BAR Becomes Ten!

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BAR is entering its tenth year. For us—and we hope for our readers—this is indeed cause for celebration.

We have, we believe, now demonstrated several things:

1. A widespread public is seriously interested in high-level scholarship in Biblical archaeology. BAR’s circulation is now over 100,000—making us the largest archaeology magazine in the world.

2. First-rate scholarship in Biblical archaeology can be well written and expressed in an understandable way that engages the intelligence of the layperson.

3. The leading scholars in the field are interested in reaching out and communicating with a public beyond their own narrow scholarly circle.

Those of you who have been with us during the last nine years will recall our modest beginnings.

Our first issue 7-by-10-inch booklet with only a single picture and that only in black and white. No doubt—we have come a long way!

There is an admonition in magazine publishing that change is very dangerous. That is why the National Geographic, with ten million subscribers, still uses a small format despite the fact that its major appeal is its stunning pictures. That is also why it took so many years for the National Geographic to drop the old-fashioned wreath that provided a border on its cover. Readers get accustomed to a pattern. If you change, you may lose them. Thus the reason for rule against change.

That rule, however, is one we at BAR have repeatedly violated. Time and again, we have changed, and we will continue to strive—and to change—in order or be better. We believe we are very, very, good, but we also believe that we can be very much better.

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Incidentally, in this issue we are introducing a change in our cover—a new, heavier weight, so that it will be easier to preserve old BARs.

But some things haven’t changed at BAR—and they won’t.

We haven’t changed our commitment to bringing you the finest scholarship by the best scholars in the world.

We haven’t changed our commitment to going to any length necessary to make that scholarship understandable and readable—and to find the most beautiful full-color pictures to illustrate and adorn this scholarship.

We haven’t changed our commitment to respecting our readers’ intelligence.

We haven’t changed our commitment to providing an open forum for all responsible views—regardless of whether we agree with them.

We sometimes print controversial articles. Many people think we court controversy and thrive on it. That is not true. It is true that we do not shrink from controversy, but we do not seek it either. We do have a commitment to informing the public in a responsible way about everything that is happening in the world of Biblical archaeology. Sometimes this makes people uncomfortable. It does not win us supporters who would otherwise support us. But we do feel an obligation to speak the truth and to report it as we see it. And we shall continue to be true to that commitment.

There has never before been such public interest in Biblical archaeology. We like to think we are part of the reason for it. In any event, I can assure you that our tenth anniversary year will be as exciting as any year that has preceded.

This issue is typical—a negative judgment on the Shroud of Turin, which I’m sure will disappoint some of our readers, and an amazing account of the closest thing we have to an eighth-century movie of Sennacherib’s conquest of the Judean fortress at Lachish.

In addition, we are pleased to tell you about a number of special happenings we have planned to celebrate our tenth year:

—The winner of our Biblical Archaeology Essay Contest is announced in this issue (see “Winner of BAR Essay Contest Awarded Jerusalem Fellowship”). Her prize is a $1,500 traveling fellowship to Jerusalem.

—We are also announcing a new Biblical Archaeology Essay Contest—this time confined to undergraduate college students. The prize will again be a traveling fellowship to Jerusalem.

—We are establishing the BAR Publication Awards in seven categories—Best Popular Book on Archaeology, Best Scholarly Book on Archaeology, Best Book on the Old Testament, Best Book on the New Testament, Best Commentary on the Old Testament, Best Commentary on the New Testament, and the Three Best Scholarly Articles on Biblical Archaeology. Nominations are now open.

—We are joining hands with the Israel Exploration Society to publish a book on recent archaeology in Israel (see Books in Brief).

—We are working side by side with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to sponsor two lectures by leading scholars on the Age of the Patriarchs and on the invention of the alphabet (see “BAS and Smithsonian to Cosponsor Lectures by Freedman and Cross Honoring Mitchell Dahood”).

—We are introducing our “Backward Subscription” for people who want to catch up on their back issues of BAR.

—We are expanding our tour and travel/study programs to satisfy many of the requests 082you’ve written to us (see BARlines).

And most important, we are planning a host of exciting new articles that will make the world of the Bible more vivid and more immediate for all our readers.

We could do none of this without you—our loyal readers! We are deeply grateful to you. We shall do everything in our power to deserve your support.

BAR is entering its tenth year. For us—and we hope for our readers—this is indeed cause for celebration. We have, we believe, now demonstrated several things: 1. A widespread public is seriously interested in high-level scholarship in Biblical archaeology. BAR’s circulation is now over 100,000—making us the largest archaeology magazine in the world. 2. First-rate scholarship in Biblical archaeology can be well written and expressed in an understandable way that engages the intelligence of the layperson. 3. The leading scholars in the field are interested in reaching out and communicating with a public beyond their own narrow scholarly circle. […]