexandria, VA. This new building was named the James F. Strange Center in honor of longtime member and trustee, Jim Strange. The Strange Center was purchased through a rigorous campaign to raise the funds to purchase the office. Through the generous donations of our membership, ASOR was able to raise the full cost of ASOR’s new home.
Beginning with its time in Philadelphia, ASOR greatly expanded its scope, including new Cultural Heritage Initiatives, expanding oversight of excavation practices, increasing scholarship opportunities for students to travel to the field, and focusing on the dissemination of scholarly research through the Annual Meeting. Meetings had taken place intermittently throughout the 1960s and 1970s in conjunction with other organizations, primarily the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL). ASOR continued meeting with SBL until 1997 when it was decided through a membership meeting the previous year in New Orleans to hold an independent meeting. The 1997 Annual Meeting in Napa Valley was successful with 350 participants (Seger 2001: 68). However, it was decided to hold future meetings in the same city and time frame as the SBL conference due to the many members that attended both. ASOR has held its own Annual Meeting every year since. In 2020, ASOR had to make the difficult decision to cancel its in person meeting in Boston due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This decision was deemed necessary for the safety and well-being of ASOR’s many members. As of the writing of this article, ASOR is working to host a virtual meeting through which many scholars and researchers can still present their research. ASOR looks forward to seeing its members in-person again at the 2021 Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Meyers, Eric M. and Joe D. Seger. 2001. ASOR: A History of the American Schools of Oriental Research. In An ASOR Mosaic, edited by Joe D. Seger, pp. 2-103. American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston.[/vc_wp_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]
THE JOURNAL OF CUNEIFORM STUDIES (JCS) EDITORIAL BOARD ANNOUNCED
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]ASOR is pleased to announce the appointment of a new editorial board for the Journal of Cuneiform Studies (JCS). At the same time, ASOR and JCS editor Piotr Michalowski would like to offer sincere thanks to the outgoing editorial board team members—Gary Beckman (University of Michigan), Geoffrey Emberling (University of Michigan), and Matthew W. Stolper (The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)—for many years of dedicated service to ASOR and JCS.
The new editorial team is as follows:
Piotr Michalowski (University of Michigan), Editor
Petra M. Goedegebuure (The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)
Piotr Steinkeller (Harvard University)
Susanne Paulus (The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)
Niek Veldhuis (University of California, Berkeley)
Caroline Waerzeggers (Leiden University)
The new editorial board began their terms on July 1, 2020. Those interested in publishing in JCS should continue to contact Piotr Michalowski.[/vc_wp_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]
Larry Geraty receives the Harris Award from Honors & Awards Chair, Laura Mazow.
At the 2019 ASOR Annual Meeting in San Diego, Larry Geraty received the Charles U. Harris Service Award. This award is given in recognition of long term and/or special service as an ASOR officer or Trustee.
Lawrence (Larry) T. Geraty, President Emeritus, Director of the Foundation Board and Associate Director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies at La Sierra University, has been engaged with Near Eastern archaeology and with ASOR and its affiliate schools for more than five decades. In this time, he has taken on leadership roles as ASOR President from 2002 to 2006 and by serving on the ASOR Board through 2016 and acting as an Honorary Trustee since then. Larry has also served as ACOR trustee (1976-2002), Secretary-Treasurer (1983) and vice-president (1993). The creation of the newly endowed ASOR Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment will heighten awareness of cultural heritage by engaging and facilitating partnerships with local communities in heritage protection and community archaeology. This new initiative will serve as a model for ways that archaeologists working in the Near East and Mediterranean region can partner with local communities to their mutual benefit. For Larry’s long-term affiliation, service and support for ACOR, ASOR and AIAR, and his life-long accomplishments in archaeology, he is awarded the Charles U. Harris Service Award.
“It was a privilege for me to serve ASOR during a difficult bridge-time between its glorious past and very successful present. Any contributions I have made were in the context of a team effort with talented colleagues whose friendship and support I’ll always cherish.” Appreciatively, Larry
Geraty chats with colleagues after receiving the Harris Award.
Nominate someone for an award. The deadline for service award nominations is September 11, 2020. The deadline for book award nominations September 18, 2020.[/vc_wp_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]
Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology, Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute, and former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at The George Washington University, in Washington DC. A National Geographic Explorer, Fulbright scholar, and NEH Public Scholar with degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, he is an active field archaeologist with more than 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience, including ten seasons at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) in Israel and eight seasons at Tel Kabri, also in Israel, where he is currently Co-Director. Winner of the 2014 “Nancy Lapp Award for Best Popular Book” from the ASOR for his book “1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed,” which was also considered for a Pulitzer Prize, and winner of the same award again in 2018 for his book “Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology,” he is also a three-time winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s “Best Popular Book on Archaeology” Award (2001, 2009, and 2011). A popular lecturer who has appeared frequently on television documentaries, he has also won national and local awards for both his research and his teaching. He is the author or editor of 20 books, which have been translated into sixteen languages, as well as nearly 100 articles, and several recorded lecture courses. His previous books written specifically for the general public include “The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age” (2000); “Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel” (2004); “From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible” (2007); “Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction” (2009); “The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction” (2013); “1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed” (2014); “Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology (2017); and, most recently, “Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon” (2020).
