The Israeli Antiquities Department and the Near East Archaeological Society
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Last summer, a kernos was found in a field of an Israeli kibbutz. A kernos is a hollow pottery ring about 12 inches in diameter with various hollow pottery objects sitting on the ring and attached to it. Six objects originally perched on the ring of the kernos which turned up last summer, of which four remain—two birds, a chalice and a pomegranate. Kernoi are rare finds anytime, but this one is especially valuable because it is one of the most nearly complete such vessels ever discovered. It dates to the Iron I period and is 3,000 years old.
The kernos is obviously a cultic vessel although it is not clear how it was used. Apparently wine was poured into the hollow ring through the chalice, a prayer of some kind was chanted and the wine was then poured out through one of the other objects.
The kibbutz kernos was discovered in the course of an emergency excavation by the Israeli Department of Antiquities. A kibbutz tractor levelling some new farmland came upon ancient remains and the work was stopped until the Department could excavate. It was then that the kernos was uncovered.
Shortly after the kernos came to light, the Israel Department of Antiquities gave a picture of this unusual vessel to The Jerusalem Post which promptly published it. So we anticipated no difficulty in obtaining a picture for readers of The Biblical Archaeology Review.
However, the Department of Antiquities refused to release a picture of the kernos to The Biblical Archaeology Review for reasons which remain obscure.
We see no basis for releasing the picture to The Jerusalem Post and denying it to The Biblical Archaeology Review. Our readers have as much right to see a picture of the kernos as do the readers of The Jerusalem Post, and we object to this discrimination.
We hope that Avi Eitan, the new director of the Department of Antiquities will reconsider this decision and that we will be able to publish a picture of this kernos in the next issue of the BAR.
The second instance of discrimination is of another kind. The Near East Archaeological Society is a scholarly organization formed in 1960 by American teachers from primarily evangelical institutions. Its headquarters is in St. Louis, Missouri. The Society publishes an annual Bulletin, a Newsletter and a Research Series of monographs, all of which make a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature. Membership in the Society is open to institutions, students, teachers and laypersons.
However, the membership application contains an oath or a “Statement of Faith” which the applicant must sign: “The Bible alone and The Bible in its entirety is the Word of God written, and therefore inerrant in The Autographs.”
We do not object to anyone who adopts this as his own personal statement of faith. However, we believe it is entirely inappropriate as a condition of membership in an organization devoted to scholarly archaeological pursuits.
We are reminded of a friend who returned from a small Arab emirate and reported on recent progress: “It is rushing headlong into the thirteenth century.” We would think the time has long past when statements of faith are required as a prerequisite to joining a scholarly endeavor.
Last summer, a kernos was found in a field of an Israeli kibbutz. A kernos is a hollow pottery ring about 12 inches in diameter with various hollow pottery objects sitting on the ring and attached to it. Six objects originally perched on the ring of the kernos which turned up last summer, of which four remain—two birds, a chalice and a pomegranate. Kernoi are rare finds anytime, but this one is especially valuable because it is one of the most nearly complete such vessels ever discovered. It dates to the Iron I period and is 3,000 years old. […]
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