BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Gifting the Past

How BAS Dig Scholarships shape lives and careers

First offered in 1993, the Biblical Archae­ology Society’s Dig Scholarships have gone hand in hand with BAR’s annual list of dig opportunities, which has been a recurring and much-anticipated feature of our January/February (and now Spring) issue for nearly 50 years. Whereas the dig list connects readers with valuable volunteer opportunities to excavate sites across the lands of the Bible, the scholarship program, which has been supported by a handful of generous donors through the years, aims to make these opportunities affordable and accessible to as many people as possible.

Of the more than 300 dig scholarships BAS has awarded, many have gone to archaeology students or young scholars eager to get their first taste of fieldwork; others have supported teachers, ministers, or passionate archaeology enthusiasts who just want to know more about the world from which the Bible emerged. Here we hear from several scholarship recipients whose stories reveal the incredible impact these experiences have had on their lives, teaching, and careers.

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We begin with Christopher Rollston, renowned epigrapher and frequent contributor to BAR. When he received a scholarship to excavate at Megiddo in 1996, Rollston was a doctoral student with three young children and limited funds to spend on flying halfway around the world to join a dig. “My time excavating at Megiddo was an absolutely crucial point in my professional development,” says Rollston. “It was at Megiddo that I met so many people who would be instrumental in my life and my work in the field. It was the BAS Dig Scholarship that truly made all of this possible.” Fast forward nearly 30 years and Rollston is now a professor of biblical and Semitic languages at George Washington University where he introduces the next generation of text scholars to ancient inscriptions.

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Another academic success story is Allison Mickel, who excavated in 2013 at the site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey, where she studied oral histories of local dig laborers while a graduate student. “My research relies heavily on building real relationships on the ground with people,” says Mickel. “I would not have been able to complete the project I did without BAS support.” Mickel’s Çatalhöyük experience served as the basis for both her dissertation and her first book, Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent (University Press of Colorado, 2021), which recently earned a BAS Publication Award for the Best Book on Archaeology.

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In 2014, Rachel Kalisher, then an undergraduate at the University of Florida, received a BAS Dig Scholarship to excavate at Megiddo. “Without the scholarship, I may not have been able to attend,” Kalisher says. “It was also my first time excavating burials, so it was extremely formative for me and essentially kick started my interest in bioarchaeology. The next semester, I enrolled in a human osteology class, and I guess the rest is history.” Now, as an assistant professor of anthropology at New York University, Kalisher teaches other aspiring archaeologists how to excavate and study ancient human remains.

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The impact of the BAS Dig Scholarships extends well beyond the academy. Matthew Burden, a pastor in small rural community in eastern Maine, received a dig scholarship in 2022 to excavate at the site of El-Araj on the Sea of Galilee. “As a pastor, the Gospels are often at the center of my teaching ministry,” says Burden. “My time at El-Araj gave me a new way to envision history, an experiential perspective that has deepened and enriched what I’m able to pass on to my parishioners.”

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Similarly, Lindsay Radice, a 2023 dig scholarship winner who teaches theology at a Catholic high school in Maryland, found excavating at Tel Hadid to be an invaluable experience that impacted her both personally and professionally. “As a busy mother and teacher, I never dreamed that a trip to Israel would be possible,” says Radice. “Being part of the excavation at Tel Hadid was the experience of a lifetime. I have already begun to share what I learned with my classes and the entire school community.”

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BAS takes great pride in being able to support volunteers—whether students, professionals, or enthusiasts—who want to get their hands dirty excavating the biblical past. As these stories show, however, experiencing archaeology firsthand is not only about gaining a greater appreciation for the field or the world of the Bible; it is also about building relationships, understanding new ideas and perspectives, and, perhaps most important, sharing knowledge with friends, colleagues, students, and communities eager to learn more. If you want to be a part of funding future dig experiences like these, donate to the BAS Dig Scholarship program today.

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Apply for a BAS Dig Scholarship Today!

The Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR, offers dig scholarships of $2,000 each to selected applicants who wish to participate in a dig and demonstrate sufficient need. To apply, fill in the online form at biblicalarchaeology.org/digscholarship. In addition, applicants must submit a résumé and letter of recommendation. Applications must be received by March 21, 2025.