Ashkelon was a significant emporium among the ancient ports of the eastern Mediterranean. Like other cities on the Levantine coast it served as a maritime center, a conduit for trade between the sea and inland areas, and a way station for military campaigns. It figures prominently in the biblical narrative, particularly as a key Philistine city, and it is mentioned in many extra-biblical texts as well. This year’s lecture series will emphasize the results or more than two decades of excavation at the site including reports from the co-directors of the renewed excavations.
The lectures are free to the public and will be on select Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm in the Billy Graham Center, Room 140 (first floor), except for the October 16 lecture, which will be held in Blanchard 339.
---- Schedule ----
Wednesday, October 10, 6:30 pm
Daniel M. Master, Associate Professor of Archaeology, Wheaton College
Director of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon
Current Excavations at Ashkelon, Results of the 2007 Season
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30 pm
Lawrence E. Stager, Dorot Professor of Archaeology of Israel
Director of the Harvard Semitic Museum and the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon
The Middle Bronze Age at Ashkelon
Wednesday, October 31, 6:30 pm
Brian Brisco Ph.D. Candidate, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
The Persian Period at Ashkelon
Wednesday, November 7, 6:30 pm
Tracy Hoffman, Ph.D., Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
The Byzantine and Islamic Periods at Ashkelon
Lawrence Stager
Professor Lawrence E. Stager is Dorot Professor of Biblical Archaeology at Harvard University, a position he has held since 1986. For the past 30 years he has directed land excavations at Idalion (Cyprus), Carthage (Tunisia), and since 1985 has directed the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon (Israel). His archaeological research and writing focus on ancient Mediterranean cultures of Canaanites, Phoenicians, Philistines, and Israelites. In 1999 he directed the archaeological team of R.D. Ballard’s expedition to survey deep sea shipwrecks off the coast of Ashkelon. After taking his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, Stager taught at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago from 1973-1986. He is the director of the Harvard Semitic Museum and general editor of its publications. He has published numerous articles including several that are considered to be seminal in the field of biblical archaeology and ancient Near Eastern studies. His latest book (with Philip J. King), Life in Biblical Israel, appeared in 2001.
