Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
The WF Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (AIAR) is an archaeological research facility in East Jerusalem. It is the oldest American Research Center for Near Eastern Classical Studies in the Middle East. Established as the American School of Oriental Research in 1900, it was renamed in 1970 after the longtime director and father of Biblical Archeology, William F. Albright . The institute's task is to develop and disseminate scientific knowledge of the literature, history and culture of the Near East, as well as to research the civilizations of the Levant from prehistory to the early Islamic period.
description
Today the Albright Institute is one of three institutes affiliated with the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR); the other two are the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman , Jordan, and the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) in Nicosia , Cyprus. In 1948, the then American School of Oriental Research, also known as the Jerusalem School, played an important role in the discovery and identification of the Dead Sea Scrolls . Between 1981 and 1996 the Albright Institute, together with the Institute of Archeology at the University of Jerusalem, explored the ancient Philistine city of Ekron (Tel Miqne), a member of the Fifth Cities Association mentioned in the Bible . Since the appointment of the new director, Matthew J. Adams (2014), the institute has been involved in the Jezreel Valley Regional Project , a long-term, multidisciplinary survey and excavation project that traces the history of human development in the Jezreel Plain from the Paleolithic to the Ottoman period studied.
The Albright Institute is located in a historic 1920s building, now a landmark of Jerusalem. It contains residential and research facilities, including a library with 35,000 volumes, offices, and archaeological laboratories.
Scholarships
The institute's international scholarship program is designed to promote a culture of intellectual integrity and respect. It provides an opportunity for students and scholars from around the world including Israelis and Palestinians to exchange information and ideas. It also promotes cooperation between related institutions of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. More than 3,000 people participate in the Albright Institute's programs each year, including lectures, reports, workshops, field trips and events. The institute also supports numerous ASOR-affiliated excavation, survey and publication projects.
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Albright Institute played an important role in the study and conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls contain about eight hundred different works dating from the 2nd century BC. And the 1st century AD. These include the only Jewish Bible manuscripts from that time, including a manuscript of the Exodus dating from around 250 BC. BC originated. Manuscripts or fragments of every book in the Hebrew Bible, except the Book of Esther , have been unearthed, as have many other, previously unknown, Jewish religious texts.
In the spring of 1948, the institute was contacted by a representative of the Metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Mar Samuel , to authenticate four ancient scrolls he had recently purchased from an antique dealer. One of the younger researchers at the institute, John C. Trever, recognized the age of the manuscripts and photographed three of the four scrolls in the basement of the Albright under very adverse conditions. Trever sent copies of his photographs to his mentor, the famous Near Eastern scholar and former institute director William F. Albright; who congratulated him in a telegram on the "greatest manuscript discovery of modern times!"
At the beginning of September 1948, Mar Samuel contacted the Albright Institute again and showed the then director Ovid R. Seller some additional fragments of the scroll that he had acquired. Seller then focused on finding the cave where the scrolls had been found. In late 1948, almost two years after the scrolls were discovered, researchers also wanted to find the cave where the fragments had been. It was dangerous to conduct such a search. For when the British mandate in Palestine on May 15, 1948 ended, immediately burst war and in November there was a truce. The cave was finally discovered by a UN observer on January 28, 1949, and Seller took the first photos of the cave, which were soon published in Life magazine .
In 1952, Roland de Vaux , head of the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem , organized a search in the caves of the rocks above the Dead Sea near Qumran . ASOR joined this expedition and discovered Cave 3, the cave where the famous Copper Scroll was found. Cave 3 was the only Qumran Cave that has been completely excavated by professional archaeologists.
The Albright Institute continued to play a role in the study of the scrolls. In the 1990s, chairwoman Joy Ungerleider and the American Dorot Foundation established the Dorot Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship at the Albright Institute to enable young American scientists to work on the scroll fragments in the nearby Rockefeller Museum . One of the first recipients of this research grant was Sidnie White Crawford , chairman and former president of the institute, who lived at the Albright from 1989 to 1991 and worked on the edition of several Deuteronomy manuscripts from Cave 4 and on manuscripts of the Pentateuch , also from Cave 4. The Albright Institute hosted many scholars during their research on the Scrolls, including Eugene C. Ulrich (University of Notre Dame), Mark Smith (New York University), and Eileen Schuller (McMaster University). The former scholarship holder and member of the board of trustees Jodi Magness (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) developed the basic work for Qumran archeology in the 21st century.
Excavation of Ekron
The excavation at Tel Miqne ( Ekron ) is a joint project between the Albright Institute and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. From 1981 to 1996 the Philistine city of Ekron was excavated under the direction of Seymour Gitin (Albright Institute) and Trude Dothan (Hebrew University). In 1996 an artefact essential to the body of biblical archeology was recovered, a section of a 7th century dedication inscription carved in limestone from Ikausu, King of Ekron. The inscription not only reliably identifies the place of discovery by mentioning the name Ekron, it also lists some of the rulers of Ekron, each from father to son: Yair, Ada, Yasid, Padi and Ikausu as well as the name of the goddess Ptgyh (or Ptyh) to which the temple was dedicated.
Padi and Ikausu are known as kings of Ekron in the seventh century BC. Mentioned in Neo-Assyrian royal annals, which provides a basis for dating her reign. This makes the Ekron inscription a source for establishing chronology in the later biblical period, especially for the history of the Philistines.
Leadership and Importance
Long-term directors of the institute were:
- William F. Albright 1920-29; 1933-36
- Nelson Glueck 1936-40; 1942-47
- Paul W. Lapp 1961-65
- William G. Dever 1971-75
- Seymour Gitin 1980-2014
- Matthew J. Adams since 2014
For more than a century, the institute has been important for archaeological science in the Middle East for scientists from all over the world who are engaged in research on Near Eastern and Biblical archeology, as well as history, ancient languages and literature and other related areas. AIAR has had a major impact on the careers of numerous respected scholars researching at the Albright and archaeologists who participated in excavations or received logistical support for their research. These include Frank M. Cross , Trude Dothan , Cyrus Herzl Gordon and Jacob Milgrom . The Egyptologist Flinders Petrie lived with his wife in ASOR-Jerusalem in 1933 and died there in 1942.
literature
- Philip J. King: American Archeology in the Mideast: A History of the American Schools of Oriental Research . American Schools of Oriental Research, Philadelphia 1983, ISBN 0-89757-508-3 .
- Douglas R. Clark, Victor H. Matthews: One hundred Years of American Archeology in the Middle East: Proceedings of the American Schools of Oriental Research Centennial Celebration . American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston 2003, ISBN 0-89757-067-7 .
Web links
- WF Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
- Jerusalem Quarterly Article on the Albright Institute
credentials
- ^ Jezreel Valley Regional Project
- ^ Jodi Magness: The archeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0802845894
- ↑ http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/Daily/Archaeology-Today/archaeologists-Biblical-Scholars-Works/Matthew-j-Adams-appointed-dorot-Director-of-the-wf-Albright-Institute-of-Archaeological -Research / Matthew J. Adams Appointed Dorot Director of the Albright Institute