2021 LIST OF APPROVED SESSIONS AND WORKSHOPS

Chicago: November 17-20 | Online: December 9-12

ASOR’s 2021 Annual Meeting will be held November 17-20 in Chicago, and will include a second, virtual, component to be held online December 9-12. The sessions and workshops on this page will be organized as part of the in-person component to take place in Chicago.

ASOR Standing Sessions will be offered as part of both the in-person and online components. Member-Organized Sessions/Workshops that are followed by ** (double asterisks) will offer a virtual component as well.

Click here to go to the list of sessions and workshops that are being offered as part of the virtual component to take place online December 9-12, 2021.

Paper and workshop presentation proposals may be submitted per the instructions on the Call for Papers from February 15th – March 15th, 2021. The SAME paper or workshop presentation can be given as part of both the in-person and virtual components and count as 1 appearance, but the presenter must submit the abstract to each component separately for consideration.

ASOR Standing Sessions

**ASOR Standing Sessions will be offered as part of both the in-person and virtual component

• Ancient Inscriptions
• Approaches to Dress and the Body
• Archaeology and Biblical Studies
• Archaeology and History of Feasting and Foodways
• Archaeology of Anatolia
• Archaeology of Arabia
• Archaeology of the Black Sea and the Caucasus
• Archaeology of the Byzantine Near East
• Archaeology of Cyprus
• Archaeology of Egypt
• Archaeology of Iran 
• Archaeology of Islamic Society
• Archaeology of Israel
• Archaeology of Jordan
• The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
• Archaeology of Lebanon
• Archaeology of Mesopotamia
• Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze and Iron Ages
• Archaeology of the Near East: The Classical Periods
• Archaeology of the Southern Levant
• Archaeology of Syria
• Art Historical Approaches to the Near East
• Bioarchaeology in the Near East
• Career Options for ASOR Members: The Academy and Beyond
• Cultural Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, and Management
• Digital Archaeology and History
• Environmental Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
• Gender in the Ancient Near East
• History of Archaeology
• Interdisciplinary Approaches to Seals, Sealing Practices, and Administration
• Isotopic Investigations in the Ancient Near East and Caucasus
• Landscapes of Settlement in the Ancient Near East
• Maritime Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Reports on Current Excavations—ASOR Affiliated
• Reports on Current Excavations—Non-ASOR Affiliated
• Technology in Archaeology: Recent Work in the Archaeological Sciences
• Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East

Member-Organized Sessions and Workshops to be held in Chicago, November 17-20, 2021

** Double asterisks indicate that the session/workshop will also be held as part of the virtual component that takes place online, December 9-12. The SAME paper or workshop presentation can be given as part of both the in-person and virtual components and count as 1 appearance, but the presenter must submit the abstract to each component separately for consideration.

 

• The Amorites: Culture, History, and Archaeology
• Archaeology from Every Angle: Papers in Honor of Richard L. Zettler
• Archaeology of Petra and Nabataea**
• Archaeology of the Near East and Video Games**
• Archaeology, Community, and Mentorship: Celebrating the Legacy of Bert and Sally de Vries **
• Best Practices for Digital Scholarship
• Biblical Texts in Cultural Context
• Complexity Without Monumentality: Rethinking Nomads of the Biblical Period**
• Cultural Heritage: Before, During, and After Crisis (Workshop)**
• Cultures of Mobility and Borders in the Ancient Near East**
• Ethics in Archaeological Practice (Workshop)
• From Paganism to Christianity: Transformation of Sacred Space in Sepphoris, the Galilee, and Beyond**
• From Stone-Age Towns and to City-States: The Contribution of the Mega-Excavations at Tel Motza, Tel Asawir, Tel Beit Shemesh and Tel Yavne
• Geophysics and Archaeology in Coastal and Shallow Marine Settings**
• Grand Challenges for Digital Research in Archaeology and Philology (Workshop)
• The Great Experiment at Tell el-Hesi: Reflections from the Past and Visions for the Future
• Hellenistic Galilee: Between Phoenicia and the Hasmonean Kingdom
• (Im-)Politeness Research in Ancient Egyptian Texts**
• Interdisciplinary Approaches to Resilience, Resistance, and Collapse in the Near East and Neighboring Regions**
• Islamic Seas and Shores: Connecting the Medieval Maritime World**
• Museums and Social Justice**
• Navigating the “In Between”: Identifying a Career Trajectory in Academia for the Early Career Scholar (Workshop)**
• Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History**
• New Approaches to Colour in Vitreous Materials
• New Directions in Ancient Literacy
• New Directions in the Historical Geography of the Ancient Near East
• New Realities? A Critical Approach to Recreating Objects for Examining and Presenting the Past (Workshop)**
• Persia and Arabia in Late Antiquity: Bridging the Ancient and Islamic
• Phoenician Religion and Cult**
• Preserving the Cultural Heritage of the Madaba Region of Jordan (Workshop)**
• Protecting Libyan Cultural Heritage**
• Reintegrating Africa in the Ancient World (Workshop)**
• Scribal Hands and Habits in Cuneiform Texts**
• The Secret Lives of Objects: Conservation Science, Technology, and Digital Humanities
• Secure Your Data! Security and Data Management in the Ancient Near East
• Slaves, Prisoners, and Unfree Bodies in the Ancient Mediterranean World**
• So Wicked and So Wild: Aging, Old Age, and Bodily Representation in the Ancient World and Modern Academy**
• Stamp Seals from the Southern Levant (Workshop)**
• State and Territory in the Ancient Near East: Mapping Relationships and Challenging Paradigms**
• Structures of Power in Southern Babylonia in the Second and First Millennia B.C.E.: From Local Rule to Provincial Existence**
• Style and Identity in Ancient Near Eastern Art
• The Tell es-Safi/Gath Project after 25 Years**
• Thinking, Speaking, and Representing Animals in the Ancient Near East: New Perspectives from Texts and Images**
• The True North to the Near East: The Contributions of ASOR in Canada (CASOR) to the Study of the Ancient Near East**
• Understanding Power in the Ancient World: Approaches, Manifestations, and Responses**
• Working with Law Enforcement and the Military to Combat Trafficking and Preserve Cultural Heritage (Workshop)

Descriptions of Sessions & Workshops

ASOR-Sponsored Sessions

Ancient Inscriptions

Session Chairs: Jessie DeGrado, University of Michigan; Madadh Richey, Brandeis University

Description: This session focuses on epigraphic material from the ancient Middle East, North Africa, and eastern Mediterranean. Proposals may include new readings of previously published inscriptions or preliminary presentations of new epigraphic discoveries, as well as submissions that situate written artifacts in their social contexts and/or engage broader theoretical questions.

Approaches to Dress and the Body

Session Chairs: Neville McFerrin, Ohio University; Josephine Verduci, University of Melbourne

Description: Traces of practices relating to dress and the body are present in many ways in the archaeological, textual, and visual records of the ancient world, from the physical remains of dressed bodies, to images depicting them, to texts describing such aspects as textile production and sumptuary customs. Previous scholarship has provided useful typological frameworks but has often viewed these objects as static trappings of status and gender. The goal of this session is to lluminate the dynamic role of dress and the body in the performance and construction of aspects of individual and social identity, and to encourage collaborative dialogue within the study of dress and the body in antiquity.

Archaeology and Biblical Studies

Session Chair: Stephen Cook, Virginia Theological Seminary

Description: This session is meant to explore the intersections between History, Archaeology, and the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts.

Archaeology and History of Feasting and Foodways

Session Chairs: Elizabeth Arnold, Grand Valley State University; Jacob Damm, University of California

Description: The Archaeology and History of Feasting and Foodways session addresses the production, distribution, and consumption of food and drink. Insofar as foodways touch upon almost every aspect of the human experience—from agricultural technology, to economy and trade, to nutrition and cuisine, to the function of the household and its members, to religious acts of eating and worship—we welcome submissions from diverse perspectives and from the full spectrum of our field’s geography and chronology.

Archaeology of Anatolia

Session Chair: James Osborne, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago

Description: This session is concerned with current fieldwork in Anatolia, as well as the issue of connectivity in Anatolia. What, for example, were the interconnections between Anatolia and surrounding regions such as Cyprus, Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, and Europe?

Archaeology of Arabia

Session Chairs: Charlotte Marie Cable, Michigan State University; Lesley Gregoricka, University of South Alabama

Description: This session seeks contributions covering a wide spatio-temporal swath from the Paleolithic to the present centered on the Arabian Peninsula but including neighboring areas such as the Horn of Africa, East Africa, and South Asia. Contributions might be tied to the region thematically (e.g. pastoral nomadism, domesticates, or agricultural strategies), methodologically (e.g. Landscape archaeology, or satellite imagery technologies) or through ancient contacts such as trade along the Red Sea, Persian/Arabian Gulf or Indian Ocean.

Archaeology of the Black Sea and the Caucasus

Session Chair: Lara Fabian, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg

Description: This session is open to papers that concern the archaeology of the Black Sea and Eurasia.

Archaeology of the Byzantine Near East

Session Chair: Alexandra Ratzlaff, Brandeis University

Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Byzantine period.

Archaeology of Cyprus

Session Chairs: Kevin Fisher, University of British Columbia; Catherine Kearns, University of Chicago

Description: This session focuses on current archaeological research in Cyprus from prehistory to the modern period. Topics may include reports on archaeological fieldwork and survey, artifactual studies, as well as more focused methodological or theoretical discussions. Papers that address current debates and issues are especially welcome.

Archaeology of Egypt

Session Chairs: Krystal Pierce, Brigham Young University

Description: This session is open to research on all areas related to the archaeology of Egypt, including current and past fieldwork, material culture, textual sources, religious or social aspects, international relations, art, and history.

Archaeology of Iran

Session Chairs: Kyle Gregory Olson, University of Pennsylvania

Description: This session explores the archaeology of Iran.

Archaeology of Islamic Society

Session Chairs: Ian W. N. Jones, University of California, San Diego; Tasha Vorderstrasse, University of Chicago

Description: This session explores the archaeology of Islamic society.

Archaeology of Israel

Session Chair: Boaz Gross, Israeli Institute of Archaeology and Tel Aviv University

Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in Israel.

Archaeology of Jordan

Session Chairs: Marta D’Andrea, Sapienza Università di Roma; Barbara Reeves, Queen’s University

Description: This session is open to any research from any period relating to the archaeology of Jordan. The session is open to papers on recent fieldwork, synthetic analyses of multiple field seasons, as well as any area of current archaeological research focused on Jordan.

The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Session Chair: Jason Ur, Harvard University

Description: This session highlights research on all aspects of history and archaeology focused on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and adjacent areas.

Archaeology of Lebanon

Session Chair: Hanan Charaf, ASOR

Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in Lebanon.

Archaeology of Mesopotamia

Session Chair: Darren Ashby, University of Pennsylvania

Description: This session seeks submissions in all areas illuminated by archaeology that relate to the material, social, and religious culture, history and international relations, and texts of ancient Mesopotamia.

Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze and Iron Ages

Session Chairs: Pearce Paul Creasman, ACOR and University of Arizona; J. P. Dessel, University of Tennessee

Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Archaeology of the Near East: The Classical Periods

Session Chair: Michael Zimmerman, Bridgewater State University

Description: This session is open to papers that concern the Near East in the Classical periods.

Archaeology of the Southern Levant

Session Chair: Owen Chesnut, North Central Michigan College; Josh Walton, Capital University

Description: The focus of this session is on current archaeological fieldwork in the southern Levant.

Archaeology of Syria

Session Chair:  Caroline Sauvage, Loyola Marymount University; Kathryn Grossman, North Carolina State University

Description: This session is concerned with all areas of Syria that are illuminated by archaeology.
These include a discussion of recent archaeological excavations, history, religion, society, and texts.

Art Historical Approaches to the Near East

Session Chair: Stephanie Langin-Hooper, Southern Methodist University

Description: This session welcomes submissions that present innovative analyses of any facet of Near Eastern artistic production or visual culture.

Bioarchaeology in the Near East

Session Chair: Sherry C. Fox, Arizona State University

Description: This session welcomes papers that present bioarchaeological research conducted in the Near East. Papers that pose new questions and/or explore new methods are encouraged.

Career Options for ASOR Members: The Academy and Beyond

Session Chair: Emily Miller Bonney, California State University, Fullerton

Description: Applicants for tenure-track positions at universities and colleges confront diminished demand for faculty. Increasingly, junior scholars are forced to look for adjunct or temporary appointments and face the possibility of no appointment at all. This session aims to provide insights into alternative careers for both the next generation of ASOR scholars and those interested in a career change.  Each year one or two panels of four to six scholars who developed careers outside the academy will discuss their careers, answering fundamental questions in 15- to 20-minute presentations. How did they discover the job opportunities that became a meaningful career? Did they begin in the academy and leverage that experience to gain access to a different career or were they able to move from graduate school into this work? How important, if at all, was a post-doc in the choices they had?  How long did it take to get into the position where they have spent most of their professional lives? What additional training did they need? Have they been able to continue their research and/or excavation projects: that is, what was the overall impact of the career choice on their scholarship? Sessions will include time for questions and discussion.

Cultural Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, and Management

Session Chairs: Glenn Corbett, Editor, Biblical Archaeology Review; Suzanne Davis, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan

Description: This session explores theory and practice in the areas of archaeological site and collections conservation, presentation, education, and management. Discussion of community-engaged projects is especially welcome.

Digital Archaeology and History

Session Chair: Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, University of Central Florida

Description: This session will present papers that describe significant advances in or interesting applications of the digital humanities. Topics may include public digital initiatives, 3D scanning and modelling, spatial analysis (GIS and remote sensing), social network analysis, textual analysis, textual geographies, digital storytelling, data management etc. In addition to methodological topics, the session also welcomes papers that focus on broader debates in the digital humanities.

Environmental Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

Session Chairs: Melissa Rosenzweig, Northwestern University; Madelynn von Baeyer, University of Connecticut

Description: This session accepts papers that examine past human resource (flora and fauna) uses and human/environment interactions in the ancient Near East.

Gender in the Ancient Near East

Session Chair: Stephanie Lynn Budin, Near Eastern Archaeology

Description: This session pertains to on-going archaeological, art historical, and/or anthropological work and research into the construction and expression of gender in antiquity, ancient women/womanhood, masculinities (hegemonic and otherwise), Queer Theory, and the engendering of ancient objects and spaces.

History of Archaeology

Session Chair: Kevin McGeough, University of Lethbridge

Description: Papers in this session examine the history of the disciplines of biblical archaeology and Near Eastern archaeology.

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Seals, Sealing Practices, and Administration

Session Chairs: Sarah Scott, Wagner College; Oya Topçuoğlu, Northwestern University

Description: This session invites submissions touching on any aspect of glyptic studies. Papers may approach seals and sealings as object, text, and/or image, and rely on multiple strands of evidence.  Applied methodologies from a variety of disciplines are encouraged. While seals and sealings form the core subject of investigation for this session, papers that rely on a wide range of comparative objects are welcome. Glyptic-related topics covering the full geographical and chronological horizon of the ancient Near East are considered

Isotopic Investigations in the Ancient Near East and Caucasus

Session Chairs: G. Bike Yazıcıoğlu-Santamaria, University of Chicago; Maureen E. Marshall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Description: Biogeochemical research on the human condition in the ancient past is a rapidly growing field. Isotopic investigations targeting questions about climate change, human mobility, animal trade, herding strategies, crop management, diet and subsistence, and infant-feeding practices in the broader ancient Near East have increased in number over the past decade. However, biogeochemical techniques and understandings continue to develop and be re-evaluated, necessitating venues for scholarly exchange, comparison, and discussion. The objective of this session is to encourage a dialogue among researchers conducting and using biogeochemical techniques in the region, integrating analytical methods with social and historical questions. In consecutive years the session will incorporate the results of most recent and ongoing research in the region with methodological advances in techniques and approaches, in tandem with the developing agenda of the “Archaeological Isotopes Working Group” Business Meetings.

Landscapes of Settlement in the Ancient Near East

Session Chairs: Jesse Casana, Dartmouth College; Emily Hammer, University of Pennsylvania

Description: This session brings together scholars investigating regional-scale problems of settlement history and archaeological landscapes across the ancient Near East. Research presented in the session is linked methodologically through the use of regional survey, remote sensing, and environmental studies to document ancient settlements, communication routes, field systems and other evidence of human activity that is inscribed in the landscape. Session participants are especially encouraged to offer analyses of these regional archaeological data that explore political, economic, and cultural aspects of ancient settlement systems as well as their dynamic interaction with the natural environment.

Maritime Archaeology

Session Chairs: Caroline Sauvage, Loyola Marymount University; Douglas Inglis, University of Chicago

Description: This session welcomes papers that concern marine archaeology in terms of methods, practices, and case studies in areas throughout the Near East.

Prehistoric Archaeology 

Session Chair: Yorke Rowan, University of Chicago

Description: This session is open to papers that concern the prehistoric Near East, particularly in the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic.

Reports on Current Excavations—ASOR Affiliated

Session Chair: Jack Green, ACOR

Description: This session is for projects with ASOR/CAP affiliation.

Reports on Current Excavations—Non-ASOR Affiliated

Session Chair: Daniel Schindler, Texas Tech University

Description: This session is for projects without ASOR/CAP affiliation.

Technology in Archaeology: Recent Work in the Archaeological Sciences

Session Chair: Bradly Erickson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Description: This session welcomes papers that examine the issue of technology in archaeology.

Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East

Session Chairs: Tobin Hartnell, American University of Iraq, Sulaimani; Darrell J. Rohl, Calvin University

Description: This session welcomes papers that deal explicitly with theoretical and anthropological approaches to ancient Near Eastern and eastern Mediterranean art and archaeology.

Member-Organized Sessions and Workshops to be held in Chicago, November 17-20, 2021

** Double asterisks indicate that the session/workshop will also be held as part of the virtual component that takes place online, December 9-12. The SAME paper or workshop presentation can be given as part of both the in-person and virtual components and count as 1 appearance, but the presenter must submit the abstract to each component separately for consideration.

 

The Amorites: Culture, History, and Archaeology

Session Chairs: Gojko Barjamovic, Harvard University; Adam E. Miglio, Wheaton College

Description: Several recent monographs have reinvigorated the discussion of the Amorites. These studies are noteworthy because they approach the topic from a variety of available data, including linguistic evidence, historical sources, and material culture. This session investigates questions of “the Amorites” from the perspective of historical, linguistic, archaeological, and visual art, and invites scholars who work in the entire region between the southern Levant and Anatolia, and from the Mediterranean to Bahrain. It provides a forum for scholars from an array of specialties and aims to facilitate inter-disciplinary conversations about the issues surrounding “the Amorites” in the ancient Near East.

Archaeology from Every Angle: Papers in Honor of Richard L. Zettler

Session Chair:Katherine Blanchard, The Fowler/Van Santvoord Keeper of the Near Eastern Collections, Penn Museum

Description: This session covers a broad range of historical and archaeological analyses and approaches to the ancient Near East in honor of Richard L. Zettler’s contributions to the field. Richard is an expert not only on ancient Near Eastern material culture, but also on Near Eastern history, religion, and daily life through the cuneiform texts. In addition to all of this, he is the curator in charge of the Near Eastern collections at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where he encourages his students to revisit known objects, think outside of the box, and investigate everything. All of these topics will be reflected in the papers presented in his honor.

Archaeology of Petra and Nabataea **

Session Chairs: Cynthia Finlayson, Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University; David F. Graf, Department of Religious Studies, University of Miami (Florida)

Description: The purpose of this session is to include projects not only at Petra, but also from throughout the vast Nabataean kingdom and beyond where ever Nabataeans were active (the Mediterranean, Yemen, and Mesopotamia). The capital city of the Nabataeans has been the focus of numerous recent international archaeological projects, including many ASOR projects: the Great Temple, the Temple of the Winged Lions, and the Byzantine Church in the past, and currently the North Ridge, the Hellenistic Petra Project, the Garden Pool and Terrace, and the Ed-Deir complex. The art and architecture of Petra continues to be the subject for art historians. The immediate environs of Petra (Wadi Musa, Baydh, Ba’aja, and Humayma) have also seen renewed interest. In addition, there are recent projects in the Nabataean regions of Saudi Arabia (French, Italian, Polish), Syria (French), the Negev (Israeli), and the Sinai and Egypt (French, American). New Nabataean inscriptions also continue to emerge that illuminate Nabataean culture. We believe the session(s) will attract a host of scholars within ASOR and beyond. Additionally, by separating an independent session on the Nabataeans away from the already existing Jordan Sessions, more scholars will be able to present in all venues.

Archaeology of the Near East and Video Games**

Session Chair: Tine Rassalle, University of North-Carolina at Chapel Hill

Description: For centuries, the written word was the preferred medium for transferring archaeological academic knowledge to the broader public. With the advent of modern communication technology like radio, TV, and the internet the possibilities to interact with the audience were broadened. Video-games have since the 1980’s been a part of this new wave of telecommunication, but they remain underrepresented as a field of study in academic scholarship. In this session, we aim to correct this by offering a multidisciplinary discussion of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of archaeology and video gaming. Archaeogaming, as it is often called, is a systematizing framework that includes the use of archaeological methods within game worlds, the creation of video-games for, or about, archaeological practices, or the critical study of how archaeology is represented in video-games. Themes can include using archaeological tools and methods to conduct archaeological investigations into synthetic worlds, exploring heritage through play, and the use and ethics of virtual reality in digital spaces. In this session, we aim to present a diverse array of topics that sit on the intersection of the archaeology of the Near East and video games, opening up debate on the multifunctionality of this medium for research, education and heritage management.

Archaeology, Community, and Mentorship: Celebrating the Legacy of Bert and Sally de Vries **

Session Chairs: Elizabeth Osinga, Umm el-Jimal Project; Darrell J. Rohl,  Calvin University

Description: This session brings together a range of scholars who have been impacted by the long-term service of Bert and Sally de Vries to the scholarship and community development of the Middle East, particularly in Jordan. For more than 50 years, Bert and Sally have made their mark on the archaeology, cultural heritage, and community development and engagement sectors of Jordan, most notably through the Umm el-Jimal Project but also through long-time service and commitment to ACOR. Bert’s plan drawings are ubiquitous in the scholarship of Jordanian archaeology and Sally’s expertise in and collection of traditional textiles is remarkable. Together, they have been faithful champions of Jordan’s archaeology, cultural heritage, and its local communities within the present. Their work has helped to define community archaeology, and they have eagerly supported and mentored numerous local and international scholars and professionals, building capacity for sustainable futures. This session welcomes papers that draw upon or have been inspired by Bert and Sally’s work and that focus on one or more of the key themes of archaeological fieldwork, community archaeology/heritage, and student-scholar mentorship.

Best Practices for Digital Scholarship (Workshop)

Session Chairs: Sarah Kansa, Alexandria Archive Institute; Charles E. Jones, The Pennsylvania State University

Description: We expect to offer perspectives on a variety of topics such as open access publication, data collection, data publication, Creative Commons/copyright, data access, sustainability, self-archiving, negotiating author agreements, and the like. This will be offered as a workshop format with discussion among panelists instead of formal paper presentations.

First year topic (2019) : Networking and Publishing: Navigating social media, conventional and digital dissemination services
Second year topic (2020): Best practices in different sub-disciplines (ceramics, lithics, zooarch, GIS)
Third year topic (2021): Perspectives on publishing digital content. Panelists will discuss the opportunities and challenges in publishing digital content, including coordinating the dissemination of vast amounts of digital data, linking data within projects and across projects, citing digital content, and gaining professional recognition for digital publications. Panelists include data creators and publishers who will share their visions for the future of archaeological publishing.

Biblical Texts in Cultural Context

Session Chairs: Kristine Henriksen Garroway, Hebrew Union College; Christine Elizabeth Palmer, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Description: This session will focus on the biblical text within its ancient Near Eastern cultural and intellectual environment. Its aim is to provide a forum for collaboration and scholarship across disciplines that contextualizes the Bible in the broader cultural world of the ancient Near East through the three dominant themes of ritual, family, and society. We welcome contributions that utilize a variety of approaches—archaeological (material culture), philological (comparative literature), and iconographic (visual exegesis)—to explore biblical texts as cultural products and “textual artifacts” of ancient Israel Contributors are also invited to explore examples of textual description, or ekphrasis, that may offer a vantage point on relevant cultural practices and institutions attested in the ancient Near East. Year one of this multi-year session covered biblical ritual in light of ritual practices of the ancient Near East. Year two (2021) will be dedicated to family institutions and household practices, including the role of children, identity formation, and family religion. The third year will be focused on society, touching on topics of kingship and state, politics, and local economies.

Complexity Without Monumentality: Rethinking Nomads of the Biblical Period**

Session Chairs: Erez Ben-Yosef, Tel Aviv University; Zachary Thomas, Tel Aviv University

Description: The treatment of nomads/mobile peoples in biblical archaeology and biblical scholarship has until recently been confined to a narrow range of social interpretations, most of which are heavily based on Bedouin ethnography. Accordingly, the prevailing perception of biblical-era nomads has been one of people that could not form strong political entities, and whose influence on the course of history was marginal. Recent archaeological evidence of a strong nomadic polity in the Arabah Valley calls into question the existing research paradigm, with substantial implications for archaeologically based historical reconstructions and textual issues related to mobile groups, including the sedentarization process of the Israelite tribes and the emergence of a kingdom in the highlands. This session aims at furthering discussions of biblical-era nomads as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, consisting of complex continuums of sedentarization and subsistence practices. Papers include new or revised treatments of such societies in texts and archaeology, research on nomadism in other periods and geographic locations that can contextualize the southern Levantine case, and studies related to the epistemological challenges posed by archaeological and textual sources. This session will serve as a forum for scholars seeking to move beyond the existing paradigms and dichotomies around nomads and their socio-political role in the southern Levant and wider Near Eastern world. Following the fruitful discussion in the 2020 Annual Meeting, we aim to continue exploring this topic from various angles.

Cultural Heritage: Before, During, and After Crisis (Workshop)**

Workshop Chair: Tashia Dare, University of Kansas

Description: Cultural heritage can provide people with a sense of identity, dignity, social cohesion, and security. However, all too often that heritage is targeted for these same reasons. As heritage professionals and community members seek to protect this heritage, they frequently find themselves in danger and lacking resources. This multi-year workshop focuses on cultural heritage, heritage professionals, and local communities before, during, and after crisis situations. Two questions in particular to consider are how do we help heritage professionals and local communities be more resilient leading up to, during, and after crisis situations? And how do we empower these groups?

The first year will consider the following questions, among others. What can heritage professionals do when they feel powerless to protect themselves and their families from danger while also trying to protect cultural heritage? How do we keep local stakeholders safe? How do crisis situations affect local communities from accessing, participating, and contributing to their cultural heritage (including archaeological sites and museums)? What role do archaeologists and archaeology have in addressing these issues and other related concerns? What mechanisms are already in place to address these issues? Are these mechanisms working? What mechanisms are missing? How do we fill in the gaps?

The second year focuses on ethical questions and responsibilities for heritage professionals before, during, and after crisis situations.

Cultures of Mobility and Borders in the Ancient Near East**

Session Chairs: Eric Trinka, James Madison University; Shane M. Thompson, North Carolina Wesleyan College

Description: Studies of movement, mobility, and migration in the ancient world are becoming more numerous. Despite recent growth in some important research areas, a key methodological component remains absent from archaeological and textual studies: Few, if any, present works on mobility or movement in the ancient world integrate findings from modern mobility studies. Failure to do so has left noteworthy lacunae in researchers’ epistemologies of movement and place that require redress. The key contribution of this new session is to provide a more solid theoretical grounding for discussing the processes of human movement and contact. We assert that mobility is to movement as place is to location; social construction lies at the core of their distinction from, and relationship to, one another. Mobility does not simply occur in space. It is a constituent element of spatial production. To this end, we seek scholarly contributions that enable us to better understand ancient perceptions of emplaced-ness, movement, and general cultures of mobility in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Near East. We propose that the first three-year series will center the topics borders, bodies and cultures of mobility.

Yearly Themes
2021: Bringing Mobilities Studies to Bear in the ANE – Theoretical basis
2022: Defining and Controlling Mobile Bodies
2023: Drawing Boundaries / Disrupting Borders

Ethics in Archaeological Practice (Workshop)

Session Chairs: Sarah Lepinski, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Sarah Kielt Costello, University of Houston–Clear Lake

Description: This workshop will explore pressing topics and issues surrounding archaeological ethics as currently practiced, particularly as they relate to the ASOR membership, and address the principles of ethics in practice and professional responsibility surrounding conduct and authority in archaeology. We are building upon a successful initial workshop, which explored topics such as creating ethical and inclusive research communities; harassment and violence in the field; provenance and display practices; ethics in the conservation and preservation of archaeological collections; practices of archaeology, heritage and faith at religious heritage sites; and the “archive-as-subject” within archaeology. This year, we seek a full range of topics relating to ethical practice in archaeology, for example: ethics and the role of excavation director; ethical relationships with local communities and cultures; ethics in digital reconstruction and data management; site preservation.

From Paganism to Christianity: Transformation of Sacred Space in Sepphoris, the Galilee, and Beyond **

Session Chairs: Zeev Weiss, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Shulamit Miller, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Description: This session aims to investigate the social, cultural, and religious implications associated with the transformations of sacred space. The complex mix of ethnicities and religious practices attested in Roman and Late Antique Galilee, provide an excellent setting for investigating material expressions of religious worship, as well as changes transpiring in the religious character of the region over time. As a case study for the transformations of sacred space, this session will focus on the religious milieu of ancient Sepphoris, combining studies of the religious diversity witnessed in the material assemblages of the city; changes in urban space from private to public, temple to church; and visual expressions of religious and cultural identity employed in the sacred architecture and its décor. Each of the studies will address the finds from Sepphoris, contextualizing them within their local Galilean and broader regional contexts.
We invite to this session papers engaging urbanism, religious architecture, visual representations and material finds for the study of shifts in sacred space. We are particularly interested in studies providing insights into processes of social, cultural, political and religious changes taking place in the eastern Mediterranean during the Roman period and in Late Antiquity.

From Stone-Age Towns and to City-States: The Contribution of the Mega-Excavations at Tel Motza, Tel Asawir, Tel Beit Shemesh and Tel Yavne

Session Chairs: Omry Barzilai, Israel Antiquities Authority; Gideon Avni, Israel Antiquities Authority

Description: The increasing development in modern Israel in the last two decades has been a major supplier for new archaeological discoveries originating in salvage excavations.
Deficiency in housing and traffic networks throughout the country has triggered new construction projects, some of them overly large archaeological sites. As a result of the increased development, Israeli archaeology was obliged to face a new challenge in the form of “mega-excavations,” which involved excavations of thousands of square meters in a relatively short time. While at first glance, this task seemed to be impossible, a comprehensive preparation including recruitment of qualified manpower and incorporation of the finest field technologies and equipment has proven the opposite. The extensive field work was accompanied with on-site analyses which in turn revealed valuable data that could have not been obtained in small scale excavations. Among the major discoveries are the large Neolithic town of Motza, the Early Bronze age city at Asawir, the late Iron Age village on the east side of Tel Beit Shemesh and a public industrial district from the Persian period at Tel Yavne. The aim of this three-year session is to present aspects of research relating to the four mega-excavations carried between 2018 and 2020 by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israeli Institute of Archaeology, and Hebrew Union College. The first year’s session (2020) will present these valuable archaeological sites and focus on settlement planning and urban development. The second year will be devoted to economy, trade, and exchange, whereas the third year will focus on ritual and burial aspects.

Geophysics and Archaeology in Coastal and Shallow Marine Settings**

Session Chairs: Dr. Beverly N.Goodman Tchernov, University of Haifa; Michael Lazar, Department of Marine Geosciences, University of Haifa

Description: The incorporation and use of geophysical methods in archaeology has become a standard due to the non-destructive manner in which subsurface and surface information from large areas can be obtained quickly and without disturbance. This is particularly important and relevant in the coastal, nearshore, and shallow realms; all of which are today under threat due to global warming and related sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and development. The usefulness of geophysical tools has led to the incorporation of geophysicists into archaeological projects, both for their technological and earth sciences expertise. When such partnerships and collaborations are most fruitful, it can result in wider insights to a site’s natural and anthropogenic history and contribute critical information into interpretations, as well as produce ‘stand-alone’ research. Examples of this include the ability to reconstruct past sea levels, beach morphologies and environmental controls that may have influenced past settlement patterns. The current session is open to all studies carried out in the shallow marine (max 30m) and coastal areas where geophysicists and archaeologists collaborate side-by-side. Studies using ground penetrating radar, seismics, electromagnetics or any other geophysical method are welcome. The session aims to provide a platform for sharing interesting discoveries, problem-solving, and introducing novel approaches.

Grand Challenges for Digital Research in Archaeology and Philology (Workshop)

Session Chairs: Miller C. Prosser, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago; Timothy P. Harrison, University of Toronto

Description: A “grand challenge” is an idea that is meant to generate major changes, expand boundaries, intensify research activities, and mobilize resources. This workshop provides a venue in which researchers collaborate to address a series of grand challenges in the domains of digital archaeology and philology.

Year One: Breaking out of the Table: The Grand Challenge of Digitization
Year Two: Integrating Data Sets
Year Three: Analysis, Publication, Archiving, and Sustainability

2021 (Year Two): Integrating Data Sets
In this year’s Grand Challenge, we address the question of integrating heterogeneous datasets in archaeology and philology. This challenge is not unique to academia. (See Chapter 19 of Doan, Halevy, and Ives. Principles of Data Integration. 2012.) There is no simple solution for instant and on-the-fly integration of heterogeneous datasets, but there are data collection principles that may facilitate the future development of solutions to this problem. We welcome contributions from researchers addressing the problem of integrating their research data with other datasets. This may include—but is not limited to—coalitions of archaeology projects sharing metadata schemas or a common database platform, philology projects comparing texts, building dictionaries, or otherwise integrating datasets.

The Great Experiment at Tell el-Hesi: Reflections from the Past and Visions for the Future

Session Chairs: Kara Larson, University of Michigan; Geoffrey Ludvik, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Description: The 1960s and 1970s were a revolutionary time for theoretical frameworks and methodologies in anthropological archaeology, where science, careful excavations, and hypothetico-deductive research models were the pinnacle of archaeological practice. While previously excavated in the late 1800s by Petrie and Bliss, the Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi sought to apply the new Processual model in the Southern Levant for the first time, dubbed “The Great Experiment,” to ascertain if such a theoretical model would garner new information and understandings of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Over 50 years later, this celebratory session seeks to address two foundational questions: Did a Processualist approach actively contribute new understandings to archaeology in the Southern Levant, and is there more to learn at Tell el-Hesi? This session will explore broader theoretical and methodological concepts that have emerged from the Joint Expedition, dissect what can be learned from the Great Experiment, and address how the past can propel future groundbreaking work in the Southern Levant. We welcome an interdisciplinary collection of theoretical and methodological papers focused on various features of Tell el-Hesi to contextualize the work previously done at Tell el-Hesi and promote new models for archaeological research in the Southern Levant.

Hellenistic Galilee: Between Phoenicia and the Hasmonean Kingdom

Session Chairs: Uzi Leibner, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Description: Historical sources regarding Hellenistic Galilee are few and ambiguous and do not provide a clear picture about the population’s identity. Also our archaeological knowledge about this period from the inner parts of Galilee is scarce. While we have ample evidence for a dense Jewish population in the area in the Hasmonean and Early Roman periods, we do not know if and how it relates to that of the Hellenistic era and when and how did the region come under the control of the Hasmonean kingdom. This information is imperative for understanding the ethnic and cultural background in which Second Temple period Judaism and early Christianity developed in the Galilee.

The Hellenistic Galilee Project was initiated in an attempt to shed light on these questions through an investigation of the material culture and settlement dynamics in Hellenistic-period Galilee. The research includes an excavation of the key site of Khirbet el-‘Eika and smaller excavations in additional sites, and a survey of Hellenistic sites across the Galilee. The material culture revealed at Khirbet el-‘Eika points to a gentile population, with close ties to the Phoenician coast. The site came to a sudden end in a dramatic destruction dated to ca. 145/4 BCE and additional sites, abandoned in this period were identified in our survey. The session will concentrate on the material culture and settlement dynamics in the Galilee during the Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods and the conclusions that can be derived regarding the shifting in ethnic identity and political power in the transition between these two periods.

(Im-)Politeness Research in Ancient Egyptian Texts**

Session Chairs: M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, Brown University; Aurore Motte, von Humboldt Foundation – Johannes Gutenberg University of Main

Description: Politeness theory became increasingly popular after Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Facework investigates how language is strategically used by speakers (or in the ancient case, writers) to mitigate the imposition of a request, or conceal the offense of an accusation. The speaker can choose between different formulae of Positive (friendliness) or Negative (deferential) Politeness based on different factors, among which social hierarchy, power differences or seriousness of the message in the specific culture. Conversely, Discernment Politeness does not analyse the degree of Politeness as a conscious speaker’s choice, but as a socially imposed set of rules. Both aspects of (Im-)Politeness have been successfully applied to ancient texts. (Im-)Politeness has, however, not received its deserved attention in Egyptology and Coptic studies. Besides some pioneer work on the Late Ramesside Letters, studies on this topic are scarce in spite of its enormous possibilities to provide insight into ancient Egyptian sociolinguistic problems. Therefore, this session aims at investigating Politeness in ancient Egyptian texts with a diachronic perspective (from Old Kingdom to Coptic times) considering different scripts and alphabets, as well as its sociocultural implications to our understanding of life and identity in ancient Egypt.

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Resilience, Resistance, and Collapse in the Near East and Neighboring Regions**

Session Chairs: Nancy Highcock, University of Cambridge; Tobin Hartnell, American Univeristy of Iraq; Lorenzo d’Alfonso, New York University

Description: The 2020 virtual session focused on the themes of risk and resilience using a myriad of historical and archaeological approaches. The 2021 conference will explore these themes whilst expanding the focus of our discussion to include a critical perspective on the meaning of complexity and the role of environmental sustainability. We also invite scholars to think creatively about the strategic environment within which society operates, as a way to highlight the important social relationships that sustain or weaken systems. Should we define sustainability solely through an environmental lens or are there other normative factors that affect sustainability for the Near East and neighboring regions? Is sustainability dependent on specific environmental (or other) conditions in which societies operate? How should we define complexity? How does complexity contribute to environmental sustainability and/or social resilience? How did societies manage uncertainty, real or imagined? What role does partial knowledge or limited understanding of the world play into resistance or collapse? If crises were foreseen, what challenges prevented them being adequately addressed before degradation or collapse?  In this light, our session invites historians, archaeologists, environmental scientists, and heritage specialists to contribute to an interdisciplinary dialogue on the study of Collapse, Resilience and Resistance.

Islamic Seas and Shores: Connecting the Medieval Maritime World

Session Chairs: Veronica Morriss, University of Chicago; Asa Eger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Description: While the importance of Islamic seafaring has been historically overlooked, a new wave of research is revealing the many ways that the Islamic world was shaped by water. Outdated paradigms, such as the decline of maritime commerce following the conquest, and old tropes such as the “Arab fear of the sea” are being overturned by studies focusing on how the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean connected far-flung cultures, communities, and economies. This multi-year session will explore these connections region-by-region, to create a broader understanding of the development, expansion, and impact of Islamic maritime networks. This session aims to create a comprehensive view of the Islamic maritime world through archaeological and historical studies on seaborne trade and travel, mercantile networks, commodity production and maritime industry, as well as ports, coastal communities, and their associated hinterlands.

This session will be organized around the following the regions:
2021: The Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean
2022: The Mediterranean
2023: The Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean

Museums and Social Justice**

Session Chairs: Katherine Larson, Corning Museum of Glass; Caitlin Clerkin, University of Michigan

Description: Public museums originated in 17th century Europe as trophies of imperialism, colonization, and proclaimed European supremacy. As such, they are monuments to white supremacist ideologies. In buttressing racist hierarchies and narratives of “Western Civilization,” museums have alienated many stakeholder communities from cultural heritage materials and from authority over the stories these materials can tell. Yet, museums retain potential as places where diverse publics can gather and access the materials of ancient cultures.

Museums have been negotiating this complex heritage for decades, but calls for museums to diversify their collections, their staff, their audiences, their stories, and their role in society are becoming louder and more frequent. The problem is clear and well defined; solutions are myriad and urgently needed. This session will explore current practices and future possibilities in museums and collections through the lens of social justice. We invite papers offering theoretical and practical perspectives on ways museums, particularly those with ancient middle eastern holdings, can reckon with their legacies to become spaces of and for equity. Potential topics could include collaboration and co-creation, accessibility, countering old and problematic narratives, integration of modern art with ancient objects, provenance, repatriation, restitution, and more.

Navigating the “In Between”: Identifying a Career Trajectory in Academia for the Early Career Scholar (Workshop)**

Session Chairs: Vanessa Workman, Bar-Ilan University; Owen Chesnut, North Central Michigan College

Description: The workshop confronts the question that greets every graduate student at the conclusion of their doctoral studies: what next?

Specifically, we will address the critical moment of decision with panels on the academic job market (in-person meeting) and on pursuing post-doctoral positions (virtual meeting). The workshop will present information about the application process, the job market, and the realities of professional life, all from the point of view of recent job and post-doc applicants. In both panels, speakers will briefly relate relevant experiences, followed by a question-and-answer style panel.

The in-person workshop will host a panel of speakers who recently obtained faculty positions and who represent a variety of academic specialties in ancient studies and beyond. The virtual component will host a panel of scholars who currently hold or have recently finished a post-doctoral researcher position at a university or research institute in the United States or abroad

Network Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology and History **

Session Chairs: Steven Edwards, University of Toronto; Ioana Dumitru, Johns Hopkins University; Christine Johnston, Western Washington University

Description: This session will explore current applications of network analysis across a range of case studies spanning the Near East. From the rise of social and economic inequality to the development of interregional trade systems, network analysis provides archaeologists and historians with a suite of statistical tools to explore patterns in large, complex datasets. The contributions in this session highlight how network analysis is being used to tackle challenging and important questions of archaeological and historical significance, and showcase the amenability of network approaches to engaging with diverse types of data—whether archaeological or textual in nature.

New Approaches to Colour in Vitreous Materials

Session Chairs: Patrick Degryse, KU Leuven (BE) & U Leiden (NL); Andrew J. Shortland, Cranfield University (UK)

Description: The use of colour can be seen throughout human history, from the application of pigments in prehistoric wall paintings over the control of pyrotechnology in ceramic manufacturing to the addition of colourants in glass and glazes. Our perception of the past sometimes significantly changes with the study of colour in man-made objects, often aided by techniques from the natural sciences. Advances in scientific analysis have increased the possibilities to detect, image and study the use and meaning of colour, reconstructing how raw materials are obtained and transformed in technological processes to obtain particular effects. However, despite these new approaches in scientific analysis, it is only through the human observer that colour is embedded into culture and ascribed meaning. This session will discuss approaches to the investigation of colour and colouring agents in vitreous materials in the ancient Near East, along with their specific material properties and meaning.

New Directions in Ancient Literacy

Session Chairs: Jessie DeGrado, University of Michigan; Madadh Richey, Brandeis University

Description: Literacy and writing culture are complex topics that continue to be of central interest to scholars in ancient Middle Eastern studies. This panel aims to gather scholars from different disciplines to discuss new methodologies and datasets that will further the study of ancient writing and literacy in their broader social contexts. To provide a common starting point, panelists are encouraged to interact with a recent major study of literacy in one ancient Middle Eastern context, Theo van den Hout’s A History of Hittite Literacy (Cambridge: CUP, 2021), and to discuss how this volume can inform ongoing work in other areas of ancient Middle Eastern studies. In addition to a forward-looking summary of this book, the panel will feature new work in scribal culture, education, bilingualism, and translation in diverse fields, including Assyriology, Egyptology, and ancient Levantine studies.

New Directions in the Historical Geography of the Ancient Near East

Session Chairs: Chris McKinny, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi; Kyle Keimer, Macquarie University; Aharon Tavger, Israel Heritage Department at Ariel University

Description: This session aims to provide a platform at ASOR for archaeologists and historians to present original research related to historical geography. We would like to have topical discussions that are more narrowly defined by chronological or regional considerations. While we hope to see studies connected with the historical geographical details of the Hebrew Bible and other related texts, we also would like to see the discipline of historical geography be applied to texts and regions beyond both the southern Levant and the Bronze and Iron Ages.

New Realities? A Critical Approach to Recreating Objects for Examining and Presenting the Past (Workshop)**

Workshop Chairs: Emily Miller Bonney, California State University, Fullerton; Leann Pace, Wake Forest University

Description: The advent of 3-D printers, experimental archaeology, cultural heritage parks, community archaeology and even Virtual Reality and archaeological computer games has created new ways of exploring and thinking about the past. These processes of replicating, reproducing and recreating provide unique ways for archaeologists and students to investigate how people engaged with materials and artefacts across time. While we can make multiple copies of an artefact with a 3-D printer to take the past into the schoolroom we can also attempt to revive the techniques of the past as a way of replicating not just the object but the practice. Reproduction is no longer just about filling museum shops but about extending the life of the object. At the same time all these activities risk separating the object from its cultural context. If we turn the bust of Nefertiti into a t-shirt design or a piece of street art, what are the consequences for the original? How does that prototype now fit into our present? At the same time can such replicas provide ways to remedy colonial appropriations retaining the replica in the museum where the plunder was housed and returning the original to the descendants of that first crafter? From resources for teaching to tools for analysis this session encourages presenters to take a critical approach to different types of recreated objects in presenting and discussing the past. In papers of no more than six minutes in length and using only six slides participants are invited to reflect on the issues raised by the reproduction of the past and to consider doing so by focusing on a single object.

Persia and Arabia in Late Antiquity: Bridging the Ancient and Islamic

Session Chair: Arvin Maghsoudlou, Southern Methodist University; Kyle Longworth, University of Chicago

Description: Scholarship has long recognized late antiquity as a transitional period separating the worlds of antiquity from those of the middle ages. For Persia and Arabia, late antiquity is historiographically divided, if not bookmarked, by the emergence of the Islamic faith and conquest of the Sassanian Empire. On the one hand, this historiographical division gives the impression that Islam as a political and religious phenomenon was a definitive rupture between Sassanian and Islamic Persia. On the other hand, pre-Islamic Arabia has received rather scant scholarly attention in comparison with its Byzantine and Sassanian neighbors. This session aims to bridge the historiographical divide by exploring elements of late antique Arabia and Persia that do not map conveniently onto political and religious history.

The session is open to topics on the history, art history, and archaeology of late antiquity in Arabia and Persia (200-800 C.E.), especially those with a focus on cultural continuities between the pre-Islamic and ‘early’ Islamic period.

Phoenician Religion and Cult**

Session Chair: Meir Edrey,  PhD. The Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa

Description: The study of the religion and cult of the Phoenicians relies heavily on archaeology, as written sources that address these matters are often exterior, bias, and anachronistic. Analyses of the remains of rituals and votive offerings, from simple figurines to the gruesome act of child sacrifice, and that of sacred landscapes, from mountain tops to lavish temples, are all imperative for the reconstruction of the religious beliefs and practices of the Phoenicians. This is especially true today, as the amount of data that can be extrapolated from these remains is unprecedented thanks to the ever-growing scientific toolbox in the service of researchers. This session aims at showcasing new archaeological studies concerning the religious, ritualistic, and cultic practices of the Phoenicians in the Orient and the Occident during the first millennium BCE. It wishes to explore not only new findings, but also new attitudes and approaches to the study of the archaeological and textual evidences for religious and cultic practices among the Phoenicians, their continuity from earlier periods, and their changes through time and space.

Preserving the Cultural Heritage of the Madaba Region of Jordan (Workshop) **

Workshop Chairs: Douglas Clark, La Sierra University; Suzanne Richard, Gannon University; Andrea Polcaro, University of Perugia; Marta D’Andrea, Sapienza Università di Roma; Basem Mahamid, Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Description: This workshop seeks to encourage collaborative presentations, panel discussions, and structured conversations focused on issues in the Madaba Region of central Jordan, as defined by the Department of Antiquities: the area between southern Amman, the eastern desert, the Wadi Mujib, and the Dead Sea. Archaeological issues—whether generically archaeological, geo-political, architectural, anthropological, ethnographic, conceptual and theoretical, cultural heritage- or community-related, or technological—are enlarged, enriched, and enhanced when approached collaboratively in a regional context.

2019: Madaba Region strategies and plans for preserving cultural heritage and fostering community archaeology. This would involve short reports/conversations among excavations/projects already carrying out heritage protection initiatives and/or community archaeology (such as Hisban, Tall Madaba, MRAMP, Mukawir, Lahun?), those with plans to do the same (`Umayri), MOTA/DoA initiatives, USAID/ACOR/SCHEP endeavors, all in the service of cross-pollination of ideas and practices in the region.

2020: Collaborative presentations/conversations among Madaba Region archaeological excavation projects, centered on the current Madaba Archaeological Museum where regional finds are stored, studied, and displayed. Given the success with our application for a US Ambassador’s grant (AFCP/CATF—Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Protection/Cultural Antiquities Task Force, funded by the US Department of State) for 2019-2021 and building on the introductory presentation in 2019, the workshop will focus on progress in plans for this totally upgraded and repurposed storage and research facility for our collective artifacts, as well as updates on new virtual technologies designed to preserve and present the Madaba region’s extensive cultural heritage.

2021: Collaborative presentations/conversations among Madaba Region archaeological excavation projects and other colleagues, centered on the proposed new Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum (MRAM) where regional finds will be displayed in a new state-of-the-art facility. With the new interactive regional map onsite and online, with the new MRAM website live, and with the development of an enhanced 3D architectural concept design video along with virtual tours and exhibits, visitors can already experience the archaeological richness of the Madaba region digitally. Other issues involving the new museum, including onsite repurposing of the entry building and introductory/timeline hall (and ongoing repurposing renovations at the current museum), the possible removal of a small cinder-block building, a new regional grant proposal, and proposed new narrative lines for the museum will provide ample subject material for collective thinking and planning.

Protecting Libyan Cultural Heritage

Session Chair: Will Raynolds, Co-Director of ASOR CHI; Ahmad Emrage, University of Benghazi, ASOR CHI

Description: Since 2017, ASOR has partnered with Libyan colleagues to protect cultural heritage around the country, including archaeological sites, historic cities, and rare manuscripts as well as to counter and prevent the illicit trafficking of Libyan antiquities. This session provides members of the Libyan Department of Antiquities, local universities, law enforcement, and civil society organizations to present the latest results of these efforts and build greater collaboration with ASOR members with aligned goals.

Reintegrating Africa in the Ancient World (Workshop)**

Workshop Chair: Brenda J. Baker, Arizona State University; Geoff Emberling, University of Michigan

Description: The archaeology of ancient northeastern African societies has been dominated by a focus on Egyptian civilization, viewed through the lens of western heritage that separates it from Africa. This session aims to confront this colonialist legacy by emphasizing archaeology, bioarchaeology, and history of northeast Africa. Presentations will identify perspectives rooted in colonialism and structural racism that persist in scholarship of the region. Themes addressed include formation and decline of ancient African states and cities, the role of pastoralism in complex African societies, and aspects of identity and interconnections (both cultural and biological) within and beyond Africa in antiquity. The session welcomes work on a range of ancient northeast African cultures, including but not limited to Nubia (Kush), Aksum, Garamantes, and Egypt. Presentations and discussion will be organized around a specific theme each year to highlight the rich prehistory and history of ancient Sudan and northeast Africa.

Year 1: Colonial and anticolonial perspectives on ancient societies of northeast Africa
Year 2: Ancient northeast African interconnections
Year 3: African models of social complexity

This session is sponsored by the American-Sudanese Archaeological Research Center (AmSARC), a nascent organization that aims to support archaeological research in Sudan (https://amsarc.org/).

Scribal Hands and Habits in Cuneiform Texts**

Session Chairs: Nicholas Reid, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando) and ISAW, New York University; Klaus Wagensonner, Yale University

Description: With increased access to collections and ongoing digitization projects, the opportunity has arisen to embark on new primary research related to scribal hands. These observations have been largely hidden in the field of Assyriology, since textual copies were produced freehand by scholars. This great service to scholarship that moved the field forward through copies also hid other important data points, since copies are often interpretive and look like the hand of the scholar rather than the scribe. On the basis of the available evidence, scholars organized texts by provenance, personal names, dates, and topics, depending on the internal data of the texts. This approach to the vast number of cuneiform texts produced significant results, but we have not exhausted the available information, as there are other ways to consider these texts. By comparing handwriting, texts that were not able to be linked prospographically, topically, or chronologically may be linked through the handwriting of the scribe. By identifying scribal hands, much can be learned about archives, writing, literacy, and scribal arts. The session consists of papers related to various periods, that can explore scribal techniques, diagnostic features, orthography, textual division, and handwriting. These papers will seek to establish the prospects, limitations, methodological approaches, and early findings related to the study of scribal hands.

The Secret Lives of Objects: Conservation Science, Technology, and Digital Humanities

Session Chairs: Lissette Jimenez, San Francisco State University; Kiersten Neumann, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago

Description: Objects have unique histories, beginning with where they were made, followed by how they may have been used, discarded, discovered, bought and sold, stored, and displayed. The lives and stories of objects persist as archaeologists, art historians, and museum professionals continue to appropriate, objectify, and re-contextualize them in an attempt to uncover the histories and sometimes hidden truths surrounding these artifacts. Researching and contextualizing objects can shed light on issues of provenance and provenience; raise discussions of repatriation; and potentially redefine the histories of disciplines. The focus of this session will be on the importance of context and object histories and how current object-based research encourages a dialogue of challenging ethical issues. Year one (2019) of this multi-year session highlighted the importance of object research and context. Contributions focused on collections research, archival research and redefining disciplinary histories, and repatriation efforts. Year two (2020) explored how different types of object narratives and counter histories are established by cultural institutions, exhibitions, research, education, and publications, and how the reception and meaning of objects can change as a result of mode of presentation, perspective, and voice. This year (2021) will explore the application of conservation science, technology, and digital humanities projects to the study of objects and collections. Contributions to this session will discuss the benefits of interdisciplinary and collaborative object-based research with respect to these avenues of practice and suggest future possibilities for object and collections studies.