BAR's Tenth Anniversary Section
Winner of BAR Essay Contest Awarded Jerusalem Fellowship
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Rebecca S. Knudeson of Carlton, Oregon, is the winner of BAR’s Biblical Archaeology Essay Contest. Her prize is a $1,500 traveling fellowship to Jerusalem.
Knudeson, a former elementary school teacher, was chosen from among more than 80 entrants by judges Menahem Mansoor of the University of Wisconsin and Kenneth Holum of the University of Maryland.
Rebecca Knudeson’s winning essay, “The Cities of Ahab,” examines the archaeological evidence for extensive building activities at Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor and Dan and argues that they should be attributed to King Ahab of Israel’s northern kingdom.
According to the judges, “Knudeson’s topic was an excellent choice for this contest, raising classic problems of archaeological interpretation. She understands the problems clearly and discusses them intelligently. She has researched the topic thoroughly and has written a well-organized paper with appropriate documentation.”
Rebecca Knudeson’s interest in Biblical archaeology began seriously six years ago following a trip with her husband, Kim, and a few friends to Israel, Turkey, Greece and Italy. In 1981 she returned to Israel for an in-depth experience as a member of BAR’s six-week Israel Seminar—a summer that included digging at Tel Lachish. Rebecca plans to use her fellowship this summer to return to Israel as a volunteer for a full season at a dig—at Dor, Miqne or Dan. She also hopes to revisit Ahab’s cities and to learn more about another of her archaeological interests—Bronze Age burial sites.
After several years’ teaching elementary school, Rebecca, 30, is now studying again full-time, possibly for an advanced degree. She commutes 45 minutes to Portland State University from Carlton, Oregon, where her husband recently became the minister of the First Baptist Church.
Rebecca admitted she misses the excellent archaeology library at the Badé Institute in Berkeley that she used last year when she and her husband studied in California. There is no doubt about Rebecca Knudeson’s serious scholarly interest in Biblical archaeology, but she said she is not sure how she will be able to pursue this interest in the future. For now, she is delighted and enthusiastic about winning the BAR fellowship.
To some BAR readers, Rebecca Knudeson’s name may be familiar, as it was to us. For good reason. She won third prize in the BAS photo contest for her entry, “Exploring the Sinai,” which we printed in
Judges Holum and Mansoor also chose an honorable mention essay submitted by Phillip Callaway entitled “The End of Qumran Period IB: The Earthquake, the Pottery, the Coins.” Callaway, currently a doctoral candidate at Georg-August Universität in Göttingen, West Germany, is formerly a resident of Atlanta. After completing his dissertation, Callaway hopes to teach Bible at the university level in the United States.
BAR congratulates Rebecca Knudeson, Phillip Callaway and all the participants in the essay contest. All the contestants had the satisfaction and enjoyment of learning more about Biblical archaeology and putting their ideas into writing. Encouraging learning and participation in the field is one of the principal purposes of the contest, and in this respect all entries were winners.
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The names of the contestants and the titles of their essays follow:
Ita Aber, “Two Mysteries of Synagogue Design in Ancient Times”
Ralph W. Allen, “Find Pharaoh’s Chariots, A Biblical Archaeology Challenge”
Barry L. Anderson, “Excavation of Jebusite and Davidic Jerusalem ”
Rev. Miss Marcia Mary Ban, “Some Thoughts on Ancient Symbols”
Albert Barrocas, M.D., “History and Faith as Ways of Understanding the Bible”
Alvin J. Bobroff, “The Essence of Judaism as the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge”
John Bristow, “A Fresh Look at the ‘Israelite’ Stele of Merenptah”
Joe Buzard, “The Star of Bethlehem”
Ann Susan Chontos, “This New Jerusalem”
Marvin R. Clede, “Cultural and Regional Factors Affecting the Demise of the Church in North Africa”
Larry Cole, “The Use of Remains to Illuminate the Bible”
Doris Corrigan, “Megiddo Past, Present, Prophetic”
Rev. Daniel L. Crawford, “The Essenes in the New Testament: Where Were They?”
Bertha Cressman, “Once There Was a Rock”
Frances Moses Crist, “The Proximity of Judaism and Christianity to Each Other”
Donn Cristler, “The Phoenicians”
Nancy E. Crowe, “Jericho—Past and Present”
James R. Davila, “Archaeology and the Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch”
John Lefeber DesChamps, “The ‘Lost Ark’ Vogue; Arks and Other Decorations of Ancient Synagogues”
G. H. Diaz de Arce, “Does Evidence Show Abraham’s Tomb is Not at Hebron?”
Juanita Dixon, “Orphans at Qumran”
Carl H. Droppers, “Archaeology and Architecture”
Sherry Lee Ellington, “Studies and Contributions of the Women of the Genealogy of Jesus”
Kimball S. Erdman, “Alternative Models of the Biblical Exodus”
Rev. D. Thomas Ford, “The Jamnia—Matthean Connection in the Writings of W. D. Davies”
W. Frank Fowler, Jr., “Earliest Christian Art: Christ to Constantine”
Albert W.D. Friesen, “The Narratives of Balaam in the Book of ‘Numbers’ and the Aramaic Text from Deir ‘Alla”
Betty L. Gaede, “First Stone Work Developed in Palestine Led to Babylonian and Egyptian Masonry”
James Arthur Gibbs, “Ancient Egyptian Involvement with Tell Gezer in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages”
Luis A. Grau, “The Great Assembly at Shechem”
Gary Greenberg, “Genesis and the Sothic Year”
Mrs. Mary Ellen Grell, “Impressions”
Francis R. Griffin, “Herod’s Caesarea Maritima”
Dianne S. Haines, “When Was the Exodus?”
Richard M. Harris, “The Qumran Psalms Scroll: A Question of Canon”
Sister Solina Hicks, “Seeking the Early Antiochene Christian Church in its Pagan Environment”
Will Howard, “The Answer is ‘Yes,’ Lord. Now, What Is the Question?”
Betty Hudson, “Little David … And the Lord Was With Him!”
Brian Irwin, “The Habiru and Their Relationship to the Hebrews of the Early Old Testament”
Robert N. Karrer, “Elders not Bishop: Administration of the Jerusalem Church Prior to Bar Kokhba”
Rachel Leah Katzenellenbogen, “Who Am I?”
E. V. Kaye, “The Early Beginnings of Christianity”
Nina Kimbrough, “Queen of Sheba”
Virginia Langbein, “Just What Did Happen in That Garden?”
Glenn Ledbetter, “The East Wall of Jerusalem ”
Deborah Lee London, “Illumination on ‘God’s Word’; The Discovery of the Century … Revision Stinks”
Karen A. Longman, “A Brief Study of the Middle Bronze Cultic Centers of Megiddo, Shechem, Hazor, Gezer and Nahariyah”
Dale W. Manor, “An Examination of the Water Systems of Gihon Spring”
WIlliam C. Marris, “In Defense of the Inerrant Word: Will the Real Zachariah Please Stand Up?”
Richard M. Marquez, “The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls”
Dr. Paul O. McCoy, “The Conquest—Back to Square 1, The Basics”
Sr. Mary Hubert McQuinn, C.PP.S., “The Conquest of Canaan”
Joseph Mendelson, “The Golden Tomb of Tutankhamen”
B.J. Bengston Meredith, “Solomon, Did He or Didn’t He?”
Henryk Minc, “Hasmonaean Coinage”
Betty J. Moody, “The Route of the Exodus and the Conquest of Canaan”
Alison Lee Morgan, “Faithful Tradition or Fraudulent Superstition?; Grinding Theological Axes in the Archaeology of the Holy Places”
Louis S. Muscate, “The Anointing of Man”
Betty McVey Myers, “Gemstones of the Bible”
P. David Numrich, “Armageddon and Esdraelon: The Apocalyptic Truth of History”
Minna M. Olt, “The Coenaculum; Room of the Last Supper”
Chester L. Osgood, “The Milieu of Jesus of Nazareth”
Louis Rattner, “Did the Near Sacrifice of Isaac Take Place on Mount Moriah?”
Wendy L. Robinson, “Archaeology and the Bible: Did Abraham Really Exist?”
Joanna M. Saidel, “Sources and Origins of Christianity”
M. L. Schoonman, “The Early Spread of Christianity”
Fran M. Slattery, “The Age of Solomon: What Archaeology Can Really Tell Us”
Marjie Smith, “Was the Holy of Holies Under the Dome of the Tablets?”
Terry J. W. Smith, “Origins of the Song of Solomon”
David G. Snyder, “Rulers of Jerusalem in the New Testament; A Use of Historical Document in Biblical Research”
James E. Spears, “Do Not Be Quarrelsome on the Way”
David Strandin, “I Am Lachish: Fire and Language”
Jean Szulborski, “Excavating Biblical Antiquity”
Barry D. Teague, “The Historical Contribution of Josephus to the Placement of the Third Wall of Agrippa I”
Richard Tenaglia, “The Scriptures Say No!; An Essay on the Shroud of Turin”
Sister Regina Augusta Todd, SSJ, “The Biblical Deer in Israeli Mosaics”
Manuel Vider, “Becoming a Scribe During the Second Temple”
Shmuel Ben Aharon Wahli, “The Alphabet”
Stephen R. Ward, “God on Trial”
Mary E. White, “The Bible as God’s Holy Word”
Brother Robert F. Wise, F.S.C., “En Feshkha: A Ruin, A Reconstruction and a Theory”
Rev. James Wolnick, “New Testament Modification of the Epistolary Greeting”
Rebecca S. Knudeson of Carlton, Oregon, is the winner of BAR’s Biblical Archaeology Essay Contest. Her prize is a $1,500 traveling fellowship to Jerusalem. Knudeson, a former elementary school teacher, was chosen from among more than 80 entrants by judges Menahem Mansoor of the University of Wisconsin and Kenneth Holum of the University of Maryland. Rebecca Knudeson’s winning essay, “The Cities of Ahab,” examines the archaeological evidence for extensive building activities at Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor and Dan and argues that they should be attributed to King Ahab of Israel’s northern kingdom. According to the judges, “Knudeson’s topic was an […]
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