Current Digital Issue • March/April May/June 2018 • Vol. 44 No. 2 & 3
About this issue: Liberator of the Dead Sea Scrolls, defender of Biblical maximalism, and champion of unprovenanced artifacts, Hershel Shanks—the founder and longtime Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review—has had a long, varied, successful career. To celebrate his retirement as Editor of BAR, the March/April/May/June 2018 issue highlights some of Hershel’s major campaigns in the world of Biblical archaeology and chronicles the history of the Biblical Archaeology Society. Read more…
Raising the BAR: The History of the Biblical Archaeology Society
From humble beginnings, Biblical Archaeology Review has become the world’s most widely read Biblical archaeology magazine. See how it all began—with Hershel Shanks at the helm—and some highlights from the past 43 years. Read more…
Hershel’s Crusades, No. 1–3
Three articles detail Hershel’s “three crusades,” written by three of Hershel’s friends who played a central role in each of these key issues. In “He Who Freed the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Martin Abegg, Jr., recalls Hershel’s efforts in helping to liberate the scrolls from nearly four decades of shrouded isolation. In “For King and Country: Chronology and Minimalism,” Bill Dever discusses BAR’s facilitation of the maximalist-minimalist debate, which centers on whether the establishment of ancient Israel took place in the tenth or the ninth century B.C.E. Hershel’s third crusade comes from epigrapher Ada Yardeni in “Forgeries and Unprovenanced Artifacts,” who reflects on BAR’s role in revealing to the public controversial objects that were not necessarily discovered in controlled archaeological excavations and argues for the importance of studying these objects. Read more…
Celebrating Hershel Shanks: An Archaeological Legacy
Hershel Shanks, BAR’s founder and Editor Emeritus, has changed the face of Biblical archaeology. Read contributions from Hershel’s colleagues and friends, who reflect on their interactions with Hershel over the years and on how he has influenced the field of Biblical archaeology—for better or worse! Read more…
Is This the Prophet Isaiah’s Signature?
The Ophel excavations at the foot of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount have yielded numerous exciting discoveries, including a new Biblical signature. Archaeologist Eilat Mazar reveals what may be a seal impression of the prophet Isaiah—unveiled here for the first time ever—in honor of Hershel Shanks’s retirement as Editor of BAR. Read more…
