Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

Tag: Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

City of Qumran, Dead Sea Scrolls Focus of Archaeology Lecture at Lawrence University

Jodi Magness, professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, presents “The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls” Monday, Feb. 13 in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

The slide-illustrated presentation, at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium, is free and open to the public and includes an informal reception with the speaker following the address.

Magness will discuss the archaeological connection between the Qumran site, which was excavated in the 1950s, and the famous scrolls. Hailed by some as the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times, the ancient parchment scrolls were found in 1947 by a young Bedoin goat herder in a jar in a cave along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, 13 miles east of Jerusalem. Scholars eventually discovered more than 800 scrolls among 11 different caves in the area.

The scrolls are believed to have been written between 200 B.C. and 68 A.D. and contain biblical as well as non-biblical materials. With the exception of the book of Esther, parts of all the books of the Old Testament have been found among the scroll fragments.

Scholars estimate that Qumran may have been occupied as early as the 8th century B.C. and believe it served as the home for some of the Essenes, a Jewish sect that developed in the 2nd century B.C. Some scholars credit the Essenes with having a major influence on the development of Christianity.

Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judasism at North Carolina, has done extensive field research throughout Israel. She is the author of five books, including “The Archaeology of Qumran: and the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

She spent 11 years in the classics and art history department at Tufts University before joining the faculty at North Carolina. She earned her bachelor’s degree in archaeology and history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and her Ph.D. in classical archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Olympic Games — Then and Now — Examined in Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

With the XXth Winter Olympics set to begin in Turin, Italy in less than a month, Lawrence University Hiram A. Jones Professor of Classics Daniel Taylor offers a historic perspective on the celebrated games and explain why the Olympics are “not just another sporting event” in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Taylor presents “The Olympic Games 776 B.C. — 2006 A.D.” Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public and includes a reception with the speaker following the address.

Taylor’s slide-illustrated presentation will tour the ancient Olympic stadium as well as the first modern one, introduce gods and goddesses and provide a glimpse of ancient Greek athletes in action as well as the exploits of modern Olympic heroes. He also will compare and contrast the ancient and modern games and offer philosophical reflections on the nature of athletic competition.

Considered one of the world’s leading scholars on Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 BC), ancient Rome’s most prolific and authoritative language scientist, Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in classics from Lawrence and his Ph.D. in classics from the University of Washington before joining the Lawrence faculty in 1974.

He has been the recipient of two research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and been cited by the American Philological Association with its National Award for Excellence in Teaching the Classics.

History of Science Scholar Discusses Mesopotamian Astronomy at Lawrence University

Francesca Rochberg, a scholar on the history of science, presents “The Astronomies of Ancient Mesopotamia” Monday, Oct. 31 in a Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University. The presentation, at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium, is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker will follow the address.

A professor of history at the University of California, Riverside, who focuses on ancient astronomy and astrology, Rochberg will discuss the development of Mesopotamian celestial science in the second millennium B.C. and provide context for its place in relation to Western astronomy traditions.

Rochberg was a 1982 recipient of one of the $500,000 MacArthur Foundation “genius grants” and also was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 1994. She has written extensively on Babylonian astrology, astronomy, cosmology and is the author of three books, including “Babylonian Horoscopes,” for which she was awarded the John Frederick Lewis Award from the American Philosophical Society in 1999. Her latest book, “The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture” was published in 2004.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages from the University of Chicago.

Albanian Excavations Focus of Lawrence University Archaeological Lecture

University of Cincinnati archaeologist Jack Davis discusses some of the recent significant fieldwork developments occurring in Albania in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Davis presents the slide-illustrated lecture “Archaeology in Albania: A 21st Century Perspective” Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception will follow the address.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism in the early 1990s opened the borders in Eastern Europe, facilitating numerous collaborative research projects between Albanian scholars and foreign archaeologists into the history of that country.

A specialist in Aegean prehistory, Davis will outline some of the current field work projects in progress in Albania, with a special emphasis on research he personally has directed around ancient Dyrrachium and Apollonia, two major Greek colonies established in the 7th- and 6th-centuries B.C.

Davis is currently the co-director of the Durres Regional Archaeological project in Albania and formerly served as the
co-director of the Keos Archaeological Project in Greece. He also has done extensive fieldwork in Crete. Davis spent 16 years as a faculty member of the classics department at the University of Chicago and has held the title of Carl W. Blegen Chaired Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati since 1993.

Recently Discovered Mayan Murals Focus of Archaeological Institute Lecture at Lawrence University

University of New Hampshire anthropologist William Saturno will discuss recent discoveries at the San Bartolo excavation site in northeast Guatemala and what those findings reveal about the Mayan culture in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Saturno presents the slide-illustrated lecture “Murals, Myths and the Origins of Maya Civilization” Monday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker follows the address.

The presentation will focus on Saturno’s serendipitous discovery in March, 2001 of elaborate painted murals on the walls of a room inside a Mayan pyramid. Seeking some shade at an excavation site, Saturno entered a tunnel dug previously by looters. Using a flashlight to guide him, he came upon the first well-preserved Mayan mural discovered since 1946. The lecture will include discussion of kingship and sacrifice, penitential bloodletting and the origins of Mayan writing.

Biblical Archaeologist Discusses Existence of King Solomon in Lawrence University Address

William Dever, a noted expert in biblical archaeology, will challenge recent European revisionists’ claims that King Solomon was no more a historical figure than King Arthur in an Archaeological Institute of America illustrated lecture at Lawrence University.

Dever, professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, presents, “The ‘Age of Solomon,’ History or Myth? The Archaeological Picture” Monday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker follows the address.

The revisionists argue against the existence of a 10th-century B.C. “United Monarchy,” saying writers several hundred years later fabricated the stories as a “foundation myth” to help create an identity for the Jewish people.

Dever, the author of more than 25 books, will present archaeological evidence supporting the presence of a true “state” in 10th-century B.C. Israel, including monumental royal architecture and non-biblical texts that mention “kings of Israel” and a “dynasty of David.”

Dever, who has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Israel, is a past director of the Nelson Glurck School of Biblical Archaeology in Jerusalem. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University.

America’s Earliest High Plains Inhabitants Focus of Archaeological Institute Lecture at Lawrence University

Professional archaeologist Bruce Bradley discusses evidence of the earliest Americans and their lifestyles in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Bradley presents the slide-illustrated address “More Than Enough: Paleoindian Kill Sites on the High Plains” Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence¹s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker follows the address.

A renowned master flintknapper and potter, Bradley will outline the inhabitation and cultural history of the New World, focusing on large animal — primarily mammoth and bison — kill and processing sites.

A native of Milwaukee, Bradley has served as a research associate at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., since 1999 and currently holds a similar position with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. He earned his Ph.D. in archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

Evolution of Eurasian Steppe Communities Examined in Archaeological Institute Lecture at Lawrence University

Sweet Briar College anthropologist Claudia Chang highlights the latest research conducted on settlements in the Talgar region of southeastern Kazakhstan in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Chang presents the slide-illustrated address “Researching the Eurasian Steppe: Excavations and Surveys along the Silk Route of Southeastern Kazakhstan” Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. An informal reception with the speaker follows the address.

Chang will outline the evolution of communities of the Talgar region on the northern side of the Tian Shan Mountains of modern Kazakhstan, tracing developments from the Bronze Age (1700-900 B.C.) through the Islamic and Mongolian periods of Medieval settlement (700-1500 A.D.). She will discuss the the agricultural and pastoral nomadic economic cycles on the steppe and the relationship between burial traditions and settlement sites.

A specialist in Iron Age archaeology of the Eurasian steppe, Chang joined the faculty at Sweet Briar in 1995 after spending a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the Kazakh State University in Kazakhstan. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology at the State Univeristy of New York-Binghamton.