The American Schools of Oriental Research, (commonly abbreviated as ASOR) founded in 1900, supports and encourages the study of the peoples and cultures of the Near East, from the earliest times to the present. It is apolitical and has no religious affiliation. Its website is www.asor.org [1].
ASOR convenes a scholarly conference once a year in North America, always beginning 8 days before U.S. Thanksgiving (on a Wednesday evening) and running through Saturday evening. The 2008 conference was held in Boston, MA and drew over 730 scholars and interested lay members from around the world. The 2009 conference will be held Nov. 18-21, 2009 at the Astor Crowne hotel in New Orleans. See the ASOR website for details.
ASOR also publishes three scholarly publications. Two of the journals are academic flagships in their respective areas: the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research presents archaeological, historical, and epigraphic articles on topics from the ancient Near East, and the Journal of Cuneiform Studies presents articles in English, German, and French on Mesopotamian topics. The organization also publishes Near Eastern Archaeology Magazine, a quarterly that reports recent research for both popular and professional audiences.
ASOR supports three independent overseas institutes in Nicosia, Jerusalem and Amman. The overseas institutes support scholars working in the Middle East that focus on Near Eastern Archaeology, Semitic languages, history, and Biblical studies.
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ASOR and the Dead Sea Scrolls
ASOR also played a significant role in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the Spring of 1948, Dr. John C. Trever was filling in for Millar Burrows, the director of ASOR in Jerusalem, when he was contacted by a representative of Mar Samuel, who wanted to authenticate three ancient scrolls that he had recently purchased from an antiquities dealer. Trever photographed the scrolls, and immediately sent copies to his mentor--famed Near East scholar William F. Albright, who congratulated him on the "greatest manuscript discovery of modern times!”
In early September 1948, Mar Samuel contacted Professor Ovid R. Sellers, Burrows' successor as ASOR Director in Jerusalem. Samuel showed Sellers some additional scroll fragments that he had acquired. Sellers then focused on finding the cave in which the scrolls had been found. In late 1948, nearly two years after the discovery of the scrolls, scholars had yet to locate the cave where the fragments had been found. Conducting such a search was dangerous. When the British mandate in Palestine ended on May 15, 1948, war broke out immediately, and peace would not be restored until November. With the unrest in the country, Sellers attempted to get the Syrians to help locate the cave, but they demanded more money than Sellers could offer. The cave was finally discovered on January 28, 1949 by a UN observer, and Sellers brought his box brownie camera to take the first photos of the cave, which were soon published in Life Magazine.
Sources
- King, Philip J. American Archaeology in the Mideast: A History of the American Schools of Oriental Research (1983).
- Clark, D.G. and V.H. Matthews 100 Years of American Archaeology in the Middle East: Proceedings of the American Schools of Oriental Research Centennial Celebration (2003).
External links
- American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)
- ASOR's affiliated overseas centers are members of CAORC
- ASOR also has a division in Canada, CASOR
- Near Eastern Archaeology Magazine
Council of American Overseas Research Centers
- W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (AIAR) Jerusalem, Israel
- American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) Amman, Jordan
- Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) Nicosia, Cyprus
- Baghdad and Damascus Committees
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