I am very grateful to ASOR for providing me with the opportunity to return to the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project for 2011 excavations. Safi is located on the border area between the coastal plains and the Shephelah. It has been identified as the site of biblical Gath, one of the five major Philistine cities. Under Jeffrey Chadwick of Brigham Young University, I worked on the western summit of the Tell in area F. The unique element of this area is the extensive stratigraphic picture that terraces the hill from the Early Bronze to the Crusader period. My work focused in squares 16A and 16C as a continuation of last year, excavating the earliest Iron I levels in that sequence.
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I would like to thank ASOR for awarding me a Heritage Fellowship this summer which made it possible for me to excavate at Khirbet Summeily, an Iron Age village site in the Northern Negev Desert. The excavation this summer was done as a part of the Tell el-Hesi Regional Project directed by Dr. James W. Hardin and Dr. Jeffery A. Blakely and affiliated with ASOR.
The summer of 2011 was the first season of excavation at Khirbet Summeily, which is believed to have been an Iron Age village site in the Tell el-Hesi region on the border of ancient Philistia and Judah. The goal of the summer’s excavation was to open a small area of three excavation units to identify the occupational sequence of the small site and to test new field techniques and data collection methods. One new method of collecting data that was used in the field this season was replacing balk drawings and hand drawn top plans with Photogrammetry. We also utilized aerial kite photography throughout the season and with the use of this technology we were able to plot our findings three-dimensionally.
My summer in Israel was an unforgettable adventure in which I was able to travel around the country and see all of the sites that I was only able to read about before. As an undergraduate student, studying Near Eastern Archaeology, the Heritage Fellowship made it possible for me to travel to Israel and gain experience excavating there. The knowledge that I received will help me to pursue graduate school and a career as an archaeologist. Once again I would like to thank ASOR and its donors for awarding me a Heritage Fellowship.
~Christofer Howell, recipient of an ASOR Heritage Excavation Grant
§ December 1st, 2011 § Filed under ASOR § No Comments
Here are some links to recent news from the world of archaeology!
Herodium, a complex south of Bethlehem built by King Herod, is among several archaeological sites in the West Bank administered by Israeli authorities. Credit: Samuel Sockol/Washington Post.
At a museum just off the desert road from Jerusalem to Jericho in the West Bank, the artifacts of a contested heritage are on display. An Israeli flag flies over the museum and adjacent ruins of ancient pilgrim hostels, asserting Israel’s control of the site, which is traditionally identified as the location of the inn mentioned in the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. But now, after more than 40 years of Israeli occupation,
Palestinians are making a bid for greater control of the West Bank’s historical and archaeological landmarks, which they are claiming as their own.
A Jewish group in Jerusalem is using 21st-century technology to map every tombstone in the ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives, a sprawling, politically sensitive necropolis of 150,000 graves stretching back three millennia.
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§ November 28th, 2011 § Filed under ASOR § No Comments
Announcing a Call for nominations for the position of Treasurer of ASOR. This position will commence upon election and run through December 2015. A complete description of the position may be found at Article IV, Section 9 of the ASOR bylaws (http://www.asor.org/about/bylaws.html). Importantly and essentially, we are seeking someone who is either a CPA or has CFO experience (or both) with a desire to further the mission of ASOR. The successful nominee will train under the current Treasurer (Sheldon Fox) from election until January 2013, when the three-year term commences. The Treasurer works closely with the Executive Director and the Boston Staff and serves on the Executive Committee.
Nominations will be accepted until the position is filled (April 2012 Board meeting); vetting will begin on ASAP. To nominate someone please contact Gary Arbino, Chair of the Officers Nominations Committee (garyarbino@ggbts.edu). If you have questions, feel free to contact Gary Arbino or any of the other members of the Committee (Carol Meyers [carol@duke.edu], Joe Seger [jds1@ra.msstate.edu], Susan Sheridan [ssherida@nd.edu], as well as Tim Harrison [tim.harrison@utoronto.ca] and Andy Vaughn [asored@bu.edu]). ASOR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. ASOR affirms its commitment to equality of opportunity and pledges that it will not practice or permit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The Board actively seeks candidates who represent the diversity within its membership for positions of leadership.
§ November 28th, 2011 § Filed under ASOR § No Comments
Announcing a Call for Nominations for the newly created Office of ASOR Vice President. This position is elected by the ASOR Board of Trustees and will serve until January 2014. It is assumed that the Vice President will be promoted to the position of ASOR President in January 2014, for a three-year term. The Vice President’s primary responsibilities will be to Chair the Chairs Coordinating Council and serve on ASOR’s Executive Committee. The Vice President shall also perform such additional duties as the Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee, the President, or the Board Chair may from time to time prescribe. In the event that both the President and Chair of the Board are unable to be present to discharge the duties of the President, the Vice President shall perform the duties of the President.
Nominations will be accepted until the position is filled (April 2012 Board meeting); vetting will begin on February 1, 2012. To nominate someone please contact Gary Arbino, Chair of the Officers Nominations Committee (garyarbino@ggbts.edu). If you have questions, feel free to contact Gary Arbino or any of the other members of the Committee (Carol Meyers [carol@duke.edu], Joe Seger [jds1@ra.msstate.edu], Susan Sheridan [ssherida@nd.edu], as well as Tim Harrison [tim.harrison@utoronto.ca] and Andy Vaughn [asored@bu.edu]). ASOR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. ASOR affirms its commitment to equality of opportunity and pledges that it will not practice or permit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The Board actively seeks candidates who represent the diversity within its membership for positions of leadership.
Thanks to my ASOR Heritage Fellowship, I was afforded the opportunity to work at a site that had not been academically dug previous to this field season. As a supervisor, I was able to pass on some of my experience from prior excavations to the field school students, while learning and applying new methods and techniques to the archaeology of a geographical area I was not familiar with. I was also exposed to new technology that I had not used before, which allowed me to familiarize myself with new approaches to gathering data in the field.
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Harvard students work to preserve and restore cuneiform tablets, by baking them. Students work at Harvard’s Semitic Museum on the clay tablets, which were recovered from excavations at the ancient city of Nuzi in Iraq, helping to preserve the details of everyday life from 3,500 years ago recorded in the clay.
