Frederick J. Bliss

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Frederick J. Bliss

Frederick Jones Bliss (born January 22, 1859 in Suq-al-Gharb , Syria (today: Lebanon), † 1937 ) was an American archaeologist .

Bliss Archaeological Camp on Mount Zion , 1894–1897

Bliss was born in 1859 to Reverend Daniel Bliss, founder of the Syrian Protestant College , now the American University of Beirut . Immediately after their marriage in December 1855, his parents went to Syria as missionaries.

He studied at Amherst College , where he received his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1880 . He then spent three years at the Syrian Protestant College . Next he studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York until 1887 . Between 1888 and 1890 he conducted research in what is now Syria. In 1890 the Palestine Exploration Fund gave him the opportunity to continue the excavations started by Flinders Petrie at Tell el-Hesy . After brief instruction from Petrie in Meidum , Bliss began working at Tell el-Hesy. The further excavations should take two years. His successful work at Tell el-Hesy meant that he subsequently carried out other duties for the Palestine Exploration Fund . He worked in Jerusalem from 1894 to 1897 . Archibald Dickie assisted him in this . Next, Bliss was sent to the Schefela by the Palestine Exploration Fund . He was now working with RAS Macalister . Together they carried out excavations at Tell Zakariya , Tell es-Safi , Tell el-Judeidah and Tell Sandahanna .

In 1900, Bliss was released from the service of the Palestine Exploration Fund . This was partly due to the deteriorating health of Bliss, and partly to the fact that the Palestine Exploration Fund's discoveries in recent years were not spectacular enough. William Foxwell Albright later took the view that the Palestine Exploration Fund had made a serious mistake and threw back Levantic archeology.

literature

  • Rachel S. Hallote: Bible, map, and spade: the American Palestine Exploration Society, Frederick Jones Bliss And the Forgotten Story of Early American Biblical Archeology. Georgia Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1593333478 .

Publications (selection)

  • A Mound of Many Cities; or Tell-el-Hesy Excavated (1894)
  • Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894-1897 (1898)
  • Excavations in Palestine during 1898-1900 (1902, together with RAS Macalister)
  • The Development of Palestine Exploration (1906)
  • The Religions of Modern Syria and Palestine (1912)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bliss, Frederick J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bliss, Frederick Jones
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Suq-al-Gharb , Syria (now Lebanon)
DATE OF DEATH 1937