Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller

Just wrapped an interview for a new documentary film about Christianity and guns, with a team led by Calvin Lee and Marisa Prince. They're traveling to talk to people all during Holy Week. I'm so inspired by them and their team, and have never had so much fun filming. Watch this space for updates on their work...

The conference Web page now includes Saturday's full conference program as well as the Zoom webinar link.

The Shape of Death: Burials and Beliefs in the Biblical World Leading scholars discuss their latest research on death and burial in ancient Israel. Tickets encouraged for in-person attendance only.

Today (Dec 6) is the last day to download this Elements volume for free.

Scribal Culture in Ancient Egypt Cambridge Core - Egyptology - Scribal Culture in Ancient Egypt

Winter enrollment opens today!
Prof. Christopher B. Hays will be offering Ugaritic I and II in Winter and Spring 2024. This is an essential course for advanced students of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, covering the language, literature, religion, and culture of a crucial precursor to ancient Israel.
It has served as great preparation for a long line of students. The last time the course ran, three of the masters students went on promptly to PhD programs -- at Johns Hopkins, Princeton Seminary, and the University of Edinburgh. Join us this time, or share with friends who may be interested!
The course is online, with weekly live meetings (Mon 9-11am Pacific) and regular contact with Prof. Hays for additional guidance.
Search here for Winter and Spring 2024 courses, and then a keyword search will appear in the top right: Search on "Ugaritic."
http://schedule.fuller.edu/class-schedules/ #/
Note that biblical Hebrew is a prerequisite. Also, if you are not a current Fuller student, you will need to apply *in advance* for a certificate in biblical studies, which allows for up to 6 courses:
https://www.fuller.edu/academics/certificate-of-christian-studies/?fbclid=IwAR0hUku-56e3kcpCEcai6X8vc5k8I6LIYV6EurqqvLg4MQweKPHp7p_snWw

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Prof. Christopher B. Hays will be offering Ugaritic I and II in Winter and Spring 2024. This is an essential course for advanced students of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, covering the language, literature, religion, and culture of a crucial precursor to ancient Israel.
It has served as great preparation for a long line of students. The last time the course ran, three of the masters students went on promptly to PhD programs -- at Johns Hopkins, Princeton Seminary, and the University of Edinburgh. Join us this time, or share with friends who may be interested!
The course is online, with weekly live meetings (Mon 9-11am Pacific) and regular contact with Prof. Hays for additional guidance.
Search here for Winter and Spring 2024 courses, and then a keyword search will appear in the top right: Search on "Ugaritic."
http://schedule.fuller.edu/class-schedules/ #/
Note that biblical Hebrew is a prerequisite. Also, if you are not a current Fuller student, you will need to apply *in advance* for a certificate in biblical studies, which allows for up to 6 courses:
https://www.fuller.edu/academics/certificate-of-christian-studies/

Certificate of Christian Studies | Fuller Seminary The Certificate of Christian Studies offers students an opportunity to complete a short-term, non-degree program personalized to meet a wide range of goals, from training for a specific church or parachurch ministry to personal enrichment.

Our travel course, Experiencing the Land of the Bible, is finally returning from its pandemic hiatus, and running in June 2024! See the linked Web site for all the details. Prof. Hays is now joined by Prof. Tommy Givens. If you're a Fuller student, come with us and immerse yourself of the past and present of one of the world's most historic lands!

Experiencing the Land of the Bible – MEJDI Tours Experiencing the Land of the Bible MEJDI Tours – Global Leader in Socially Conscious Travel. Experiencing the Land of the Bible Overview Itinerary Trip Includes Before you Register Book Now Experiencing the Land of the Bible Tour Dates: June 16 - 28, 2024Registration Deadline: March 18, 2024$300 r...

Biblical Aramaic (LG525) is being offered online at Fuller this fall. This course is highly relevant to students of both testaments. It's taught by Dr. Michael Wingert, who is not only a gifted linguist but an engaging and supportive teacher.

If you know of students who might be interested, please pass the information along!

Prof. Christopher B. Hays will be offering Ugaritic I and II in Winter and Spring 2024. We're putting the word out early since many of you serious students no doubt plan ahead.
This is an essential course for advanced students of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, covering the language, literature, religion, and culture of a crucial precursor to ancient Israel. It has served as great preparation for a long line of students. The last time the course ran, three of the masters students went on promptly to PhD programs -- at Johns Hopkins, Princeton Seminary, and the University of Edinburgh. Join us this time, or share with friends who may be interested!

The course is online, with weekly live meetings (Mon 9-11am Pacific) and regular contact with Prof. Hays for additional guidance.
Search here for Winter and Spring 2024 courses, and then a keyword search will appear in the top right: Search on "Ugaritic."
http://schedule.fuller.edu/class-schedules/ #/

Note that biblical Hebrew is a prerequisite. Also, if you are not a current Fuller student, you will need to apply *in advance* for a certificate in biblical studies, which allows for up to 6 courses:
https://www.fuller.edu/academics/certificate-of-christian-studies/

Certificate of Christian Studies | Fuller Seminary The Certificate of Christian Studies offers students an opportunity to complete a short-term, non-degree program personalized to meet a wide range of goals, from training for a specific church or parachurch ministry to personal enrichment.

With incremental updates from Timna and a refinement of the arguments in the debate, this may be a helpful introduction for many. It's a beautiful and desolate place. You're not likely to find yourself there unless you're driving from Jerusalem to Eilat via a Jordanian border crossing to get to Petra, as a certain Fuller professor was in 2010...

An Archaeological Dig Reignites the Debate Over the Old Testament's Historical Accuracy Beneath a desert in Israel, a scholar and his team are unearthing astonishing new evidence of an advanced society in the time of the biblical Solomon

One more piece of good news for the week: Prof. Christopher B. Hays has been awarded the 2022–23 U.S. State Department Educational And Cultural Affairs Annual Professorship at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. This will allow him to spend part of the year there, continuing his work on the Psalms and the afterlife in relation to the Jerusalem Temple.

AIAR We are an American non-profit research center located in Jerusalem, dedicated since 1900 to the study of the ancient Near East.

One more happy piece of admissions news: Matthew Saunders, who enrolled in our ANE languages courses out of a background in Semitics at TEDS and Gordon-Conwell, has been admitted to the PhD program at Johns Hopkins University. Well done!
The good news train rolls on tomorrow with some faculty news...

More good news!: Our student Karen Preston has been accepted to the PhD program at the University of Edinburgh to study with Dr. Anja Klein. Karen has been stellar at Fuller, finding her passion for Old Testament while working with Prof. C. L. Crouch, and then continuing to study ANE languages in preparation for the PhD.

Congratulations to our student Allie Rosner Bass on her PhD fellowship to Princeton Theological Seminary! She studied Hebrew with Prof. Hays at Emory ca. 2006 (!), then came to Fuller for ANE Languages and Old Testament more recently. Watch this space for more good news in the days to come!

Ariel Sabar continues to do remarkable work reporting on our field. There are many complicated issues here, but talking about them clearly is a necessary precursor to thinking about what to do about them.

The Tomb Raiders of the Upper East Side Inside the Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit

Wow!! This is as big as repatriation news gets. I went to see the inscription in Istanbul a few years ago, and it was presented in a disappointing manner -- in dim light, in a plexiglass case, on an upstairs floor of the museum. You can be sure it will be highlighted in the Israel Museum.

It's not about trade value, but if they get this in exchange for an Ottoman candelabra, as the story suggests... what a deal.

Israeli official: Turkey agrees to return ancient Hebrew inscription to Jerusalem The 2,700-year-old Siloam inscription, taken by the Ottomans and still held in Istanbul, marks direct evidence of Bible’s account of King Hezekiah’s tunnel-building in Jerusalem

Big congratulations to Matthew Adams on wrapping up a long and successful run as director of the Albright Institute in Jerusalem. It's a good time to look back and savor some of his work. Enjoyable reflections here for anyone who's participated in a dig or would like to.

Twenty Years at Megiddo Matthew Adams, who heads the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, began digging at the famous archaeological site of Megiddo

https://english.tau.ac.il/news/prof_lipschits_emet_prize

Prof. Oded Lipschits Awarded the 2022 EMET Prize in Archaeology Prof. Oded Lipschits, head of The Sonia & Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University was announced as a recipient of the 2022 EMET Prize (for art, science and culture). He will be awarded the prize in June this year, in the presen...

New publication from one present and one former Fuller faculty member...

Isaiah: An Introduction and Study Guide C.L. Crouch and Christopher Hays introduce the Book of Isaiah by examining its structure and characteristics; covering the latest Biblical scholarship, includin…

Some may consider this debate tired and intractable, but the method and logic here appear straightforward and cogent.

Archaeologists rule out murder as cause of King Tut’s death - Egypt Independent   Scholars have concluded that King Tutankhamun was not murdered, after a lengthy investigation that seemed to refute popular theory. The death of King Tut has been the subject of great debate and major studies among academia. The ancient Egyptian pharaoh took the throne when he was only eight or n...

We're happy to announce that Fuller has renewed its participation in the Megiddo Expedition again this year. Among other things, that means that Fuller-affiliated people who join them as a volunteer get reduced rates! This excavation is "the jewel in the crown of Biblical archaeology." There's information on the site, and feel free to email Prof. Christopher B. Hays with questions: [email protected]
https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/2022-season/

2022 Season         Megiddo, world-renown and celebrated, is the jewel in the crown of Biblical archaeology. Strategically perched above the Jezreel Valley, it guards the mos…

The Megiddo Expedition will be back in the field this summer, and you should think about joining them as a volunteer! It is "the jewel in the crown of Biblical archaeology," and Fuller has a long and fruitful relationship with the lead archaeologists there. There's information on the site, and feel free to email Prof. Christopher B. Hays with questions: [email protected]

https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/2022-season/

2022 Season         Megiddo, world-renown and celebrated, is the jewel in the crown of Biblical archaeology. Strategically perched above the Jezreel Valley, it guards the mos…

Assyrian scale armor found in China! By way of association: Comparativists have underestimated the interconnectedness of the ancient world for a couple of generations. It was an understandable course correction after the hypercomparativism of the Golden Bough era in the late 19th and early 20th century, but it looks too conservative now. Time to ask some bigger questions.

2,700-year-old leather armor proves technology transfer happened in antiquity Researchers at the University of Zurich have investigated a unique leather scale armor found in the tomb of a horse rider in Northwest China. Design and construction details of the armor indicate that it originated in the Neo-Assyrian Empire between the 6th and 8th century BCE before being brought t...

Not a lot of stories about "biblical archaeology" manage to be savvy about the complexities. This one does a good job, though, and talks to the right people.

An Archaeological Dig Reignites the Debate Over the Old Testament's Historical Accuracy Beneath a desert in Israel, a scholar and his team are unearthing astonishing new evidence of an advanced society in the time of the biblical Solomon

I'm pleased to see this book out, thanks to the good work of Jake Stromberg and Todd Hibbard. It includes a deep lineup of current Isaiah scholars!
My contribution is "Linguistic Dating of Hebrew Prophetic Texts: A Quantitative Approach with Special Attention to Isaiah 24–27."

The History of Isaiah The History of Isaiah, 978-3-16-156097-2, The Formation of the Book and its Presentation of the Past Edited by Jacob Stromberg and J. Todd Hibbard

We're very proud of our PhD student Zach Schoening for winning this national recognition! Well deserved!

Congratulations to Zachary Schoening (Ph.D. student at Fuller Seminary) for being awarded the Regional Scholar Award by the national SBL's regional scholars' awards committee. This is the second Pac Coast nominee to win the national award in the last four years! (Jason Price, then of UCLA, won the award in 2018). Zach's paper, "Bel Crouches, Nebo Travails: Reading Birth Imagery in Isaiah 46:1-4" was part of the Bible and the ANE session at our SBLPCR meeting. His paper earned the SBLPCR's nomination for regional scholar and was sent to the national committee. The regional scholar award includes a monetary prize from the national SBL. It's an honor for us to have one of the national award winners from our region. Congratulations to Zach!

Oh, and you should think about submitting papers (or even just attending!) at our Pac Coast SBL regional meeting. You never know what awards await! Remember, this year's regional meeting will take place on Sunday Feb. 27, 2022 at the Embassy Suites Brea North Orange County, CA. Details here: https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/rm_pacific.aspx

Make your plans now!

"Words are really cool...”

Tower of Babel

Yeah... though this feeling gets old in ANE studies.

May he rest in peace.

Alasdair Livingstone (29.01.1954 - 18.01.2021) The department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology was saddened to hear of the death of our former colleague, the assyriologist Alasdair Livingstone, last week.