Timeline

Under the name the “American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine,” the organization was born.

Since the end of the 19th century, the American Schools of Oriental Research has been at the forefront of American research efforts in the Near East. Founded in 1900, the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine established its first headquarters in a hotel room in Jerusalem. Charles C. Torrey, an Old Testament scholar at Yale University, served as director for that year. Twenty-one colleges, universities, and theological schools chartered ASOR, while three organizations (the Archaeological Institute of America, the Society for Biblical Literature, and the American Oriental Society) helped oversee its creation.

In 1906, under Annual Director Benjamin Bacon, the school's headquarters were moved outside the Old City to 6 Ethiopia Street.

Image: Doorway of house at 6 Ethiopia Street, Jaffa.

Excavations were underway at Samaria with George Reisner at the helm. Reisner introduced his pioneering excavation and recording techniques to Palestinian archaeology, beginning systematic excavations in the region.

William Foxwell Albright was appointed ASOR’s first long-term director in Jerusalem.

Image: The Jerusalem property in 1920 on which the ASOR School was later constructed.

Under Albright's leadership, archaeological and other activities expanded, and he secured the school's future in ways that had not been possible before. In 1922, he led the school's fellows in excavations at Tell el-Fûl, just north of Jerusalem. The following year, he directed work at the four mounds of Malhah, southwest of Jerusalem. During this time, one of the senior fellows at the school, Melvin Grove Kyle—President of Xenia Theological Seminary (later Pittsburgh Theological Seminary)—formed a close friendship with Albright.

Kyle raised funds to support another modest excavation project, and together they chose the site of Tell Beit Mirsim. Between 1926 and 1932, they conducted four excavation seasons at the site. Thanks to Albright's scholarly skill, the project became one of the period’s most significant excavations and established his reputation as a leading archaeologist. He published the final reports in the ASOR Annuals, setting new standards for the field, particularly in ceramic chronology.

ASOR's second center, the Baghdad School, is founded.

Seasons start at Tell Beit Mirsim, chosen by Albright and senior fellow Melvin Grove Kyle, as an initially modest excavation project that turned into one of the most significant excavations of the period.

Image: Tell Beit Mirsim staff in 1932: Standing (left to right) William Gad (surveyor), Cyrus Gordon (ASOR Baghdad), Henry Detweiler (architect), John Bright (Union Seminary), W.F. Stinespring (Yale University), Rev. Eugene Liggit (Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminar), Rev. Vernon Broyles (Union Seminary), Aage Schmidt (Danish Shiloh Expedition), Front row (left to right) James L. Kelso (Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary), W.F. Albright (Johns Hopkins University), Melvin G. Kyle (Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary), Nelson Glueck (ASOR).

The Biblical Archaeologist was inaugurated by G.E. Wright as its editor. Its first editorial board consisted of W.F. Albright (Johns Hopkins), Millar Burrows (Yale), and E.A. Speiser (University of Pennsylvania). It was to be published quarterly at an initial subscription price of 50 cents per year.

The Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts are brought to ASOR for identification and authentication.

Image: Dead Sea Scrolls research was to occupy many scholars at the Jerusalem School through to the end of the century. Prominent among these is John Strugnell of Harvard University, seen here studying the ancient text 4Q394 as an Albright Institute National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow in 1981-2.

ASOR scholars were involved in the long-term excavation at Sardis, in western Türkiye.

The school in Jerusalem, which was in peril of being sold amid political and military tensions in the city, is determined as unsold as the buyer’s check to Annual Director John Marks was never cashed and the buyer had stopped payment. The property was turned over to the American Consulate General for temporary use while the ASOR Executive Committee contemplated the property’s future.

The Baghdad School closes due to political tensions and becomes the Committee on Mesopotamian Civilization.

ASOR starts its sponsorship of a series of excavations, financed with U.S. federal funds, at Punic and Roman Carthage. ASOR sponsors a new center nearby, the Carthage Research Institute, as a base for the excavation and survey work at the site.

Establishment of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) was led by Elizabeth Moynihan, who would become ASOR’s first chair of the board of trustees (1984-1986).

Image: ASOR Trustee Elizabeth Moynihan (left) with President James A. Sauer in front of the new ASOR administration office in Philadelphia in 1983.

James A. Sauer was elected as ASOR's eighth president in 1982. After assuming the presidency in July 1982, Sauer took immediate action to sustain the momentum in programming that former President King and the planning committee had initiated. He continued the program of NEH grants for excavation project assistance, fellowships, and challenge support. He had previously built strong alliances with federal agencies that had Middle Eastern interests, such as USIA, USAID, and ASHA during his time as Director of ACOR. The early success led by Sauer's team culminated in the 1984 announcement of a special NEH award for $200,000. This award funded the operation of Summer Institutes in Near East Archaeology, in cooperation with the University Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, with ASOR’s headquarters serving as the administrative base. The first seminar, "The Ancient Near East as the Cradle of Civilization," took place in 1985. Throughout his term, Sauer led other successful seminars and worked to increase ASOR’s membership. Image: ASOR President James A. Sauer (right) with Trustee Elizabeth Moynihan in front of the new ASOR administration office; 4223 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.