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Vacancies at Oxbow

One Hundred Years of American Archaeology in the Middle East

edited by Douglas Clark and Victor Matthews

This volume presents an important collection of essays on the history and archaeology of the Ancient Middle East, written by the leading scholars in the field. Based on papers presented at the ASOR Centennial Celebration in Washington DC in 2000, these essays provide a useful synthesis of the results of North American excavations in the Middle East region over the past century, and their implications for historical and anthropological research. But the focus is not just retrospective; some of the contributors are also concerned with a prospective view, seeking to address how archaeologists should proceed with their work at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Most of the papers concentrate on the major historical periods, from the Bronze and Iron Ages to the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Periods; they also consider specific geographical areas and other thematic topics, such technology, religion, economics and politics. Contributors include: James Muhly, Robert S Merrillees, William Dever, Al Leonard, Jonathan Tubb, Sharon Herbert, Elizabeth Stone, James Weinstein, Rudolph Dornemann, Ian Morris, and Jane Waldbaum. 256p (American Schools of Oriental Research 2003)

Table of contents

Introduction (Douglas R Clark and Victor H Matthews). Section I. Imagining the Past, Present and Future of Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology. A Century of American Archaeology in the Middle East: Looking Back and Looking Ahead (Neil A Silberman); Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean: Where We Went Wrong in the Twentieth Century and How We Can Do Better in the Twenty-first (James D Muhly); The Future of Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and The Levant: A Reply (Robert S Merrillees). Section II. Major Movements through Time. The Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Ancient Israel: Myth or History? (William G Dever); The Philistines: Neighbors of the Canaanites, Phoenicians and Israelites (Seymour Gitin); The Greek Emergence in the Eastern Mediterranean - Cyprus and Phoenicia (Robert S Merrillees); The Emergence of Early Judaism and Christianity in the Light of Second Temple Diversity and Qumran Sectarianism (Eric C Meyers); Petra in Jordan: Byzantine Churches and Scrolls (Pierre M Bikai). Section III. Historical Archaeological Periods in the Ancient Near East. Part A. The Bronze Age (3000-1200 b.c.e.). Introduction (Al Leonard); Canaan as a Cultural Construct (Jonathan N Tubb); Egypt and Canaan in the Bronze Age - A Century of Research (James Weinstein); Canaan's Relations with Cyprus (Gloria A London); Canaan's Relations with the Aegean (Eric H Cline); Mesopotamian Archaeology Under the American Schools of Oriental Research (Elizabeth Stone); Part B. The Iron Age (1200 through the 6th Century b.c.e.). Introduction (Douglas R Clark); State Formation in Syria at the Beginning of the Iron Age (Rudolph H Dornemann); Reconstructing the Tenth Century in Ancient Israel (Daniel M Master); Evolution Is As History Does: On State Formation in Iron Age Transjordan (Bruce Routledge); Iron Age State Formation in Greece (Ian Morris); The Iron Age State as a State of Mind: A Response (David Schloen); Part C. The Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods (Sixth-Fourth Centuries b.c.e.). Introduction (Andrea Berlin); After the Return: Connections with the Classical World in the Persian Period (Jane C Waldbaum); Excavating Ethnic Strata: The Search for Hellenistic Phoenicians in the Upper Galilee of Israel (Sharon Herbert(); Art as Cultural Artifact: Roman Sculpture in the Semitic East (Elise A Friedland); Part D. The Byzantine and Islamic Periods (Fourth Century through Modern Times). Introduction (Jodi Magness); Constructing the Past in the Cities of Byzantine Palestine (Kenneth G Holum); Byzanine Sepphoris: The Fourth Century As Viewed through Literary and Archaeological Sources (James F Strange); Southern Syria in the Islamic Period: Political Periphery or Nexus? (Bethany Walker). Appendix A. Centennial Program &Related Activities; Appendix B. Diplomacy and Archaeology: Past, Present and Future (The Honorable Tomas R Pickering); Appendix C. Footsteps in the Dust: A Century of ASOR Discoveries in the Ancient Near East (Joe D Seger).

Biographical note

Douglas R Clark is Professor of Biblical Studies and Archaeology at the School of Theology at Walla Walla College, Washington State, USA. Victor Matthews is Associate Dean in the Department of Humanities and Public Affairs at Southwest Missouri State University, USA.

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