Ancient Nubia Educational Resources

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泭釦晨插賊楚

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ANCIENT NUBIA EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]17勛圖partnered with Archaeology in the Community (AITC), a local D.C.-based organization specializing in archaeological education, to produce a series of educational videos and lesson plans on Ancient Nubia. The videos are designed for 6th grade teachers to use in fulfillment of Social Studies, Civics, and Geography requirements. Funding for this project was provided by all of the donors to ASOR’s Diversity Initiatives Endowment and the Argosy Foundation.

The Resources

Ancient Nubia Videos

The videos feature interviews with scholars who study Ancient Nubia: Dr. Solange Ashby (Egyptology-Nubiology), Debora Heard (Archaeology), Jenail Marshall (Bioarchaeology), and Dr. Shayla Monroe (Zooarchaeology). They were produced by Sydney A. Pickens, Ali Bavugamenshi, and Dr. Alexandra Jones. Music was provided by 2 Nice Guys Music Production (Teddy Burgh and Teddy Thompson).

The first video introduces Ancient Nubia, its history, geography, and environment. The scholars discuss Nubian religion and cultural traditions such as burial practices, attire, and cattle pastoralism. The first video also covers interactions between Kerma, the first Kingdom of Kush, and Ancient Egypt.[/vc_wp_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The second video beings with the second Kushite Kingdom at Napata and discusses a period of renaissance and revival of Egyptian customs and religion. The video covers royal cemeteries, pyramids, and burial customs as well as the role of the queen mother. It concludes with the final Kushite Kingdom of Meroe, including Meroitic writing systems, local religious traditions and animal deities, and powerful queens.

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Ancient Nubia Curriculum: Lesson Plans and Activities

The lesson plans and activities, created by AITC’s Sydney A. Pickens, meet social sciences requirements for Geography, Economics, Civics, and Historical Thinking and Inquiry. As a bonus, they also cover Cultural Identity and Expression. Activity sheets can be printed out and distributed to students. The Curriculum also includes a teacher kit with guidelines and answer keys for the various activities.

AITC-17勛圖Ancient Nubia Curriculum泭

Ancient Nubia Video Activity Sheets

Part One:

  • Time, Space, and Geography
  • Cultural Traditions
  • Kerma

Part Two:

  • Napata
  • Meroe

Video activity sheets include map quests, fill-in-the-blank sheets, word finds, diagram labelling, and word scrambles.

Learning to Look: Artifact Observation and Analysis. Curartorial Responsibilities.

  • 33 Questions to Ask an Artifact
  • Loan Acquisition Pitch
  • Artifact Label Writing
  • Exhibition Tours

The Remix: Cultural Continuity, Change, and Comparison.

  • Pyramids
  • Shawabtis
  • Coffins & Sarcophagi
  • Ritual Smiting Scene

Who Tells Your Story: Primary Source Analysis and Uncovering Source Bias.

  • Kamose’s Second Stela at Karnak
  • Strabo’s Geography
  • Meroe�� Head/Head of Augustus
  • Kawa V: Taharqa’s Donation Stela
  • Temple of Apedemak at Naqa
  • Senworset III: The Semna Stela
  • Acts of the Apostles VII: 26-39, KJV
  • The Baptism of Chamberlain and Queen Candace of Ethiopia
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The Process

Part 1: Research and Development

The team began by asking how to make a resource that will be useful for the greatest number of teachers. We wanted our Ancient Nubia resources to be easy to use for teachers and fit well within the requirements of what they need to teach. This involved a detailed examination of common core teaching standards across the U.S. Based on what we found, we chose to focus on educational resource for the 6th grade level.

It was important to the team to feature black scholars who study Ancient Nubia, so that students viewing the video could identify and see themselves in the scholars. We worked with members of the William Leo Hansberry Society as well as 17勛圖members to find our scholar partners for the videos.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]

Part 2: Filming and Editing

Solange Ashby and Debora Heard joined members of AITC’s team to film in July of 2021 at the James F. Strange Center in Alexandria, VA. Additional footage was shot by offsite by scholars in LA and Chicago and all editing was handled by AITC’s production team. All photos are courtesy of Dr. Alexandra Jones.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”76097″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1661274765133{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”76098″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1661450210742{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”76100″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1661274967407{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”76101″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1661274982636{padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]

Part 3: What’s Next? Future Directions and Plans for More Resources

These videos and the accompanying lesson plans are freely-available on ASOR’s website in the Online Resources section and on . The videos are also available on both ASOR’s and AITC’s YouTube channels. Help us spread the word to teachers and educators you know and inspire others to create educational resources such as these![/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Seger Grant Report: Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria

Seger Grant Report: Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria

Aerial view of Tell Umm el-Marra.

With funds from the泭Joe D. Seger Excavation Grant, several hundred line drawing illustrations were prepared for the final report on the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BCE) excavations at Tell Umm el-Marra, Syria.泭 The excavation project was sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam.

Umm el-Marra was probably the site of ancient Tuba, capital of a kingdom in the Jabbul plain between Aleppo and the Euphrates valley in northern Syria.泭 In the Early Bronze Age occupation, the earliest at the site, the excavations exposed a complex with ten monumental elite tombs.泭 These included well-preserved mausoleums with luxury artifacts of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli.泭 Also of particular interest were installations containing the skeletons of equids and other animals, indicative of sacrificial rituals and interments accompanying the main tombs.泭 It is likely that the equids were the donkey x onager hybrids referred to as泭域喝紳眶硃莽泭in Early Bronze Age texts, highly valued and associated with royalty.泭 The Umm el-Marra equids constitute the first archaeological attestation of these special animals.泭Given these results, the Umm el-Marra necropolis provides a highly unusual and large body of information on ancient Syrian elite mortuary practices and beliefs, including ancestor veneration and animal sacrifice.

Tomb 1, Skeletons B and C.

Among the illustrations produced with the assistance of the Seger Grant were architectural plans of the tombs (see Chapter 2 fig. 75), the equid installations (see Chapter 2 fig. 89), and architecture outside the tomb area (see Chapter 2 fig. 201).泭 Plates of pottery drawings were produced for each Early Bronze occupation phase (see Chapter 3 fig. 2) and for pottery from the tombs (see Chapter 3 fig. 36).泭 Further, drawings of non-ceramic finds were produced (see Chapter 4 fig. 179 and fig. 221).

Plan of Tomb 4. Chapter 2, Fig. 75.
Equid Installation. Chapter 2, Fig. 89.
Period VI ceramics. Chapter 3, Fig. 2.
Tomb 4, upper layer ceramics. Chapter 3, Fig. 36.
Chapter 4, Fig. 221.
Chapter 4, Fig. 179.

The manuscript of the book, preliminarily titled泭Animals, Ancestors and Ritual in Early Bronze Age Syria: An Elite Mortuary Complex from Umm el-Marra, was accepted for publication, pending revisions, by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, UCLA, in December 2021.

The Umm el-Marra project is grateful to the泭Joe D. Seger Excavation Grant泭and 17勛圖for the assistance provided.

-Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University

Table of Contents for JCS 73 (2021)

Table of Contents for泭Journal of Cuneiform Studies泭73 (2021)

You can receive泭JCS泭(and other泭17勛圖publications) through an泭17勛圖Membership.
捩梭梗硃莽梗泭e-mail泭the Membership office if you have any questions.

Pp. 3���8:泭���A Sargonic Learner���s Tablet with an Invocation of the Goddess Nisaba,��� by Hanan A. Al-esawee and Abdulmukrem M. Alezzi

This paper derives from the study of confiscated texts in the Iraq Museum. Here we publish an Umma tablet with the accession number IM 205090, a square school text with three columns on one side and a single one on the other that lists the distribution of very large quantities of silver to various people; it concludes with an invocation to the goddess Nisaba by the learner, who describes himself as an apprentice scribe.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 9���70:泭���In Search of Dugurasu,��� by Maria Giovanna Biga and Piotr Steinkeller

The identity of the toponym Dugurasu, which is mentioned some fifty times in the ED IIIb documentation from Ebla, is a highly contested issue. While M. G. Biga had proposed an identification with Egypt, A. Archi then argued that Dugurasu was situated in northwestern Iran. This study offers a systematic examination of all the attestations of Dugurasu, focusing on the types of materials traded between Dugurasu and Ebla. It also considers evidence bearing on Ebla���s commercial partner named DUlu. Characteristically, Ebla and DUlu exchanged the same types of goods as those traded between Ebla and Dugurasu. Our investigation strongly suggests that Dugurasu is either Egypt itself or some place in Palestine that served as an intermediary in exchanges between Egypt and Ebla, while DUlu denotes either Byblos or one of its immediate neighbors.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 71���87:泭���By Order of the King: Ammi-Ditana���s Letter on the Provision of Fodder Barley for the Sheep and Oxen of the Nakkamtum,��� by Caroline Janssen

Di 1353 is a letter by King Ammi-ditana of Babylon to the chief lamentation priest of Annun蘋tum. It contains a simple instruction to provide fodder for the oxen and the sheep of a temple storehouse, the nakkamtum. One wonders though what this direct intervention meant on a pragmatic level. The king does not explain himself. But this question can be approached from different angles. What do we know so far about the relation between the palace and the nakkamtum? Does this letter fit into a pattern of royal letter writing? Can we benefit from the fact that we have an archival context for this letter?

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 89-102:泭���HS 200B: A Bridal Gift (Tuppu Bibli) from the First Sealand Dynasty,��� by Jacob Jan de Ridder

An unusual tablet from the Hilprecht-Sammlung in Jena describes the biblu, ���bridewealth,��� paid for a girl at her betrothal. Paleographic features and onomastic arguments suggest that the text may be dated to the late Sealand I period, with similarities to documents from the reigns of the Kings Pe禳galdarame禳 and Ayadaragalama. A first edition is offered together with a brief introduction detailing its legal context and historical setting.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 103-119:泭���A New Reading of the Middle Elamite Text Shun I 9,��� by Jalil Bakhtiari

There are four complete or almost complete unprovenanced bricks and twenty-one brick fragments from the site of Toll-e Bard-e Karegar in Khuzestan belonging to the only Elamite inscription mentioning the god Kamul. All of them represent exemplars of the one and the same text (ShuN I 9), written in the name of the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I (ca. 1190���1155 BCE). The text describes a temple that the king had rebuilt and dedicated to the god Kamul. In this article, a new reading and translation of the last sentence of the text that is divided into four sections and compared with parallels in Old and Middle-Elamite texts, is suggested. In addition, the brick fragments TBK 16 and 28 are reread and classified and TBK 89, 114, 122, and 127 are published.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

泭

Pp. 121-134: ���Elamite War Chariots and Military Equipment At Ancient Kabnak (ca. 1400 bce),��� by Javier ��lvarez-Mon and Yasmina Wicks

After entering the second millennium BCE as a military superpower, Elam faded into historical obscurity upon its withdrawal from the broader Near Eastern political scene in 1763 BCE and only reemerged much later as a major player with a sequence of incursions in Mesopotamia beginning in the thirteenth century and culminating in the 1155 BCE fall of the Kassites. During the intervening centuries, neither written nor archaeological sources offer clear signs that Elamite territory had come under the authority of any foreign power. Here the authors propose that a reexamination of evidence from the ancient settlement of Kabnak (modern Haft Tepe), approximately seventeen kilometers southeast of the Elamite lowland capital of Susa, discloses a mid-fifteenth to mid-fourteenth century BCE state-controlled arsenal of war chariots and weaponry that may hold a key to comprehending Elam���s apparent continued resistance to outside forces and its rise as a military superpower in the thirteenth century.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 135-178:泭���Keeping Alive Dead Knowledge: Middle Assyrian Glass Recipes in the Yale Babylonian Collection,��� by Shiyanthi Thavapalan

Although they describe Bronze Age technologies and techniques, the Akkadian glassmaking texts are primarily known through later copies from Ashurbanipal���s libraries. The first portion of this paper provides editions of three fragments of previously unknown glass texts from the Middle Assyrian period and examines how and why they came to be written down. The second portion discusses metaphors concerning kinship and bodily experience that explain the relationship between the glassmaker in Mesopotamia, his tools, and his creative process. It is argued here that only by embracing the entire context of the craft process���this includes the behaviors chosen during manufacture as well as the allusions made to social relationships through language, performance, and materials���can we begin to appreciate how knowledge about technologies was transmitted.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 179-191: ���Inscribed Bullae Found during Excavations on the Northern Slope of Ayanis Fortress in 2015 and a New Urartian Building Name, ��Tamali,��� by Kenan I��覺k, O��uz Aras, and Ay��eg羹l Ak覺n Aras

The 2014 season of excavations at the Ayanis Fortress of the Urartian Kingdom, located on the eastern shore of Lake Van, revealed a trash layer on the northern slope of the fortress that contained densely packed animal bone remains as well as several inscribed bullae. During the excavations carried out in the same area in 2015 four more inscribed bullae were recovered in the northern fortification wall. This article provides information on the 2015 excavations of the outer side of the northern fortifications and trash layer at Ayanis, with a first edition of the new bullae. These short inscriptions mention the names of people, cities, countries, and professions, as is common in such Urartian bullae. The inscription on a newly discovered bulla mentioning a construction named tamali is important as it informs us about a new building unit whose function is unknown at present.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 193-209: ���Ancient Mesopotamian Divinatory Series from the British Museum: New Texts and Joins,��� by Nicla De Zorzi

This paper contains editions of three previously unpublished omen texts and one commentary text from the collections of the British Museum. BM 36165 and BM 34999 are Late Babylonian manuscripts of ��umma ��lu tablet 1 while K 6260 is a join to ��umma izbu tablet 4. BM 47684+ is part of a large Late Babylonian four-column tablet containing a new commentary on physiognomic omens. The edition of these tablets is accompanied by an extensive commentary that discusses the placement of the tablets within the divinatory series, as well as orthographic and interpretative issues.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Pp. 211-245: ���Minor Archives from First-Millennium BCE Babylonia, Part II: The Bal蘋廎姻� Archive,��� by Ludovica Cecilia and Johannes Hackl

The article presents editions of all known texts belonging to the archive of the Sipparean prebendary Marduk-b��l禳unu, son of Nab羶-bal��ssu-iqbi, that is, the Bal蘋廎姻� archive. It is the second part of a series of articles that aims to make available the so-called satellite archives of the 廜〢�廎勇廜�-gin礙 A archive (���Marduk-r��manni archive���) and related and unrelated smaller archives from Sippar, all dating to the long sixth century BCE.

17勛圖Members with online access: log into ASOR���s Online Portal泭. Once logged in, click the JOURNALS tab in the top navigation bar. From here you may select which journal you would like to read. If you have online access, you will see your selected journal���s current issue Table of Contents. Click on the ���Current Issue��� button and you will then be redirected to the University of Chicago Press���s (UCP) platform to immediately start reading any issue of your choice. Tutorials for how to log in to the Online Portal as well as how to navigate to the Portal Journals page can be found泭here.

Award Spotlight: 2020 Poster Award, Rachel Banks et al.

The Joy Ungerleider Poster Award泭Spotlight: Rachel Banks,泭Cassandra M. DeGaglia, Amy Dixon, Kara Larson, and James W. Hardin

Rachel Banks泭(Mississippi State University),泭Cassandra M. DeGaglia泭(Mississippi State University; Smithsonian Institution),泭Amy Dixon泭(Mississippi State University),泭Kara Larson泭(University of Michigan; Cobb Institute of Archaeology) and泭James W. Hardin泭(Mississippi State University) were awarded the 2020 Joy Ungerleider Poster Award. This award is conferred upon the author(s) of the poster presenting the results of a study about ancient Near Eastern societies in a clear, legible fashion using original graphic content. Subject matter may be based in archaeological sciences, history, anthropology, epigraphy, ethnography, heritage or other scholarly approaches to understanding ancient people in the areas covered by ASOR.

Their poster泭The Spaces Between: Spatial Reconstruction of a Proposed Iron Age IIB Domestic House at Tel Halif, Israel, present a visually clear, compelling and detailed study of the artifacts from several excavation areas with fragmentary architectural remains in order to reconstruct their likely function. These areas had been so badly damaged during a significant destruction of the site that they were excluded from initial considerations of this period. By comparing the composition of the artifact assemblage from these spaces with those from Iron Age IIB domestic structures in better-understood areas of the site, they are able to convincingly propose a likely domestic function for these spaces. In doing so, they contribute to a better understanding of household archaeology and urban organization at the site of Tel Halif during the Iron Age IIB.

The deadline for submitting a poster proposal for the 2021 Annual Meeting is August 15, 2021. Learn how to submit your poster to either the in-person, virtual, or both components泭here.

Call for Trustee Nominations 2021

CALL FOR TRUSTEE NOMINATIONS 2021

The Trustee Nominations Committee announces an open call for (self) nominations for the 17勛圖Board of Trustees (Class of 2024). There are three primary responsibilities of the members of the Board of Trustees:

  • Governance:泭Being aware of issues brought forward to the Board, attending two meetings per year (at your own expense), and bringing issues of concern to the Board.
  • Fundraising and financial management: Leading in development by thinking of new opportunities, leading in giving, and providing oversight on the audited financial statements. We ask that individual trustees aspire to contribute $500 or more annually.
  • Strategic planning and policy development: Leading especially in measures that accord with泭ASOR���s mission.

泭

We anticipate泭two泭openings for Membership-Elected Trustees. Any full 17勛圖member may be considered for nomination as an Membership-Elected Trustee. If there is someone that you would like the committee to consider���including yourself���please send the person���s name and email address to泭Marta Ostovich泭in the 17勛圖office. If you have any questions about the responsibilities and satisfactions of being a board member, please email泭Jane DeRose Evans泭(Chair of the Nominations Committee).

The 17勛圖office, or a representative from the Nominations Committee, will contact all nominees to describe the responsibilities in greater detail, and to make sure that the nominee is willing to have his or her name discussed by the Trustee Nominations Committee. Please note that nominees will need to submit a brief biography and a mission (or vision) statement for what they would like to accomplish as a trustee to be considered by the Nominations Committee. A sample of these statements can be found in last year���s ���Meet Your Board Nominees��� webpage. Brief biographies and mission statements should be ca. 200 words each and submitted via e-mail to泭Marta Ostovich泭by noon EDT on September 15, 2021.

After the Committee selects individuals for nomination, the election will take place by electronic ballot during October. 17勛圖is once again conducting online voting to ensure that more of our members are able to participate in this important process. The 17勛圖office will work with any person who is not able to complete an electronic ballot to ensure that everyone is included.

In order to receive full consideration by the committee, nominations (including supporting documents) should be submitted to泭programs@asor.org泭by noon EDT on September 15, 2021.

FOA Webinar: Ted Lewis on Aug. 29

FRIENDS OF 17勛圖WEBINARS

From Standing Stones to Sacred Emptiness:泭Textual and Visual Portrayals of Israel���s God


Registrants now receive a discount code for 30% off of Ted���s book from Oxford University Press!

泭present the next webinar in our monthly series on泭August 29, at 7:30 pm EDT, featuring Prof. Theodore Lewis. Portrayals of divinity are incredibly complex as they are culturally, sociologically, politically, and theologically contingent. Asking the simple question about how ancient Israelites and Judahites portrayed God (i.e. El and Yahweh) turns into a historical puzzle, interacting with a wide variety of ancient writers and artisans on how they conceptualized divinity. Did they imagine Israelite El as an enthroned, benevolent patriarch, a majestic bull, or even a solid block of stone? What about Yahweh and the Hebrew Bible���s aniconic tradition that the Almighty is not to be portrayed in concrete form?

This webinar will sift through both visual (archaeological) and textual narratives as they have diverse functions and/or audiences and reflect different kinds of literacies. We���ll look at artisans��� considerable diversity, from standing stone installations to anthropomorphic figurines to bull images. Even within the Hebrew Bible���s aniconic tradition we see diversity���from the ethereal quality of fire to solar metaphors to abstract notions of Yahweh taking up residence via his sacred ���Name��� or manifesting through ���radiance��� (k��b繫d yhwh) that conjures Neo-Assyrian melammu imagery. Strikingly, we���ll also investigate the use of sacred emptiness to portray divinity. How is it that less is more? Wide ranging questions will be explored and invited. Are there archaeological correlates for such abstract expressions? How do we imagine the pragmatic focal points for ritual performance? Join us for this exploration of some of the expressions of divine presence in the lives of ancient Israelites and Judahites. Prof. Lewis will conclude his webinar with a live Q&A session. For more information on this topic, please check out the speaker���s recent article in泭The Ancient Near East Today泭on泭���The (Historical) Origin of God.���

Theodore J. Lewis holds the Blum-Iwry Professorship in Near Eastern Studies at . He is a Semitist, a Hebrew Bible scholar, and a historian of religion whose research has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Lewis received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as an ITT Fellow. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins he taught at Harvard University and the University of Georgia.

Lewis is the author of泭(Oxford University Press), which received the 2020泭Frank Moore Cross Award泭from 17勛圖for ���the most substantial volume related to the history and/or religion of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean.���泭 He is also the author of泭Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit泭(Harvard Semitic Monographs) and co-author of泭Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. He is General Editor of the泭Writings from the Ancient World泭series (SBL Press).

17勛圖Sustaining Members: $0 | 17勛圖Members: $5 | Public: $10

To receive your 17勛圖member discount,泭. If you are new to ASOR, please click on the ������ link to register your e-mail address and choose password for our online store. Once logged in, navigate to ���Meeting and Event Registration��� to register for the webinar and pay the fee. Each paid registrant will receive a confirmation e-mail when you pay for the webinar. If you do not receive this e-mail, then you are not registered. Please e-mail泭membership@asor.org泭with any questions or issues with registering.

You will be e-mailed the Zoom Webinar link in the week prior to the lecture on August 29, 2021 If you do not receive the link by the close of business on the Tuesday before the webinar, please e-mail membership@asor.org泭immediately. All webinars are recorded and all paid registrants泭will be sent a link to view the recording.

All proceeds from this lecture are used to fund scholarships for members impacted by COVID-19 as well as increasing ASOR���s online resources, which are free to the public.

WHY SPONSOR A WEBINAR?

Several levels of support from $50-$1,000 are available. Proceeds go towards membership scholarships and towards increasing ASOR���s virtual resources. Each sponsorship is tax-deductible and you can give your friends free registrations to a webinar!

Bronze Level ($50): up to 2 guest registrations
Silver Level ($100): up to 5 guest registrations
Gold Level ($500): up to 20 guest registrations
Platinum Level ($1,000): up to 50 guest registrations

After you sign up for a sponsorship online or over the phone, email the names and email addresses of your guests to Felice Herman at泭membership@asor.org,泭who will send your guests a confirmation and the Zoom link before the webinar.

WANT TO SAVE $5.00 ON THE NEXT WEBINAR?

Join 17勛圖as a member!泭泭about discounts for events and other benefits of membership. Memberships start at $40 for the year as an泭Associate Member.

Not ready to join yet? Become a泭Friend of 17勛圖for FREE!

Click here for more details about our online resources.

PAST WEBINARS

You can now purchase the link to the recording of any webinar. You can also purchase the bundle packages of all webinars from the泭2020-2022 seasons. Please e-mail泭membership@asor.org泭for purchase details.

To see a printable pdf of the webinar titles from the 2020-2021 season, please泭click here. To see a printable pdf of the webinar titles from the 2021-2022 season, please泭click here.

Pricing:

Members: $6.00 per recording
Non-Members: $12.00 per recording
Bundle of 2020-2021 Webinars: $75.00
Bundle of 2021-2022 Webinars: $75.00
Bundle of 2020-2022 Webinars: $125.00

2021-2022 Season

A World at War: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Times of Conflict
Patty Gerstenblith (DePaul University), Lisa Ackerman (Columbus Citizens Foundation), Andrew Cohen (Government Professional and Cultural Heritage Expert) | May 12, 2022

Preserving Cultural Heritage in Hisban and Umm al-Jimal, Jordan
��ystein LaBianca (Andrews University), Elizabeth Osinga (Umm al-Jimal Archaeological Project), Darrell Rohl (Calvin University) | April 24, 2022

Back to the Field: Recent Discoveries & Summer Plans 2022
Lorenzo d���Alfonso (ISAW), Kathryn Grossman (NC State University), James R. Strange (Samford University) | April 3, 2022

Uncovering What is Nubian Beneath the Veneer of Egyptianness: Excavating the Archives
Debora Heard (University of Chicago) | March 20, 2022

Where Are They Now?: A Preview of 2022 ASOR-Affiliated Fieldwork Projects
Michael Given (University of Glasgow), Xenia-Paula Kyriakou (Florida Gulf Coast University), Stephen Batiuk (University of Toronto), Monique Roddy (Walla Walla University), Kent Bramlett (La Sierra University), Friedbert Ninow (La Sierra University), and Michael Hoff (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) | March 8, 2022

Excavations at Tel Gezer: A Personal Story
Sam Wolff (Tel Gezer Laboratory) | February 20, 2022

Tel Rehov: A Major Bronze and Iron Age City in the Jordan Valley
Amihai Mazar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Nava Panitz-Cohen ( Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Nota Kourou (Athens University), Naama Yahalom-Mack (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Robert Mullins (Azusa Pacific University) | February 10, 2022

The Not-So-Innocents Abroad: The Beginnings of American Biblical Archaeology
Rachel Hallote (Samford University) | January 20, 2022

Synagogues as Jesus Knew Them
James R. Strange (Samford University) | December 2, 2021

Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World���s Most Contested City
Andrew Lawler | November 4, 2021

Jesus and Jerusalem on TV: How Do Bible Documentaries Get Made?
Robert Cargill (University of Iowa) | October 17, 2021

Digging the Divine?: Judahite Pillar Figurines and the Archaeology of Israelite Religion
Erin Darby (University of Tennessee) | October 7, 2021

David, Solomon, and Rehoboam���s Kingdom���The Archaeological Evidence
Yosef Garfinkel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) | September 19, 2021

From Standing Stones to Sacred Emptiness: Textual and Visual Portrayals of Israel���s God
Theodore Lewis (Johns Hopkins University) | August 29, 2021

2020-2021 Season

Making May Matter: Webinarathon to Endow Diversity
Multiple Speakers | May 21-23, 2021

Archaeogaming: Why Video Games Deserve Their Own Archaeology
Tine Rassalle (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Shannon Martino (Morton College), Matthew Winter (University of Arizona), Michael Zimmerman (Rhode Island) | April 18, 2021

How the Bible Became a Book
William Schniedewind (UCLA) | March 21, 2021

The Mysteries of Mithras in Caesarea: Exploring the Cult���s Rites and Remains
Jane DeRose Evans (Temple University), Alexandra Ratzlaff (Brandeis University) | March 11, 2021

Archaeology and the Hidden Religious Culture of Israelite Women
Carol Meyers (Duke University) | February 21, 2021

Meet the Directors���Fundraiser to Support ASOR���s Affiliated Overseas Research Centers
Matthew J. Adams (AIAR), Pearce Paul Creasman (ACOR), Lindy Crewe (CAARI) | February 11, 2021

Early Synagogues, Jesus, and Galilee���A Jewish Perspective
Eric Meyers (Duke University) | December 13, 2020

Home Sweet Home: Ancient Israelite Households in Context
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (William Jessup University) | October 18, 2020

Priestesses in the Days of Solomon and Ahab
Susan Ackerman (Dartmouth College) | September 13, 2020

Digging Deeper: How Archaeology Works
Eric H. Cline (The George Washington University) | August 9, 2020

Updated 17勛圖CHI Tutorials

17勛圖CHI TUTORIALS ON HERITAGE SURVEY

UPDATED SUMMER 2024

Beginning in late 2021, 17勛圖Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI) and its partners developed a series of tutorials and training modules in English, French, and Arabic aimed to help cultural heritage specialists perform surveys and condition assessments through open source tools and software, including QGIS, KoboToolbox, LibreCAD, and MetaShape. Through these tutorials, the 17勛圖CHI team has trained hundreds of archaeology professionals, university students, and heritage enthusiasts in northern Africa, in the Sahel region of western Africa, and in America. This summer, 17勛圖CHI is in the process of updating these tutorials, including adding new techniques and analytical tools. Work on these resources has been made possible by a grant from an anonymous donor.

While the goal of this project is to assist heritage professionals in documenting and mapping sites, these tutorials are also an excellent resource for anyone in the 17勛圖community who is looking to learn new skills and take advantage of open source software. 17勛圖remains committed to providing open-access online resources such as these for the benefit of the entire 17勛圖community.

17勛圖Director for North African Cultural Heritage Projects Dr. Hanan Charaf conducting KoboToolbox training with members of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) in Morocco.

The泭17勛圖CHI Tutorials泭cover:

  • Site Documentation
    • KoBoToolbox and泭KoBoCollect Application: open source software package for location and descriptive data collection泭in the field can then be synched up with GIS software
  • Mapping Activities
    • QGIS:泭free and open source Geographic Information System (GIS)
    • LibreCAD: free open source computer-aided design (CAD) application for 2D design
    • Photogrammetry using泭Agisoft Metashape:泭software that performs photogrammetric processing of digital images and generates 3D spatial data
Dr. Charaf leading on-site training with the HAF team at a synagogue in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Check out the full list of CHI Tutorials here.泭

Stay tuned for tutorial videos for KoBoToolbox, QGIS, LibreCAD, and Photogrammetry on泭泭in the upcoming weeks.泭

A detailed list of the tutorials available is below.

Tunisian scouts practicing photogrammetry image collection at the site of Oudna, Tunisia.
Creating a photogrammetry model

ARS 28: All Things Cypriot

NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORTS PUBLICATION

All Things Cypriot

Studies on Ancient Environment, Technology, and Society in Honor of Stuart Swiny

edited by Zuzana Chovanec and Walter Crist

This volume is dedicated to Stuart Swiny who served as longtime Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, professor in Classics and Anthropology at the University at Albany, and archaeologist whose work on Cyprus now spans six decades. His research, mentorship as professor, and leadership as CAARI Director has had a profound effect on the development of the discipline on the island and benefited many archaeologists working there. This volume celebrates his contributions to Cypriot archaeology with papers from colleagues, friends, and former students, covering a wide range of topics that reflect his interests in the history and culture of Cyprus. Ranging from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to ethnoarchaeology in the recent past, the papers cover archaeological landscapes, material culture, settlement studies, and regional interaction. The influence of Swiny���s contributions is a common thread tying topics together. Beginning chapters recount the personal and professional history of Stuart Swiny, and the focus moves to academic papers that document his methodological foresight in archaeological survey and excavation, build from his prior work with particular artifact classes, publish new information about his major excavation site Sotira Kaminoudhia, or take inspiration from his interest and encouragement in studying all things Cypriot. Specific chapter topics include: Bronze Age climate change, textile technology, evidence for use of the opium poppy, ancient board games, Roman to modern carob trade, Iron Age Cypriot coinage, ethnoarchaeology of pottery production, and intra-island interaction in the Neolithic. The volume is also forward-looking, taking stake of where Cypriot archaeology stands after roughly forty years since Swiny���s directorship began. It anticipates new projects, innovations, and approaches that the next generation of Cypriot scholars will use to build on his work.

17勛圖Archaeological Reports, Volume 28, Series Editor Hanan Charaf, April 2021, 292 pages, 90 b/w figures, 3 tables, ISBN 978-0-89757-116-6, $79.95.

Special Offer for 17勛圖Members

17勛圖members (with a mailing address in the USA) can purchase a copy of ARS 28 at the discounted price of $45.00 (50% discount + $5.00 US shipping) through December 31, 2021, while supplies last. Purchases are restricted to one volume per member. We are unable to offer this discount to members without a US mailing address due to international shipping costs, but you can purchase and ship a copy through the ISD link below. Please contact泭programs@asor.org泭with any questions.泭

Available from ISD ��� Distributor of Scholarly Books

Award Spotlight: Emily Miller Bonney

Membership Service Award Spotlight: Emily Miller Bonney

Emily Miller Bonney, Professor, Department of Liberal Studies, California State University, Fullerton, was awarded the 2020 17勛圖Membership Service Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made special contributions on behalf of the 17勛圖membership, through committee, editorial, or office services.

After being elected to the Board in January 2019, became the chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the creation of ASOR���s Code of Conduct for the Annual Meeting. Defining such a code of conduct was no easy task in today���s environment. She and the committee needed to address contemporary concerns about what constitutes appropriate behavior in a professional setting and make clear what is expected of ASOR���s members, while simultaneously respecting members��� convictions that ASOR���s various codes of conduct (preeminently, the 17勛圖Code of Professional Conduct) should be aspirational rather than adjudicatory documents. The fact that the Code of Conduct Emily and her committee developed has been adopted by the Board of Trustees without any dissent is a testament to the excellent job Emily did in her role as ad hoc chair. Ultimately, Emily���s efforts have contributed to ensuring that 17勛圖members can engage in the active exchange of ideas in an atmosphere of safety and mutual respect, recognizing the diversity of ASOR���s membership and those who participate in the conference.

Emily���s泭research focuses on Bronze Age Crete and specifically on the application of extended mind and material agency theories to the relationship between the archaeological record and social/political/economic change.泭In addition, she examines the ways in which the specific disciplinary frameworks affect the conclusions scholars reach.泭Her recent work re-examines the mortuary evidence for social organization transitions in the Early Bronze Age on Crete, particularly the circular stone tombs, and for cross-crafting in pottery and other media.

She currently serves as the Treasurer for the Board of Trustees.

泭

FY21 HONORIFIC & MEMORIAL GIFTS

HONORIFIC & MEMORIAL GIFTS

MADE DURING FISCAL YEAR 2021 (7/1/20���6/30/21)

泭

In memory of Paul W. Bishop

  • Sheila Bishop

泭

In honor of Theodore Burgh

  • J. Edward and Keeley Wright

泭

In memory of Sean Dever

  • Pamela Gaber

泭

In memory of Bert DeVries

  • Walter Ward

泭

In memory of Chad DiGregorio

  • Kevin Cooney

泭

In honor of Helen Dixon

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum

泭

In memory of Cathy Hamed

  • James Riley Strange

泭

In memory of Ron Haznedl

  • Betty Snow

泭

In memory of Alfred J. Hoerth

  • Thomas W. Davis

泭

In honor of Felice Herman

  • Meagan Shirley

泭

In memory of Stephen P. Johnson

  • Lynn Swartz Dodd

泭

In memory of Artemis Joukowsky

  • Andy and Amy Vaughn

泭

In honor of Giorgio & Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati

  • Rick Hauser

泭

In memory of Norma Kershaw

  • Raymond Ewing
  • Nancy Lapp
  • Andy and Amy Vaughn

泭

In memory of Philip J. King

  • Thomas Zamiara

泭

In memory of Fosco Maraini

  • Massimo Imperiali

泭

In memory of Herbert W. Mason:泭see also below for gifts designated for the Herbert W. Mason Endowment

  • Faith Mason
  • Jeanine Young-Mason
  • Thomas Angell
  • Alexis Angell

泭

In memory of Carole McCartney

  • Joanna Smith

泭

In honor of Marta Ostovich

  • Meagan Shirley

泭

In memory of Bradley J. Parker

  • Catherine P. Foster

泭

In honor of Arlene Press

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum

泭

In honor of Gus and Ori Rainville-Hauser

  • Rick Hauser

泭

In memory of Richard J. Scheuer

  • Marian Scheuer Sofaer

泭

In honor of Joe D. Seger:泭see also below for gifts designated for the Joe D. Seger Endowment

  • James Hardin

泭

In honor of Carolyn Strange:泭see also below for gifts designated for the Strange/Midkiff Families Endowment

  • Anonymous
  • Katherine Strange Burke
  • Andy and Amy Vaughn

泭

In memory of James F. Strange:泭see also below for gifts designated for the Strange/Midkiff Families Endowment

  • Randy Lee Akers
  • Dee F. Pendley
  • Stetson Pevear
  • Ann-Marie Knoblauch
  • Michael Hasel
  • Heather Remek
  • Katherine Strange Burke

泭

In honor of Allison Thomason

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum

泭

In honor of Andrew G. Vaughn

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum

泭

In memory of Silas and Catherine Vaughn

  • Andy and Amy Vaughn

泭

Gifts to Named Endowment Funds*

Stevan B. Dana Excavation Grant Endowment

  • Stevan B. Dana

泭

Lawrence T. Geraty Endowment

  • Andrews University
  • Robert Bates
  • Thomas W. Davis
  • Lawrence T. Geraty
  • Oystein and Asta LaBianca
  • Asad Liaqat
  • Gilbert Valentine

泭

Herbert W. Mason Endowment

  • Alexis Angell
  • Glenn Angell
  • Gregg Angell
  • Scott Angell
  • Thomas Angell
  • Roger Bove
  • Ann-Marie Knoblauch
  • Jeanine Young-Mason

泭

Joe D. Seger Endowment

  • James Hardin

泭

Strange/Midkiff Families Endowment

  • Katherine Strange Burke
  • Phil & Janet Salyers

泭

* Please note that this list only contains gifts to these named funds made during Fiscal Year 2021