BARview: Annual Meetings Offer Intellectual Bazaar and Moments of High Drama

Almost 4,000 scholars and laypersons, including a Biblical Archaeology Society contingent, attended the combined annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Academy of Religion and the American Schools of Oriental Research in Chicago last December 8 to 11. This was the largest attendance in the history of the annual meetings.

What accounted for the unusually large attendance was not immediately clear. Increased interest in the Bible, the easy accessibility of Chicago and a more convenient time than the usual late December date of the meetings were all possibilities.