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In commemoration of BAR’s 40th Anniversary, the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR, is establishing the Yigael Yadin Fellowship to enable a leading senior scholar to attend and give a paper at the annual meetings of ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research) and/or SBL (Society of Biblical Literature). The fellowship carries a grant of up to $2,500.
Senior scholars are often technically considered “retired” at 65. They are relieved of some teaching duties, but they are in fact quite young, and they continue working full time on their research and publications. Yet they do not receive university funds to attend these important annual meetings in the United States.
The fellowship is named in honor of Israel’s most famous and distinguished archaeologist, Yigael Yadin, who died in 1984. Yadin is as close to an archaeological hero as we have. He excavated Masada and Hazor. He recovered the Temple Scroll, the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, below the floor of Kando’s house, where it had been hidden, and published it in three scholarly volumes. He was also a military hero, having led the Haganah in Israel’s establishment of statehood in 1948. His doctoral dissertation is a two-volume set titled The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands. Professor Yadin was greatly helpful to BAR’s editor in the research that led to the founding of BAR. He was also warmly encouraging and helpful to the future BAR editor in a paper ultimately published in the Israel Exploration Journal.
The Yigael Yadin Fellowship will benefit not only the awardee, but also the world of scholarship. In recent years, fewer and fewer senior scholars have been giving papers at the annual meetings. Mostly they preside over sessions, confining themselves to introducing younger scholars who give papers. Often senior scholars are unable to attend because of lack of funds. It is hoped that the Yigael Yadin Fellowship will counter these trends.
Applications for the Yigael Yadin Fellowship should be filed by Septemer 1, 2015, and be accompanied by a brief informal application and the title of the paper to be delivered at the ASOR/SBL meeting in November.
Other scholarly grants of the Biblical Archaeology Society include the following:
The Joseph Aviram Fellowship honors the long-time head of the Israel Exploration Society and a central figure in Israeli archaeology. At 98, he is still working. The fellowship grant of $2,500 provides travel expenses to an Israeli scholar to present a paper at the annual ASOR/SBL meeting. The application time and content should be the same as for the Yigael Yadin Fellowship.
The Hershel Shanks Prize of up to $2,500 will be awarded to the presenter of a paper, at the ASOR/SBL meeting, on Judaism of Late Antiquity and the Talmudic Period. The prize was initially established by Sami Rohr, a leading philanthropist, who insisted that it be called the Hershel Shanks Prize. Mr. Rohr passed away in 2012 at 86. His three children, who themselves are well-known philanthropists supporting Jewish causes, said that continuing with the name of the prize as their father wanted it continues his legacy.
In commemoration of BAR’s 40th Anniversary, the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR, is establishing the Yigael Yadin Fellowship to enable a leading senior scholar to attend and give a paper at the annual meetings of ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research) and/or SBL (Society of Biblical Literature). The fellowship carries a grant of up to $2,500. Senior scholars are often technically considered “retired” at 65. They are relieved of some teaching duties, but they are in fact quite young, and they continue working full time on their research and publications. Yet they do not receive university funds to […]
