Seminary Professor to Give Lecture on Seminary’s Participation in Archaeological Excavation in Israel

ASHLAND, Ohio – Dr. John Byron, associate professor of New Testament, will discuss the seminary’s participation in the 2009 excavations at Tel-Gezer in Israel as part of a lecture on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Smetzer Auditorium on the Seminary campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Gezer guards the western entrance of Jerusalem from the coastal plain and was continuously occupied from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Period. It is one of three cities fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:16-17). Gezer is a 33 acre site originally excavated in the early 20th century by Macalister.

The excavation of the area last summer focused on the southeastern slope of the western hill, where previous excavations have revealed that there are several occupational phases of the Iron Age city. Since the last excavations in the 1960s and 70s, several issues and debates have arisen concerning the rise of the Israelite state in the Iron Age and Iron Age ceramic chronology.

The current project is sponsored by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Israel Antiquities Authority. The purpose of the project is to reexamine previous results in the context of newly excavated and published material with emphasis on ancient Gezer during the Iron Age.

Dr. Steve Ortiz and Dr. Sam Wolff co-direct the excavations with the participation of a consortium of academic institutions including Ashland Theological Seminary. Dr. Byron was accompanied by seven students who helped to excavate the site this past summer. Dr. Byron will discuss the history and significance of Gezer in ancient history as well as what was discovered during the recent excavations. Seminary students who participated will be on hand to talk about their impressions and experiences.