Sunday, January 26, 2025

Emergence of the Israelites: Transition From a Village Perspective

J.P. Dessel

This presentation will review the evidence for rural elites in Iron Age I and the implications that has for understanding the emergence of the Israelites.

Our understanding of the rural hinterland in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Israel is poor, at best. It is assumed that rural villages are closely tied to nearby urban city-state and had little agency or impact on events like the emergence of ancient Israel.

Unfortunately, due to the limited excavation of village sites, archaeological traces of rural elites have been very elusive.

Based on the excavation of sites like Tell ‘Ein Zippori and Tell el-Wawiyat, in the Lower Galilee, however, such multi-period villages offer compelling evidence for a deeply rooted rural population with its own potentially independent social and political organization. In particular, Tell ‘Ein Zippori displays an unforeseen sense of rural complexity that suggest the presence of rural elites, a group known from textual sources such as the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic texts.

J.P. Dessel is the Steinfeld Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Christianity in Rough Cilicia

Jaime Gunderson – University of Pittsburgh

After the division of the Roman Empire in the fourth century C.E., Cilicia became part of the Byzantine Empire. Cilicia was one of the most important regions of the classical world and which some scholars consider as the birthplace of Christianity.

This presentation examines narratives of "Christianization" in Roman "Rough Cilicia" based on archaeological evidence from Christian spaces at Antiochia ad Cragum, Selinus, Nefelis, Anemurium, and Elaiussa Sebaste.

There were diverse ways in which local communities adopted Christian practice and wove the emerging religion into the fabrics of their respective communities. Accordingly, this presentation pushes back on universal and generalizing narratives of the spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire.

Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Josephus’s Masada Story: Martyrs, Murders, and Myth

Jonathan Klawans – Boston University

The story of mass suicide at Masada has been told by our only contemporary source, Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, priest, autobiographer and general. Although his histories may have been written, at least in part, for a Roman audience, this presentation evaluates the story in the context of ancient Jewish sectarianism and nationalism.

The validity of the story in light of Josephus’s biases and motivations will be probed, and taken into consideration will be the attitudes toward suicide and martyrdom as articulated by Josephus and other ancient Jewish sources.

Also explored will be the meanings the story has taken on in contemporary Israeli history and culture with comparisons to some more recent stories of tragic mass suicide.

Co-sponsored by B’nai Israel Congregation, The Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies, BAF, and BASONOVA.

This event will be held at B’nai Israel: 6301 Montrose Road / Rockville / MD 20852.

Sunday, April 27, 2025

A New Weapons System at Old Ur

Fred Winter

This presentation examines the practice of warfare in the Sumerian era and the changes that resulted by the development of new military technologies in the later third millennium BCE.

The lecture draws upon set of finds from Sir Leonard Woolley's excavations during the 1920s-1930s at the third millennium BCE site of Biblical Ur.

A reexamination of these artifacts from the excavations in Ur's Royal Cemetery led to the identification of a "new" set of projectile weapons, and illustrates how even established and venerable archaeological collections can lead to new interpretations of past behaviors.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

The Second Athenian Confederacy

Nicholas Cross

In 378 BCE, thirty-six years after their defeat in the Peloponnesian War and the dismantling of their empire, the Athenians took the bold step of reconstituting their hegemony over the Aegean world.

But contrary to the view that the Second Athenian Confederacy was an attempt to revive Athens’ imperial past, this new organization was a bold experiment in inclusive geopolitics. In its political, financial, and military institutions, the Confederacy differed from its fifth-century predecessor by allowing a greater role for the seventy allies under Athenian leadership.

This presentation will employ an innovative approach to understanding interstate relations in the late Classical period. Through an examination of literary and epigraphical evidence, it will explore the origins of the Second Athenian Confederacy, the mechanisms for its operations, and the reasons for its downfall between the 350s and 338 BCE.

Nicholas Cross is Assistant Professor of Ancient Mediterranean History at the United States Naval Academy.

Sunday, November 13, 2022

20,000 Leagues Under The Wine-Dark Sea

Emily Egan

This event is sponsored by the Hellenic Society Prometheas

This presentation takes a deep “dive” into depictions of marine life in the art of Late Bronze Age Greece (ca. 1600–1100 BCE). Amid a survey of sea creatures, including octopods, dolphins, and fish, special attention is given to the enigmatic argonaut motif and its appearance in the wall paintings of the Mycenaean Palace of Nestor at Pylos

New research at the Palace of Nestor suggests that argonauts were not simple ornaments but powerful royal symbols, on par with more fearsome Aegean “totems” like lions and griffins. This lecture interrogates this new theory and the evidence that underpins it and also demonstrates how the painted forms of the creatures, when viewed closely, offer a rare insight into the thought processes and working methods of Greek Bronze Age artists.

Emily Egan is an Assistant Professor of Eastern Mediterranean Art and Archaeology at the University of Maryland.

This event will be at Yayla Bistro: 2201 N. Westmoreland Street, Arlington, VA 22213

The luncheon begins at 2:00 PM; the lecture begins at 3:00 PM.

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Exile and Return: The Birth and Defining Moments of Ancient Judaism

John Ahn

Co-Hosted by BASONOVA, BAF, B'nai Israel Congregation and the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies

What was the impact of involuntary and voluntary forced migration on Judaism, a diaspora religion? Without the historical experience of the exile and return, Judaism would not exist.

In the midst of political collapse and the annexation of the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the sixth century BCE, how did a kingless and kingdom-less people maintain authority and coherence? With the return of exiled Judahites from Babylon and those who fled to Egypt, plus others from smaller satellite nations like Moab, complications arose in articulating a post-exilic, “normative” Judaism.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

Cultural Affinities and the Legacy of Cyrus the Great

Reza Zarghamee

Ancient Iranian-Elamite assimilation is a contentious subject of recent scholarship regarding the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Increasingly, scholars are focusing on the cultural debt that the early Persians owed to the Elamites.

Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BCE) stands at the center of this scholarly discourse, as several prominent historians have argued that the Persian imperial founder should be regarded either as an ethnic Elamite or as a Persian who self-identified as an Elamite for political purposes. The basis for this dispute rests in interpretations of his title, “King of Anshan,” and the origins of his name.

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Ancient Slavery and Early Christians

Katherine Wasdin

Slavery was an omnipresent part of life in the ancient Mediterranean. One of its most brutal artifacts is the Zoninus collar, a late antique Roman metal collar designed to be worn around the neck of an enslaved person. One such collar that survives to this day bears a tag that identifies the wearer as owned by Zoninus and is decorated with a palm frond, indicating that Zoninus was a Christian.

The Pauline Epistle of Philemon (one of the books of the Christian New Testament), which accompanies the escaped slave Onesimos as he is returned to his owner Philemon, attests to a worldview about slavery among the earliest Christians. In contrast to the spiritual liberation promised by the new Christian religion, those who find themselves in actual slavery are to remain there.

While slaves were seldom able to tell their own stories, scholars have increasingly examined our available evidence, like the Zoninus collar, to tease out their experiences. This talk will explore the legal and social impacts of slavery in ancient Greco-Roman society and then turn to the role of actual and metaphorical slavery in early Christianity.

Katherine Wasdin is an Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Maryland. 

Sunday, September 12, 2023

The Odyssey of Homer: Origins & Themes

Lillian Doherty

The circumstances of composition of the Homeric Odyssey are famously uncertain; but the poem itself includes many tantalizing clues to its origins and development.

From the connections with Athens, where the hero’s divine patron Athena and his enemy Poseidon were both important deities; to the focus on sea voyages typical of the Greek age of exploration and colonization; to the echoes of the Trojan War and its Mycenaean context, and finally; to the inclusion of older international tales such as the Homecoming Husband, Dr. Doherty will trace in reverse chronological sequence some of the historical layers that went into the composition of this famous epic.

Lillian Doherty is Emerita Professor of Classics, University of Maryland.

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Troy and the Trojan War: Did It Happen?

Eric Cline

Sponsored by the Hellenic Society Prometheas

Calamitous battles, breathtaking Helen, love-struck Paris, cuckolded Menelaus, and a giant wooden horse — Homer's famous tale of the Trojan War has fascinated humankind for centuries and has given rise to countless scholarly articles and books, extensive archaeological excavations, epic movies, television documentaries, stage plays, art and sculpture.

For more than a century, archaeologists and historians have struggled to answer questions about the Iliad, Homer’s magnificent tale.  Did Troy really exist?  Where was it located?  Was there a Trojan War or is Homer’s tale simply a good yarn?  Is there any historical truth in a face that launched a thousand ships or was there simply a ten-year struggle for political hegemony in the Aegean?  

This fully illustrated lecture will present the thesis, based upon the latest archaeological and textual discoveries, that a Trojan War, or several such wars, did indeed take place during the Late Bronze Age. Although many questions remain that have ignited scholarly controversies and even most-unscholarly fistfights, one can conclude without a doubt that there is a kernel of truth in Homer’s story. 

Eric Cline is Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology at George Washington University.

Sunday, November 19, 2023 

New Views on an Old Temple: The Parthenon and Its Decoration

Jenifer Neils

Sponsored by the Hellenic Society Prometheas

The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is perhaps the most readily recognizable building in the world, and during the past two millennia our understanding of it and its sculptural decoration has continued to evolve.

This lecture will examine some of these changing interpretations and how they are – or are not – related to the cultural, social and political context of 5th-century BCE Athens. Primarily a lavish marble temple dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens, the Parthenon is also a civic monument celebrating the democratic state’s victories in war, the valor of its heroes, the beauty of its citizenry, and even the status of its women.

Jenifer Neils is Emerita Professor, Case Western University and former Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Recent Top Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology

Glenn Corbett

Sue Laden Commemorative Lecture

What stories are making headlines in the world of biblical archaeology? What exciting discoveries in Israel, Jordan, and beyond are changing the ways that archaeologists and textual scholars view the biblical past?

This lecture, explores some of the top biblical archaeology finds and stories from the past few years, from groundbreaking new methods for dating biblical battles to the controversial Mt. Ebal tablet that claims to be the earliest Hebrew inscription.
Find out which discovery tops the list AND get a sneak peek at some of the fascinating and thought-provoking articles being prepared this coming year for BAR (Biblical Archaeology Review).

Glenn Corbett is Editor-in Chief of BAR Magazine.

Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 2 pm

Glitter & Gold, Books & Buildings: Female Patrons in the Art of Late Antiquity

Heidi Gearhart

As Christianity spread throughout the former Roman Empire in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries CE, new kinds of art were needed for the performance and practice of a new religion.

This period is one of great diversity, as in many places pagans, Christians, and Jews lived in close proximity to one another. As a result of this proximity, late antique art is witness to a rich mixing of cultural traditions.

This is also a period when many patrons of art were women. These female patrons built new churches, commissioned books, and established religious and social institutions. This lecture will look at the spectacular works made under the patronage of women in Late Antiquity and the early Byzantine era, from the reign of Constantine in the fourth century, to that of the legendary Theodora, wife of the Emperor Justinian, in the sixth.

Heidi Gearhart is Associate Professor of Art History at George Mason University.

Sunday, March 24, 2024 

The Fall of Roman Britain

Samuel Collins

The last fifteen years have witnessed a sea change in how historians understand the end of Roman rule in Britain. This Roman state failed more dramatically and more precipitously than elsewhere in the fifth-century west, but exactly what happened in the final phase of the Roman imperial project in Britain has remained stubbornly obscure and contested.

Driven by impressive recent archaeology, a new scholarly consensus has begun to emerge about the history of the end of Roman control in Britain. This evolving new history is a more radical departure from the old master narrative than for any other portion of the western Roman Empire in the long and difficult fifth century.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

From Washington’s Rome to Jackson’s Athens: Federal Greek Revival Architecture in D.C.

Elise Friedland

Diane Harris Cline Memorial Lecture

America's Founding Fathers initially looked to Rome for political as well as architectual inspiration. Just decades into the great political experiement, however, politicians turned away from Roman Republicanism and toward Greek democracy created in the fifth-century BCE Athens.

This lecture details how federal architecture followed this shift in early American thought. It surveys the "second wave of federal building" in D.C. and demonstrates how the successors of our Founders and their architects not only monumentalized, but also "Hellenized" the capital city. To ensure that D.C.'s architectural landscape evoked classical Athens, they created a one-mile-long "axis of Greek Revival" buildings for the Executive Branch of government along F Street that stretched from the President's House to Judiciary Square.

By echoing some of the most-renowned buildings of ancient Greece in early nineteenth century Washington, the (presidential) patrons and their architects sought to communicate the permanence, power, cultural stature and democratic ideals of young America.

Elise Friedland is Associate Professor of Classics and Art History at George Washington University

Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 7:30 PM at B’nai Israel

After 1177 BCE: The Survival of Civilizations

Eric Cline

In the years after 1177 BCE, many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture was lost.

After 1177 BCE will trace the compelling story of what happened during the next four centuries across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration. Those that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Israelites, Philistines, Phoenicians, Neo-Hittites, Neo-Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, and world-changing innovations such as the use of iron and the alphabet.
It is now clear that this period, far from being the First Dark Age, was a new age with— new inventions, new opportunities, and lessons for us today.

Eric Cline is Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at George Washington University.

Wednesday, June 19 at 8 pm Eastern via Zoom

The Trojan War: The Epic in Art

Renee Gondek

One of the most famous epic narratives of classical mythology is that of the Trojan War, a decade-long conflict over the possession of Helen, the most beautiful women in the world.

Pitting Greeks against Trojans, the war featured countless heroes like Achilles and Odysseus, and it was integral both to the psyche of the ancient Greeks and to the mythical foundation of the ancient Romans.

Sunday, September 8, 2024 

A History of Death in the Hebrew Bible

Matthew Suriano

The descriptions of death and burial in the Hebrew Bible are brief and ambiguous. Portrayals of postmortem existence are also enigmatic, seemingly contradictory and not fixed during First and Second Temple times.

The Psalms often depict the dead as residing in Sheol, a dark and dreary place: tomb-like. Passages in Genesis and Ecclesiastes imply that Sheol is the common fate of all people regardless of whether they were righteous or unrighteous. While Sheol is mentioned sixty-six times in the Hebrew Bible, it is never clear whether it is a final resting place; the prophet Samuel is recalled from death by King Saul.

A tomb also holds positive connotations in biblical literature. An ideal death involved being “gathered to one’s kin” and buried inside the family tomb. Burial practices also changed over time. The excavation of Iron Age tombs from Judah show that the dead received two burials: an initial interment when the body was brought to the tomb, and; a secondary burial when their bones were transferred to a repository of family bones stored inside the tomb.

Matthew Suriano - Associate Professor, Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland.

This event will be held at:

Yayla Bistro - 2201 N. Westmoreland Street / Arlington / VA 22213

Luncheon 2 pm; Lecture 3 pm

Sunday, October 6, 2024 

A Trio of 3rd Century Early Christian Inscriptions in Greek from Biblical Armageddon

Christopher Rollston

Spnsored by the Hellenic Society Prometheas

On occasion, ancient inscriptions with some very dramatic content will come to light, and with three recently excavated Megiddo Mosaic inscriptions we have just such a case!

One of these inscriptions, commissioned by a prominent woman named "Akeptous," includes this stunning sequence of words: “God Jesus Christ." Another of these inscriptions contains a command to "remember" four prominent women: "Primilla, Kuriake, Dorothea, and Chreste." Finally, one of these inscriptions refers to a Roman centurion named "Gaianus" (Greek: "Porphyrius") as the prominent benefactor who made the donation for the mosaic.

This mosaic inscription also includes a medallion with two fish (reminiscent of "the loaves and fishes" miracle or the famed Early Christian symbol acronym IXTHUS, or both). These mosaic inscriptions have been removed from the ground, are currently being conserved, and will be exhibited at various museums (including in Washington, DC) before being returned to Megiddo.

Christopher Rollston - Professor of Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures at George Washington University

Wednesday, December 18 at 8 pm Eastern via Zoom

Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living

Menachem Fisch and Debra Brand

How does one live a life of wisdom and fulfillment in a far-from-perfect world? This lecture is an inquiry into the value of life “under the sun” as recorded in the text of the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes by Qohelet.

Modern readers have been influenced by the famous declaration from the 1611 King James Bible version, “vanity, vanity, all is vanity,” and have commonly understood that Qohelet found only futility and hopelessness in human life. Instead, Fisch uncovers Qohelet’s twin concerns: that life is short, that we can never be assured of comprehending our world or understanding divine will and intent.

In sixty immersive, and discursive illuminated paintings of the entire text, Band creates a visual midrash, drawing out the relationship of Qohelet’s thought to other biblical texts and Jewish lore and its reverberations across the centuries and cultures of western civilization, from ancient Israel to today’s America.