Free to BAR Subscribers: 30-Year Survey of Biblical Archaeology

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“Biblical Archaeology After 30 Years (1948–1978)” is the title of a lecture delivered by Siegfried H. Horn, Dean Emeritus of Andrews University, at the recent dedication of the Horn Archaeological Museum located on the campus at Berrien Springs, Michigan. As a special bonus to its readers, BAR is making this lecture available free to any of its subscribers who request it.

Dean Horn’s lecture is an excellent survey and catalog of discoveries of the past 30 years, together with major bibliographic references.

Dean Horn discusses the accomplishments of the past 30 years under seven different headings: the fixing of ancient chronologies, new texts bearing on the history of writing, new texts which shed light on Biblical history, the discovery of ancient Biblical manuscripts, the sensational emergence of the Ebla texts (a short treatment presented with “cautious optimism”), the excavation of key Biblical sites, and discoveries with particular bearing on the New Testament.

Horn retired in 1976 as Dean of the Seminary and Curator of The Archaeological Museum at Andrews University, where he had taught since receiving his Ph.D. in 1951 from The University of Chicago. Born in Germany, Horn’s distinguished academic career in the United States began only after World War II. Horn had been serving as a Seventh Day Adventist missionary in the Dutch East Indies in 1940 when he was interned by the Dutch in a prisoner of war camp because they regarded him as an enemy alien; shortly afterwards, Horn was transferred by ship to a British prison in India where he remained until the end of the war. For five years after the transfer, however, Horn’s wife thought her husband had died, because a transfer ship on which he was mistakenly registered was torpedoed and sunk.

During his internment Horn taught Hebrew (which he had learned as a child in a Jewish school) and Greek to other prisoners and also wrote several books. In later years, in addition to his academic career, Horn was also a field archaeologist. He directed the first three seasons of excavations at Heshbon.

The Museum which now bears his name was founded by Horn in 1970 and contains 7000 objects from all over the Near East—including 3,000 cuneiform tablets and a major coin collection. Members of the Museum receive invitations to special museum events and a quarterly newsletter. Membership is available by sending $10 to The Horn Archaeological Museum; Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104.

Any BAR subscriber who would like a copy of Dean Horn’s lecture may obtain it simply by writing BAR requesting a copy and stating that he or she is a BAR subscriber (or fill in and return the coupon below). This lecture is being made available free of charge by BAR as a service to its readers.

“Biblical Archaeology After 30 Years (1948–1978)” is the title of a lecture delivered by Siegfried H. Horn, Dean Emeritus of Andrews University, at the recent dedication of the Horn Archaeological Museum located on the campus at Berrien Springs, Michigan. As a special bonus to its readers, BAR is making this lecture available free to any of its subscribers who request it. Dean Horn’s lecture is an excellent survey and catalog of discoveries of the past 30 years, together with major bibliographic references. Dean Horn discusses the accomplishments of the past 30 years under seven different headings: the fixing of […]