FRIENDS OF ASOR WEBINARS
Early Synagogues, Jesus, and Galilee—A Jewish Perspective
Magdala Synagogue Stone Piece
Friends of ASOR presents the fourth webinar in our monthly series on December 13, at 7:30pm EST, featuring Dr. Eric Meyers. An expert in Judaic studies, Dr. Meyers will discuss how archaeological work in the Galilee over the past generation and a half has demonstrated that this region was overwhelmingly Jewish in the first centuries BCE and CE. In addition, the work has revealed a kind of common Judaism that was committed to purity regulations as illustrated by the nearly 1,000 ritual baths and stone vessels that have been found throughout the country. The excavations at Sepphoris Theater bear this out and indicate that large urban growth came only after the wars with Rome. The discovery of the Magdala synagogue in Israel from the time of Jesus, as well as others in the north and south, prove beyond any shadow of doubt that the references in the New Testament to synagogues reflect a genuine material reality.
In this lecture, Prof. Eric Meyers will take us on a journey across the Holy Land to discover how Judaism, and its places of worship, have evolved over the centuries. The webinar will conclude with a live Q&A session.
Eric M. Meyers, a 1962 graduate of Dartmouth College, holds an M.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, and received the Ph.D. with distinction from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, specializing in Bible, Jewish History, and archaeology. He served on the active faculty of Duke University from 1969 to 2015 where he has been a Professor since 1979; he presently is the Bernice and Morton Lerner Emeritus Professor of Judaic Studies and Archaeology at Duke University. From 1975-1976, he served as Director of the W. F. Albright School of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. Meyers has been on the ASOR Board of Trustees for almost 4 decades. Most notably, he served as ASOR’s President from January 1, 1990, through July 1, 1996, and then again from May 2006 through December 2008. Dr. Meyers was recognized by ASOR in 2007 and awarded its highest honor, the Richard J. Scheuer Medal for distinguished service.
Dr. Meyers has authored or co-authored 15 books, edited 20 others, and has published approximately 370 scholarly papers, reports, and reviews in the field of Hebrew Bible and Biblical Archaeology and Jewish History. The final report on the Excavations at Sepphoris appeared in 2018 published by Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press: The Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Artifacts of the Western Summit of Sepphoris, 2 volumes, with Carol Meyers and Benjamin D. Gordon. Dr. Meyers has been active in many learned societies besides ASOR including the Association of Jewish Studies, the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Academy of Religion, and the Archaeological Institute of America.
Dr. Meyers has directed digs in Israel and Italy for forty years and is perhaps best known for his 1981 discovery of the oldest Ark from ancient Israel, which coincided with the film, The Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dr. Meyers has served as host and narrator for many television programs about the Bible, Jesus, and archeology in Israel on such channels as WNET, A&E Channel, PBS Frontline, History Channel, BBC/Discovery Channel, NOVA, and National Geographic.
ASOR Sustaining Members: $0 | ASOR Members: $5 | Public: $10
To receive your ASOR member discount, log into the online store. If you are new to ASOR, please click on the “New Visitor Registration” link to enter your email and password for our online store. Then navigate to “Meeting and Event Registration” to register for the webinar and pay the fee. Each paid registrant will receive a confirmation email when you pay for the webinar. If you do not receive this email, then you are not registered. Please e-mail membership@asor.org with any questions or issues with registering.
You will be e-mailed the Zoom Webinar link in the week prior to the lecture on December 13, 2020. If you do not receive the link by the close of business on the Thursday before the webinar, please email membership@asor.org immediately. All webinars are recorded and all paid registrants who cannot attend the webinar will be sent a link to download the recording.
All proceeds from this lecture are used to fund scholarships for members impacted by COVID-19 as well as increasing ASOR’s online resources, which are free to the public.
