Announcing the 12th annual Bible & Archaeology Fest to be held in New Orleans 11/09

Sept. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Twenty leading scholars will convene from around the world to share their research with the public in a in a dynamic seminar series designed specifically for the interested lay person. Concurrent sessions over the three-day period will address the latest developments in the fields of early Christianity, Gnostic scholarship, the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Israel and Biblical archaeology. For twelve years, the Biblical Archaeology Society is proud to be the only organization to bring current Biblical research to the general public straight from the scholars who are at the forefront of their fields.

Session topics include such presentations as Should the Gospel of John be Used in Jesus Research? by the renowned speaker Dr. James Charlesworth of Princeton Theological Seminary, Jesus and the Exorcists: What We Learn From Archaeology presented by the ever-popular Dr. Craig Evans of Acadia Divinity College, and Whence Came the Israelites and Their Language? delivered by eminent scholar Professor Anson Rainey of Tel Aviv University.

Professor April DeConick of Rice University will illuminate the world of the mysterious Gnostics with her startling and gripping lecture The Magical Judas: Iscariot’s Gospel and Gem, and Sandra Richter of Asbury Theological Seminary addresses a very modern problem as seen in the light of an ancient culture in her presentation The Israelites and the Environment: An Ancient Code Speaks to a Current Crisis.

Some of the latest and most exciting discoveries in the field of Biblical archaeology will be presented by the excavation directions themselves, such as Aren Maier of Bar-Ilan University in Fleshing out the Bible at Philistine Gath: The Interface of Bible and Archaeology, and Dan Schowalter of Carthage Collage, who will present the latest results of his excavation work in his presentation Architecture and Power: Excavations of a Roman Temple Site at Omrit in Northern Israel.


A plenary session will be held the first evening, in which Dr. Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University will present Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Fortified City in Judah from the Time of King David—an exciting excavation that has produced the oldest Hebrew inscription ever found.

The final evening will feature a banquet and question-and-answer session with Hershel Shanks, founder of the Biblical Archaeology Society and editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, scholar Jane Cahill of the Tell el-Hammah Archaeological Project and Dr. James Charlesworth of Princeton Theological Seminary.  Included in the program fee are all lectures, the plenary session, continental breakfasts, refreshment breaks, a final banquet and Continuing Education units.

Full details of the conference and the scheduled lectures, which is to be held at the Marriott New Orleans at the Convention Center, can be viewed at www.biblicalarchaeology.org/fest. For more information, please contact Sarah Yeomans at syeomans@bib-arch.org, 1.800.221.4644, ext. 221, or Alicia Bregon at abregon@bib-arch.org, 1.800.221.4644, ext. 208.

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The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit, nondenominational, educational organization dedicated to the dissemination of information about archaeology in the Bible lands.