Temples and Cult in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin During the Bronze and Iron Ages. Conference Marking the Retirement of Prof. Eliezer Oren and the Appearance of a Festschrift in His Honor
The Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

On Prof. Victor Avigdor Hurowitz z”l
Presentation of Festschrift – All the Wisdom of the East: Studies in Near Eastern Archaeology and History in Honor of Eliezer D. Oren, Orbis Biblicus et Orentalis 255, Fribourg and Göttingen, 2012

Keynote Address: Gods and Rulers in Mycenaean Citadels: A Very Special Relationship. Prof. Josef Maran, University of Heidelberg (English)


Aspects of Temples and Cult in the Early Bronze Age in the Land of Israel. Prof. Pierre de
Miroschedji, CNRS, Nanterre (English)


The Cultic Precinct at Nahariyah: New Aspects of Cult during the Middle Bronze Age in the Land of Israel. Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (English)

Hathor in Canaan in Light of the Decorations on Jewelry Boxes. Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem


The Temple Precinct at Megiddo; A New Look after Twenty Years of Excavations. Prof. David Ussishkin, Tel Aviv University


The Temple and the City: The Cases of Jericho and Batrawy in the Bronze Age. Prof. Lorenzo Nigro, Universita degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” (English)


Distribution of Cultic Implements in the Tel Haror Temple: Spatial Analysis. Pirhiya Nahshoni, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Evidence for Cult and Religious Activity in the 9th and 10th Centuries at Tel-Rehov. Prof. Amihai Mazar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem


The Arad Temple and its Cancellation: A Reevaluation. Prof. Zeev Herzog, Tel Aviv University


Popular Belief and Popular Art: Sacred Implements from the Favissa of a Philistine Temple at Yavneh. Dr. Irit Ziffer, Eretz Israel Museum
Summary and Conclusion. Prof. Eliezer Oren, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The full conference announcement is here. Lectures not marked as English will be given in Hebrew.

HT: Jack Sasson

(Post by A.D. Riddle)

These are all free and open to the public.

Wed, Feb 13, 2013, 7:00-8:30 pm
John Walton, “Origins Today: Genesis with Ancient Eyes” followed by responses from Richard Averbeck and Lawson Younger.
ATO Chapel, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.

Sat, March 2, 2013, 5:00 pm
Kathryn Bard, “Harbor of the Pharaohs to the Land of Punt: Excavations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 2001-2011.”
American Research Center in Egypt – Chicago Chapter.
LaSalle Bank Room, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
See website for more details.

Wed, Mar 6, 2013, 7:00–8:00 PM
T.J. Wilkinson, “Canals, Kings and Hydraulic Landscapes in the Ancient Near East: An Archaeological Perspective” followed by reception in the museum.
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Register at oimlwilkinson.eventbrite.com.
See website for more details.

Fri-Sat, Mar 15-16, 2013
University of Chicago Oriental Institute Symposium.
“Household Studies in Complex Societies: A (Micro) Archaeological and Text Combined Comparative Approach.”
The schedule for the symposium is given below. See website for more details.

Friday, March 15:
Opening Remarks, 9:00-9:30 AM

Session 1: Method and Theory, 9:30-11:10 AM
Adelheid Otto “How to Reconstruct Daily Life in a Near Eastern Settlement: Possibilities and Constraints of a Combined Archaeological, Historical, and Scientific Approach”
Kate Spence “Ancient Egyptian Houses: Architecture, Conceptualization and Interpretation”
Paolo Brusasco “Interaction between Textual Materials and Social Space in the Definition of Family Composition in Mesopotamia”

Session 2: Activity Area Analysis, 11:10-1:00 PM
Peter Pfälzner “Activity-area Analyses of Room and Grave Contexts in Third- and Second-millennium BC Syria”
Lynn Rainville “Everyday Life in an Assyrian City: Microarchaeological and Ethno-archaeological Approaches to the Study of Activity Areas”
Felix Arnold “Clean and Unclean Space in Houses on Elephantine”
Lisa Nevett “The Use and Abuse of Artifact Assemblages in Classical Greek Domestic Contexts”

Session 3: Social Stratification, 2:30-3:30 PM
Miriam Müller “An Ancient Egyptian Middle Class as Revealed in a Neighborhood of Tell el-Dabʿa/Avaris”
Heather Baker “Family Structure, Household Cycle, and the Social Use of Domestic Space in Urban Babylonia”

Session 4: Ethnicity and Identity 4:00-5:00 PM
Nicholas Picardo “Hybrid Households: Institutional Affiliations and Household Identity in the Town of Wah-sut (South Abydos)”
Aaron Brody “Living in Households, Constructing Identities: Ethnicity, Boundaries, and Empire in Iron IIB–IIC Tell en-Nasbeh”

Reception: 5:00-6:00 PM

Saturday, March 16
Session 5: Private and Political Economy, 9:00-10:00 AM
Jens-Arne Dickmann “Crucial Contexts: A Close Reading of the Household of the Casa del Menandro at Pompeii”
Kristin de Lucia “Micro-archaeology and the Identification of Household Multicrafting among Lakeshore Communities in Pre-Aztec Central Mexico”

Session 6: Urban-Rural and Core-Periphery Relations 10:00-10:40 AM
Peter Miglus “Private House or Temple: Decoding Patterns of the Old Babylonian Architecture”

Responses and Roundtable Discussion 11:00-1:00 PM

Here are two free lectures for those in the Chicago area. Apologies for such short notice.

American Research Center in Egypt – Chicago Chapter lecture.
Today, Feb. 2, Saturday at 5:00 pm.
Peter Brand, “All in the Family: The Royal Family of Ramesses II.”
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, LaSalle Bank Room.
Website for details.

Oriental Institute lecture.
Feb. 6, Wednesday at 7:00 pm.
Elizabeth Stone, “City and Hinterland in ancient Mesopotamia: An
examination of continuities and developments in the fabric of urban and
rural settlement from 5,000 B.C. until the time of Christ.”
Free Registration required here.
Website for details.

9.00-9.30: Reception

9.30-9.45: Opening statement – Assaf Nativ and Mark Iserlis

9.45-10.00: Shlomo Bunimovitz, Children of three paradigms: my generation in Israeli archaeology

10.00-10.30: Yifat Thareani, Margins’ Girl: On frontiers as multi-cultural archaeological spaces

10.30-11.00: Haggai Misgav, Archaeology and contemporary religious conceptions

11.00-11.15: Recess

11.15-11.45: Ianir Milevski, What is archaeology? A materialist dialectic approach

11.45-12.15: Alon Shavit, Community archaeology in Israel: on the connection and discord between the archaeological community and society

12.15-12.45: Eran Arie, Archaeology in a museum: visit and Critique

12.45-14.00: Lunch break

14.00-14.30: Steve Rosen, Archaeology: a personal perspective

14.30-15.00: Amihai Mazar, The rusty Marshalltown

15.00-15.30: Yuval Yekutieli, Archaeology as a story

15.30-15.45: Recess

15.45-16.15: Summaries: Rafi Greenberg, Avi Gopher, Snait Gisis

16.15-17.00: Discussion

HT: Jack Sasson