From The Time of the Patriarchs: Demand for Artifacts from the Dead Sea Plain in the Antiquities Market Place of Israel, Morag Kersel: Anthropology Lecture Series

Lecture: Other UCB Archaeology | March 11 | 4-6 p.m. | Kroeber Hall, Gifford Room, 2nd floor

Speaker/Performer: Morag Kersel, DePaul University

Sponsors: Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Research Facility

Previously sold in the legal market in Israel as Early Bronze Age pots from the Dead Sea Plain in Jordan, these prosaic, looted pots are now often labeled as “From the Time of Patriarchs.” The tie in to early Biblical narratives is directly related to the identification of the target consumer – religious pilgrims who all want to take home a piece of the Holy Land.

Using archival research, oral histories, archaeological evidence, and an examination of legislative efforts, this interdisciplinary investigation employs case studies from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine in order to examine the collecting of archaeological materials, the effects on the archaeological landscape, and the object biographies of those artifacts entwined in the trade in Holy Land antiquities.

Event Contact: 510-642-3392