Strata: Fellowship Established to Honor IES President

To honor Joseph Aviram on his retirement, BAR is establishing the Joseph Aviram Fellowship to bring an Israeli scholar to the United States each year to present a paper at the annual meeting (in November) of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) or the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). For many years, Joseph himself attended these meetings.

The Joseph Aviram Fellow will receive a stipend of $2,500 to cover his or her travel expenses from Israel to the United States.

Joseph Aviram has led the Israel Exploration Society (IES) for generations. More precisely, he has been associated with the society for more than 70 years. He is the face—and head—of Israeli archaeology. He is the one person more than any other who has brought the disparate elements of the Israeli archaeological behemoth together. He is the conciliator as well as the leader. He is universally admired within the academy as well as outside.

His accomplishments are legion—excavation reports, encyclopedias, popular books, scientific journals, conferences, archaeological tours, etc.

He organized the historic search for documents in 1960 and 1961 in the caves of the wadis south of Qumran that led to the discovery by Yigal Yadin of the treasures in the Cave of Letters. We can do no better than Yigael Yadin’s tribute to Joseph in Yadin’s publication of the finds: