BARlines

004

BAR’s Preservation Money for Gezer Languishes in Bank; Dever Reports Site “Badly Neglected”

During the summer of 1984, William G. Dever, the excavator of Gezer,^a returned to the site after more than a decade’s absence for a check-up probe. Dever claims to have laid to rest dating questions relating to the great outer wall—based on materials uncovered in the final hours of the season. The excavation, not surprisingly, provides further support for a conclusion previously reached by the excavator—that the wall dates to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1400 B.C. to 1375 B.C.). Whether the numerous Israeli archaeologists who date the wall to the Iron Age II (c. ninth century B.C.) will be convinced remains to be seen.^b

During the excavations, Dever also did some preservation work.^c He placed a steel I-beam under the threshold of the Solomonic gate, which was in danger of collapse. But he did not have equipment to replace a large boulder that has come out of the gate.

Field VII, Dever reported, has collapsed “rather badly,” but he did not have the means to undertake its reconstruction.

Israeli military forces have scrawled graffiti on the monuments of the High Place (which Dever previously preserved), and Dever has complained about this to the Department of Antiquities, which is expected to take the matter up with the appropriate military authorities.

Dever confesses that he was surprised at all the interest there is in Gezer—even now, many years after excavation ceased. “There’s a lot more interest than I realized,” he told BAR. On one day, as many as seven busloads of people came to visit the site.

Among possible backers of an effort to preserve the site as a whole, however, Dever found little interest. Hebrew Union College, which sponsored the initial excavations, is “not interested,” reported Dever.^d And he could get no help from the Israel Department of Antiquities or the Israel Parks Authority. “I tried, but I couldn’t get anywhere,” Dever said.^e

In 1983, BAR deposited $5,000 in a special account to be given to any group that would undertake the preservation of Gezer. Several BAR readers made additional contributions. The amount in this account now stands at $5,710, but will be available only for three years from the date of the deposit.

“I don’t know what else to do,” says Dever, adding that the site is “badly neglected.” The students working with him this summer, like those who previously excavated at Gezer, “have developed a great affection” for the site.

“You’re right,” Dever told BAR editor Hershel Shanks, “that something should be done about the site.”

Perhaps an organization of Gezer alumni could spark a preservation effort.

One hopeful sign is that Kibbutz Gezer, located adjacent to the tell, has taken an active interest in the site and is planning a small museum for finds from Gezer.

Moynihan Elected First ASOR Board Chairman

Elizabeth Moynihan has been elected the first Chairman of the Board of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR).

Since 1980, Moynihan has been an active ASOR trustee whose energetic advocacy of overseas research centers helped secure an agreement from the Smithsonian Institution to fund and house the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), of which ASOR is a member.

“Liz” Moynihan is neither an amateur nor a newcomer in archaeology. In January she will spend several weeks in north-central India surveying and photographing the earliest Mogul palace complex, a 16th-century site that she discovered in 1978. Moynihan’s interest in Mogul history developed during the years 1973 to 1975, when her husband, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, now U. S. Senator from New York, served as U.S. Ambassador to India. Mogul gardens and architecture are part of Liz Moynihan’s broader interest in ancient garden traditions, which led her to write Paradise as a Garden (Braziller, 1979).

James Sauer, president of ASOR, commenting on the newly created position of Board Chairman, told BAR, “ASOR has evolved over its 85-year history from a small academic organization to a large professional society combining research and educational functions. Growth has involved additional expenditures. For many years ASOR has had a healthy mix of academic and nonacademic trustees. The creation of Chairman of the Board as a nonacademic position is a logical extension of the nonacademic representation that already existed on the board. Liz Moynihan’s primary function as Chairman will be to improve the finances of the organization through fund-raising.”

No disagreement there. Moynihan says she finds ASOR’s work “fascinating” and she looks forward to “beefing up its endowment.”

005

Biran Receives Israel Museum Archaeology Prize

Avraham Biran has been awarded Israel’s most prestigious prize in archaeology, the Percia Schimmel Award for Distinguished Contribution to Archaeology in Eretz Israel and the Lands of the Bible.

Given each year by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the award was created by an endowment from Norbert Schimmel, Honorary Chairman and Past President of the American Friends of the Israel Museum, in honor of his mother.

Biran, director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, is the excavator of Tel Dan in the Galilee (see “The Remarkable Discoveries at Tel Dan,” BAR 07:05). A third-generation Israeli, he is a former director of Israel’s Department of Antiquities. Biran also led excavations at Aroer in the Negev from 1975 to 1981 and wrote “And David Sent Spoils to the Elders in Aroer,” BAR 09:02.

Judges Identified Incorrectly

In the announcement of the 1984 BAS Publication Awards in the September/October BAR, we incorrectly identified the judges for category four, Best Book Relating to the New Testament. The judges for this category were Eldon J. Epp of Case Western Reserve University and Birger Pearson of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Our apologies to Professors Epp and Pearson and our thanks to them for their thoughtful consideration of nominated works.