BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Biblical Archaeology Society 2019 Publication Awards Winners

These prestigious awards for books about archaeology and the Bible have been made possible by grants from: The Rohr Family in Memory of Sami Rohr and  Samuel D. Turner & Elizabeth Goss.

Best Popular Book on Archaeology

The Monastic Landscape of Late Antique Egypt
An Archaeological Reconstruction
By Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017)

This book offers a new approach to the study of monasticism in Egypt, presented in a very accessible and engaging style that bridges both popular and scholarly audiences. Integrating late antique literature, ecclesiastical history, landscape studies and the material evidence of monastic settlements, Darlene Brooks Hedstrom provides the archaeological data and theoretical concepts (e.g., identifying space and landscape archaeology) for Egyptian monasticism to the non-specialist.

Best Scholarly Book on Archaeology

The Caves of Qumran
Proceedings of the International Conference Lugano 2014
Edited by Marcello Fidanzio
(Leiden: Brill, 2017)

The site of Qumran and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has captivated both the scholarly and public arenas. This edited conference volume presents for the first time an integrated study of both the archaeological and textual evidence recovered from the Qumran caves, contextualized within the broader context of contemporary discoveries from the Dead Sea region. Th e contributions represent a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the material culture and its value to the interpretation and historical reconstruction of the caves.

JUDGES OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY BOOKS:

Ann E. Killebrew
Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, and Anthropology
Pennsylvania State University

Eric M. Meyers
Bernice and Morton Lerner Emeritus Professor in Judaic Studies
Duke University

Steven Ortiz
Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Best Book Relating to the Hebrew Bible

Growing Up in Ancient Israel
Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts
By Kristine Henriksen Garroway
(Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018)

This first comprehensive study of children and childrearing in ancient Israel will serve as a reference for the next generation of students and scholars. Kristine Garroway tries to bridge the divide between the ancient world and contemporary society by comparing biblical ideas with modern Western ones. She uses a comparative methodology incorporating archaeology, anthropology, and the Hebrew Bible. When sources from ancient Israel and biblical literature are scant, she incorporates cross-cultural studies and ethnographic sources.

JUDGES:

Roger Nam
Dean, Portland Seminary and Professor of Biblical Studies
George Fox University

William Schniedewind
Professor of Biblical Studies
UCLA

Jacqueline Vayntrub
Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible
Yale Divinity School

Best Book Relating to the New Testament

God’s Library
The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts
By Brent Nongbri
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018)

This outstanding book provides a lucid introduction to the earliest Christian texts and manuscripts, opening up the world of material artifacts, the people who created them, and the complex stories of their discovery and analysis. Using archival, archaeological, and text-critical approaches, Brent Nongbri challenges scholars’ focus on the contents of ancient writings at the expense of considering them as objects. Refreshingly rich and essential reading on New Testament and Christian origins!

JUDGES:

Mark S. Goodacre
Frances Hill Fox Professor of Religious Studies
Duke University

Jill Hicks-Keeton
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
University of Oklahoma

Shively T.J. Smith
Assistant Professor of New Testament
Boston University

The biennial BAS Publication Awards have been presented since 1985. Our best to these winners!