LECTURE SERIES

The Fellner Lecture Series: News in Archaeology

The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology announces its annual lecture series in Hebrew, which presents the results of recent archaeological research to the general public in Israel. This series is supported by the Fellner Foundation and its Trustee Mr. Frederick L. Simmons of Los Angeles.

The lectures, generally powerpoint presentations, take place on the last Thursday of every month (not in summer) at 5.00 p.m. at Hebrew Union College, 13 King David Street in Jerusalem.  Free Entrance.

Schedule of this year's Fellener lectures 

The Cohodas guest lectureship

The Cohodas guest lectureship (in English) is comprised of lectures devoted to neighboring countries (Egypt, the Aegean, Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey) delivered by outstanding foreign scholars, often followed by scholars' seminars on areas of academic dispute.

COMMUNITY EXCAVATIONS

Since 2005, the NGSBA has engaged in a series of community-based excavations at Givat Sher, near Modiin, in Lod, and at Tel Dan.  The way we see it, archaeologists can and should make a contribution to society beyond pure research.  Interaction with community results in a mutually beneficial exchange. By engaging in archaeological survey, excavation and artifact processing, community members gain valuable insights into their countryside and its past.  A deeper sense of belonging and investment follows.  For archaeologists, the gain takes the form of public guardianship of archaeological sites and greater appreciation for our work.  Certainly, community archaeology has its limitations, but the benefits, pleasures and sense of contribution far outweigh the inconveniences.

Modiin: (Givat Sher and Givat ha-Titora)

The NGSBA aims to re-engage the public and to reinvigorate the dialogue between community and academia. This is why we have embarked upon a community archaeology project in the new town of Modiin. The Nitzanim elementary school has adopted a site located within walking distance of the school called Givat Sher. Givat Sher is right next to, and in fact may be part of, ancient Modiin, home of the Hasmonean dynasty whose exploits are related in the Book of Maccabbees. While our work can be seen as building a bridge to our Jewish past there is much more to it; we also wish to foster a more inclusive narrative of our region’s past—one that will include and cherish the history and culture of people who lived and still live in the Modiin region, the Palestinians.

Our surveys and excavations indicate the presence of Hellenistic, Byzantine, Mamluke and Ottoman period remains and we see the multi-period aspect as an important didactic factor in promoting a multivocal approach. Together with the kids, teachers and parents, we are surveying, excavating and reconstructing selected elements of the site, in a research format with a landscape archaeology orientation which includes an investigation of environmental data, agricultural installations, burial features and intersite relations.
The Modiin municipality and the Society for the Preservation of Nature are full partners and each contribute to making this the most successful project of its kind in Israel. During our spring 2004 season 1300 people excavated at Givat Sher. We plan to continue it for years to come and to expand to include other parts of the community, including the movement’s Yozma congregation of Modiin. Givat Sher will also be a place that HUC students will enjoy the experience of archaeological excavation and where even our movement’s congregants from around the world will be invited to participate in this most earthly of pleasures. 

More: Archaeology as Community Adventure at Givat Sher, Modi'in

For an update on the Givat Sher excavations, click here.
To view our most recent report to the Israel Antiquities Authority click here.

Bridging the Present with the Past: The Lod Community Archaeology Project

The Lod project involves seven different schools, the Lod municipality and education branch and many local grass-roots organizations. We are excavating in the Neve Yerak neighborhood in and around the Ottoman (perhaps Mameluke) caravanserai, Khan el-Hilu. Our primary goal is to encourage a positive sense of local identity by uncovering Lod's illustrious past. 

By involving all the town's ethnic groups--Jews, Moslems and Christians, Ethiopians, Russians and Arabs--we hope to engender camaraderie and familiarity amongst the participants.  Perhaps we can help reduce the social tensions in what can be a tough place to live. Perhaps we can help provide intellectual stimulation and an alternative to destructive, antisocial behavior that is too common here.

 The modern town of Lod, located some 7 km south of Ben Gurion International Airport, is constructed over an archaeological site on the banks of the Ayalon stream. Neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Frankish, Mameluke and Ottoman periods have been reported in the tens of excavations that have been carried out over the years. The earliest settlement--that of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages--was under the northern part of the modern town, where large banking and hi-tech buildings have recently been erected. With time, the settlement core migrated to the south, along the west bank of the Ayalon.  What remains of the old Ottoman town is in this section, built over Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic and Mameluke remains.  This is where we the townspeople--mostly schoolchildren are excavating.

CONSERVATION AND RECONSTRUCTION

Archaeology is controlled destruction.  We document our findings to a great degree of detail, so as to allow reconstruction--in plans, words and 3-D graphics.  But once you remove something ancient from its native context, that context is gone forever.

But not everything is destroyed; very often we leave walls, wells, pits, floors and installations more or less intact.  The best way to preserved these things is to rebury them.  But then nobody will see them.  When a building or other feature is deemed significant, we often carry out conservation, restoration, or even reconstruction, so that people will be able to view and study it. Two of our projects, Tel Dan and Lod have been the subject of extensive restoration work. 

Reconstructing the Ancient Pilgrimage Center at Tel Dan

By the early 1990s Israel's Ministry of Tourism, National Parks and Nature Reserves Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority were concerned that none of the large, highly visible archaeological sites were those of the “Biblical” periods. Sites like Beth Shean, Cesearea and Sepphoris had later classical or rabbinic period remains (many of which were not really “Jewish” in nature). The Bronze and Iron Age (often called the “Biblical period”) sites were not as well preserved and smaller in scale.

Surveying excavated archaeological sites, officials were sufficiently impressed by the excavations at Tel Dan to budget and execute its reconstruction, including the already impressive Iron Age fortification wall and gate complex, the Middle Bronze Age mudbrick gate, and the Israelite High Place. This ambitious project, carried out under our archaeological supervision, has made Tel Dan one of the country's premier Bronze and Iron Age sites and a must for anyone interested in archaeology.

The excavation seasons of the late 1990s and those of 2005-6 were carried out as part of the conservation and restoration process.

Read more: CONSERVATION AND RECONSTRUCTION