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Professors Cross and Mazar Honored

The Israel Museum has bestowed on Professor Frank Moore Cross of Harvard University and Professor Benjamin Mazar of Hebrew University its Schimmel Award for distinguished contributions to archaeology.

The Percia Schimmel Award for Distinguished Contribution to Archaeology in Eretz Israel and the Lands of the Bible was established last year by noted New York collector of ancient art Norbert Schimmel in memory of his mother.

Professor Mazar’s citation called him the doyen of Biblical historians and one of the founders of archaeological and historical geographic research in Israel. Excavator of many major sites, Professor Mazar has devoted the past decade to uncovering ancient Jerusalem around the walls of the Temple Mount. During his long career Professor Mazar has encouraged archaeological research in his roles as President of the Israel Exploration Society, President of Hebrew University, and Chairman of Israel’s Archaeological Council.

Professor Mazar will share the $6,000 prize with Professor Cross, whose scholarly contributions are crucial to the study of early Hebrew epigraphy. Professor Cross has deciphered and interpreted innumerable ancient inscriptions and synthesized the history of alphabetic writing and its development up to the end of the Second Temple Period. He is one of the leading translators and interpreters of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has also contributed seminal studies in the history of the religion of Biblical Israel and the Canaanite pantheon.

Both Professor Cross and Professor Mazar are well known to BAR readers. They have written a number of highly praised articles for BAR. Professor Mazar recently wrote “Excavations Near Temple Mount Reveal Splendors of Herodian Jerusalem,” BAR 06:04, and Professor Cross is the author of “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the People Who Wrote Them,” BAR 03:01, “The Historical Importance of the Samaria Papyri,” BAR 04:01, and “Phoenicians in Brazil?” BAR 05:01.

The Living Bible on Radio

A radio program for people interested in Biblical subjects is featured on Voice of Israel, the Israeli shortwave station. The program called, “The Living Bible with Helen Frenkley of Neot Kedumim”, is broadcast Mondays at about 5:50 p.m. and Thursdays at about 8:10 p.m. Neot Kedumim or “Gardens of Israel” is a unique botanical garden, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, dedicated to growing the plants mentioned in the Bible and Talmudic literature. Miss Frenkley’s program, broadcast in English on 19m (15582KHz) and 25m (11637KHz), will continue through the fall. Send all correspondence regarding the radio show to Kol Israel, External Service, P.O. Box 1982, Jerusalem, Israel.

New Address for BAR’s Subscription Department

BAR is moving its subscription department from Washington to New York. We anticipate a smooth transition, although a few slipups are probably inevitable. We are confident, however, that the move will enable us to serve you, our readers and members, more accurately and efficiently. To place new orders, renew your subscription, change your address, or inquire about your account, please address correspondence to:

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Gitin to Direct Albright Institute in Jerusalem

Seymour Gitin has been appointed Director of the William Foxwell Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. The Albright Institute, named for one of its most illustrious directors and the father of the modern discipline of Biblical Archaeology, is the oldest American institution of archaeological research in the Near East. The Albright Institute is an arm of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), which Albright helped found. For 80 years the Jerusalem branch of ASOR has been a focal point of archaeological study in the Near East and the sponsor of important excavations of Biblical sites by W. F. Albright at Tell Beit Mirsim, G. Ernest Wright at Shechem, Paul Lapp at Taanach, and the Nelson Glueck Survey of Eastern Palestine, among others. It has also played a vital role in the discovery and publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls and pioneered in the use of modern methods of field excavation.

Currently, the Albright Institute is supporting six American field projects: the expeditions to Caesarea Maritima, Tel Anafa, Meiron, the Central Negev Highlands, Lahav, and Tell Hesi.

Dr. Gitin comes to his post following a long residence in Jerusalem and a deep involvement with archaeology in Israel. A former student of two of the past permanent directors of ASOR/Albright, William G. Dever, and Nelson Glueck, Dr. Gitin received a Ph.D. degree in Syro-Palestinian Studies from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio and his field training as a staff member of the Tell Gezer and Jebel Qa’aqir excavations. His three volume dissertation on the first millennium B.C. evidence from Gezer is scheduled for publication in 1981 as Vols. III, IV, and V of the Annuals of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology.

Last spring, as Program Director of the ASOR/Brandeis University Joint Archaeology Program, Dr. Gitin directed the excavations at Tel Dor in cooperation with Dr. Ephraim Stern of the Hebrew University.

To provide useful information to its readers, BAR will announce new academic programs, exhibits, symposia and other items of interest to the archaeological world. Send your announcements to BAR. 5400 Greystone St., Chevy Chase, Md. 20015. Allow approximately 6 weeks until publication.

Professors Cross and Mazar Honored

The Israel Museum has bestowed on Professor Frank Moore Cross of Harvard University and Professor Benjamin Mazar of Hebrew University its Schimmel Award for distinguished contributions to archaeology.