Bringing Young Israeli Scholars to U.S. Conferences

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The Biblical Archaeology Society is now accepting applications for the 2011 Joseph Aviram Fellowship. The fellowship brings Israeli scholars to the United States to participate in the annual scholarly meetings of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), held in the same city every November. This year’s meetings are in San Francisco. The fellowship’s stipd of $2,500 is intended to cover the cost of the winner’s travel expenses.

The fellowship honors Joseph Aviram on his retirement as director of the Israel Exploration Society (IES). Aviram, who, at age 93, remains president of the IES, has been associated with the society for more than 70 years and, as director, oversaw the publication of countless excavation reports, encyclopedias and journals on the archaeology of Israel. He also participated in important excavations and offers sage, conciliatory advice to generations of Israeli archaeologists.

Last year’s fellowship was awarded to Bar-Ilan University’s Yitzhaq Feder, who presented two papers at the SBL meeting in Atlanta. The first, “Blood Expiation in Hittite and Biblical Ritual,” explored the striking similarities of blood rituals practiced in Late Bronze Age Anatolia and Iron Age Israel. His second paper, “Aniconism, Otherness and Cult in Deuteronomy 4,” sought to understand how ancient Israel’s prohibition against the worship of idols was understood by the Biblical writers and differed from the beliefs of surrounding peoples. In addition to the main prize, travel grants of $1,000 each were awarded to Zvi Shimon of Bar-Ilan University and Inbal Samet of the University of Haifa.

Applications for the Joseph Aviram Fellowship should be submitted to the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR by June 1, 2011, and should include a curriculum vitae and a brief description of the subject of the paper, as well as an indication of past presentations at these meetings. Preference will be given to first- or second-time presenters. Applications may be e-mailed to bas@bib-arch.org with “Aviram Fellowship” in the subject line or mailed to: