MADISON BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY



Next Meeting

Watch for news soon on our first 2012 meeting. The lecture will be held on the campus of Edgewood College in Room 313 of DeRicci Hall. DeRicci Hall is located on the west end of the campus (left hand side on the Edgewood Campus map below). Parking is free in the surface lots and the parking ramp on the Edgewood campus. Directions to Edgewood College here.

2011 Lectures


November 6, 2011
Professor Edward F. Maher of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and the Field Museum, talked on "Economies and Offerings: Animals and their Roles in Ancient Israel."
His presentation focused on animal bones from Iron Age contexts in southern Israel and explained how zooarchaeologists are able to make conclusions about ancient cultures from bones and other faunal evidence. He also gave lecture attendees an opportunity for some hands-on diagnostics with some bones from an 8th century BC Moabite fortress in Jordan.

April 27, 2011
Professor John J. Collins presented a lecture, "Shifting Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls."
The consensus about the Dead Sea Scrolls is changing, following recent archaeology at Qumran, as well as the recently completed publication of all of the scrolls. Professor Collins will discuss new perspectives on the idea that the collection was a library, the archaeology of the site, the origin and history of Qumran sect, the role of women in the Scrolls, and the dualistic theology of the sect. Professor Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University.

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2010 Lectures

December 5, 2010
Professor Daniel Schowalter of Carthage College gave us an update on Omrit, in northern Israel. For the past 10 years archaeologists have been excavating a temple which they believe was built by King Herod to honor Augustus Caesar.

September 29, 2010
Professor Jeff Blakely, the president of the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society, spoke on "The Walls of Caesarea Maritima: Some Unexpected New Evidence."
Jeff was involved in the excavation of warehouses at Caesarea about 20 years ago and offered some new information about Caesarea, the port city built by Herod the Great, based on his study of long-forgotten aerial photographs from early in the 20th century.

April 27, 2010
Daniel M. Master, Associate Professor of Archaeology at Wheaton College, spoke on "All the Merchants are Silenced: Economy at the End of the Kingdom of Judah"

The violent campaign of Sennacherib in the late 8th century BCE changed the southern Levant. In the aftermath, some say the Assyrians created a centralized economy extending from the cosmopolitan port of Ashkelon all the way into the deep recesses of the monastic Judean desert. Others see the seventh century economy as a contribution of the local ways. Kin networks were reformed; agricultural and pastoral production was rebalanced, and life continued on much as it had before.

Daniel M. Master is an Associate Professor of Archaeology at Wheaton College and in 2008-2009 was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, Israel. He is the Field Director of the ongoing excavation, the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon and co-editor for the forthcoming final reports: Ashkelon 3, the seventh century BCE and Ashkelon 5, the Iron Period.

March 21, 2010
Professor Lawson Younger spoke on "Aramean Astral Religion in Light of Recent Discoveries."
His lecture provided insight into religious practices in Old Testament times, based on the celestial design of an Aramean brass bowl. Lawson Younger is professor of Old Testament, Semitic Languages, and Ancient Near Eastern History at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He spoke to the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society in 2003 on the lost tribes of Israel.

February 21, 2010
Professor James Hardin of Mississippi State University, spoke on Absence of Evidence: David's Jerusalem.
Professor Hardin has been involved with the Lahav Research Project's work at Tel Halif in Israel since 1986. He specializes in the Bronze and Iron Age cultures of ancient Syria-Palestine and has been our guest once before, lecturing on "Iron Age Households in Ancient Judah" in 2003.

A report on this meeting was featured on the local news website allgodspeople.com.

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----- REMEMBERING MENAHEM MANSOOR -----

1911-2001

Professor Menahem Mansoor passed away on the evening of Sunday, October 21st, 2001. Professor Mansoor was the founder of the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society, as well as the UW-Madison Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies. He was a very special teacher, tour leader, dedicated scholar and sage, and so much more. For more on Professor Menahem Mansoor, go to the MBAS History page.

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Professor Mansoor began MBAS in 1967, out of a desire to offer the public an opportunity to learn more about the development and significance of Biblical Archaeology. The Purpose of MBAS is to promote the knowledge of, and an interest in, Biblical Archaeology in the Madison area and throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Activities include lectures, field trips, and movies. MBAS also encourages its members to participate as volunteers in archaeological excavations in Israel and adjacent countries. Members of the Society have participated in excavations in Israel and Jordan since 1976. MBAS membership is open to anyone who is interested in Biblical Archaeology. MBAS is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, and contributions are tax deductible.

For further information on MBAS activities or to contact MBAS, click here.

Most MBAS lectures (except for the Annual Lecture in the spring) are typically held on the campus of Edgewood College in Room 313 of DeRicci Hall.

DeRicci Hall is located on the west end of the campus (left hand side on the Edgewood Campus map at left). Parking is free in the surface lots and the parking ramp on the Edgewood campus.

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1997-2009 MBAS MEETINGS ARCHIVE
UW Dept. of Hebrew & Semitic Studies events
Archaeology Resource Page
Active Excavations