The conclusion of ASOR25# was a gala to mark the 125th anniversary of the society. Good food, interesting speakers, and guest musicians made for a festive evening. And leaders announced that we exceeded the $5,000,000 fund drive by a million dollars.
After a very short night, we headed back to St. Paul.
Brief reports from participants who have been working on projects in a mentored environment.
Most participants are working on their own with minimal support (financial/staffing).
Tools discussed: OCHRE (U. Chicago), TWINE, SCALER (ed tech platform), UCINet, ThingLink, and Tableau.
Big question — How will AI impact such projects?
Recurring note — most tech endeavors are by individual scholars building projects the technology for which then fades and is replaced by new approach’s and a new group of your scholars working on their own with limited resources.
Review of archaeological work on the island of Tyre. Reviewing evidence of Bronze Age settlements. But no trace of its legendary wealth and prominence. Funerary practices revealed in a cemetery. Surveys n the mainland show more consistent occupation in the Bronze Age.
A study of 30 stelae discovered in the 19th century and scattered in various museums.
Some 50 documented Roman temples in Lebanon. Paper focussed on the Helios sanctuary of Qasr Naous,
Western temple is in poor shape although its compound is clear along with part of the podium. Presenter assumed the temple is tetra style. Some shafts were one piece. Other featured documented: Corinthian capitals, Bases, Consoles, Diagonal friezes, Typanon, and Angularium (only one in Lebanon)
Dated to 1st half of first century bc to 2nd AD.
Greek drinking vessels were the primary finds among the Greek sherds. There were not sufficient other sherds to support a full Greek life. Same in other sites in the near Levant with Greek sherds.
A second paper was on Iconium, where work has recently begun. It is a large pre Roman site. Various pottery types and including a ceramic bath tube. South central Anatolian had significant Hellenistic influences and connections to the Greek coast.
The presenter suggested that Hadrian, after traveling to Gerasa, crossed the Jordan to the Roman camp near Bet Shean, and then made a trip to Tiberias (South Gate built in his honor), el Araj, Sepphoris, and then on to Caesarea Maritima. Some it the audience questioned the dating of certain elements of the hypothesis.
At #ASOR25…
The “mound on the mount” refers to a theory by archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and others that the main ancient settlement of Jerusalem was located on a distinct, five-hectare mound on the Temple Mount itself, not in the City of David ridge. Behind this theory is the size of major Canaanite cities and the placement the temple within the city itself. Canaanite cities are from the late Bronze period. However, Aharon Tavger says we should look to Iron I parallels (Mt. Gerazim and Bethel) where the sacred site is outside and a bit of a distance from thet city itself. The distance between the “city of David” and the location of Solomon’s temple fits this pattern.
A fresh description of Herod’s harbor at Caesarea includes explanation taking into account the overall morphology of the harbor itself; the form and function of the structure at the south end of the harbor known as Procumatia or breaker of the waves; and, with extreme eddy effect on form and function, the free-standing edifices at the harbor’s entrance to the north. Fascinating with good images.
In the afternoon I took in a workshop titled: What is this? Museum directors presented items in their collections about which there is uncertainty as to the item itself and its authenticity (is it a fake?). Of the nine items presented, the group was able to identify one item and movie significant insight into others…. And the session was fun!
Also attended a session on pseudo-archaeology, its origins and implications. PA continues to be a significant problem.
Since I renewed my membership for another year while at the conference, I was “awarded” a ribbon for my name tag. Appropriate? Probably.
I spent significant time during Day 1 at sessions pertaining to Wilson’s Arch and the Odeon discovered beneath it. These lectures celebrated the publication of a report on recent archaeological work. Hadrian’s plans for Jerusalem led to the abandonment of the structure before it was completed.
A report on excavation under the floors of the church of the Holy Sepulchre added more detail about the quarry outside the city during the late second temple period including terraces for grape vines and fragments of a suburban road. Although the foundation for a wall was revealed from the Hadrianic period, the excavators did not find evidence supporting the hypothesis of a major temple built on the site.
Two papers addressed the upper aqueduct servicing Jerusalem.
I was most intrigued by a paper on “Image of God as an emblem of the neo-Assyrian empire.” While I would disagree with assigning the usage to a priestly source from the time of the Babylonian captivity, the archaeological context for understanding the term might indeed be the steles from the Mesopotamian world that were emblems for a king or god. The usage of “image of God” may not be a compliment, but rather a statement of what humanity is like — tempted to be “like God” and seeking to build a tower up to the heavenly realm. That might explain why the term disappears f rom the biblical texts following the scattering after Babel. I am not sure this works, but it is a matter for more thought and study.
Tim Harrison from ISAC offered the Plenary Address at #ASOR25. He highlighted the tremendous loss of cultural heritage in the last twenty years due to war, destruction and pillaging of archaeological sites, agricultural expansion, and urban sprawl. He argued that this loss has a tremendous impact on local communities whose identities are shaped by their cultural heritage (e.g., tells and burial sites).
He advocated that the response from the west to such loss ought be driven by local desires, local leadership, and local workers, not the west swooping in what they think is best…an indigenous archaeology of sorts.
In his lecture I see archaeology grappling with the same issues of colonialism with which Christian missionary endeavors have been grappling (the fostering of an independent and indigenous Christianity). Notably, Christian overseas missions and the history of archaeology follow quite similar chronological frameworks through the 19th and 20th centuries.