To honor Joseph Aviram on his retirement, BAR is establishing the Joseph Aviram Fellowship to bring an Israeli scholar to the United States each year to present a paper at the annual meeting (in November) of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) or the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). For many years, Joseph himself attended these meetings.
The Joseph Aviram Fellow will receive a stipend of $2,500 to cover his or her travel expenses from Israel to the United States.
Joseph Aviram has led the Israel Exploration Society (IES) for generations. More precisely, he has been associated with the society for more than 70 years. He is the face—and head—of Israeli archaeology. He is the one person more than any other who has brought the disparate elements of the Israeli archaeological behemoth together. He is the conciliator as well as the leader. He is universally admired within the academy as well as outside.
His accomplishments are legion—excavation reports, encyclopedias, popular books, scientific journals, conferences, archaeological tours, etc.
He organized the historic search for documents in 1960 and 1961 in the caves of the wadis south of Qumran that led to the discovery by Yigal Yadin of the treasures in the Cave of Letters. We can do no better than Yigael Yadin’s tribute to Joseph in Yadin’s publication of the finds:
I have left to last the person to whom I offer my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks—my friend Joseph Aviram, Honorary Secretary of the Israel Exploration Society. Only by his adamant and insistent appeals was I persuaded to join the Expedition at a point when I had reason to be hesitant. It was he who organized the Expeditions and coordinated the operations of the teams; without him, it is doubtful whether the explorations would have been undertaken, and they certainly would not have been the remarkable success they indeed were. Through all stages of research, I was heartened by his interest, advice and encouragement.
This has been Joseph’s role ever since.
On January 1, 2010, at age 92, Aviram retired as IES director, assuming instead the post of president. This will relieve him of day-to-day administrative responsibilities, but still allow him to be involved in all the activities of the society. He will also have time to write a book-length history of the Israel Exploration Society, something he has wanted to do for a long time.
Applications for the Joseph Aviram Fellowship should be made to the Biblical Archaeology Society by April 30, 2010, 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:
Aviram Fellowship
c/o Biblical Archaeology Society
4710 41st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20016
To honor Joseph Aviram on his retirement, BAR is establishing the Joseph Aviram Fellowship to bring an Israeli scholar to the United States each year to present a paper at the annual meeting (in November) of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) or the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). For many years, Joseph himself attended these meetings. The Joseph Aviram Fellow will receive a stipend of $2,500 to cover his or her travel expenses from Israel to the United States. Joseph Aviram has led the Israel Exploration Society (IES) for generations. More precisely, he has been associated with […]
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