Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1983
Special Section
Introduction
The recent death of the eminent excavator of Ugarit, Claude F. A. Schaeffer, is an occasion both to remember this great French archaeologist and to revisit Ugarit (Ras Shamra) where Schaeffer spent more than 30 years of his professional life. In the articles that follow we will...Read more ›
Claude Frederic-Armand Schaeffer-Forrer (1898–1982): An Appreciation
The death of Claude Schaeffer of cancer at the age of 84 in his home at St. Germain-en-Laye, France, on August 25, 1982, marks the end of an epoch in the archaeology of the Near East. He was the last of those titanic figures whose achievements are...Read more ›
The Tablets from Ugarit and Their Importance for Biblical Studies
For 40 years Claude Schaeffer directed excavations at Ras Shamra in Syria. There he and his colleagues uncovered the remains of the long lost city of Ugarit, a Late Bronze Age metropolis in early Biblical times. And among the ruins of Ugarit, he found the archives of...Read more ›
The Last Days of Ugarit
Drought, famine, earthquakes and, ultimately, fire ended civilization at Ugarit
About 1200 B.C., civilization in the then-known world seemed to come to an end. Major urban centers from Cyprus, Anatolia, and Egypt to Palestine and Amurru were destroyed or severely damaged. Entire ethnic groups disappeared. Thus concluded what archaeologists call the Late Bronze Age, the last major...Read more ›
Features
Bronze Bull Found in Israelite “High Place” from the Time of the Judges
When he found it, Ofer Broshi was on army duty. Army life can be exhausting or boring—or sometimes both. At that moment, Broshi, a rugged young kibbutznik, was more bored than tired. He was resting on the summit of a hill in northern Samaria, above the ancient...Read more ›
A Visit with Ahilud
A revealing look at village life when Israel first settled the Promised Land
I first learned of Ahilud in 1969. I had been director of excavations at the ancient site of Ai, the second city taken by the Israelites when they entered Canaan, according to the book of Joshua (Joshua 7–8). I had been working at Ai...Read more ›
Whither ASOR?
Identity crisis over Biblical archaeology afflicts scholarly organization
To archaeologists, the acronym ASOR is as well-known as MASH is to a generation of television viewers. ASOR stands for American Schools of Oriental Research.a It is the premier organization of professional American archaeologists whose scholarly interests focus on the Near East—what in other times might have...Read more ›