Introduction to the book "Deathless Hopes: Reinventions of Afterlife and Eschatological Beliefs", Zurich and Vienna: LIT, 2018. Interdisciplinary account of eschatological belief.

Violence is a common motif that appears throughout the well-studied narrative and historical texts and images from the region of the ancient Near East and its neighbors, from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. Although depicted in both divine and human realms (e.g. Enuma Elish, Stele of Vultures, Chronicles, Battle of Qadesh, Baʿlu Cycle, Torah, Josephus), violence, whether physical or psychological (e.g. interpersonal, corporate, or structural), has been insufficiently studied from the perspectives of intention, motivation and legacy. During this three-year session, we will investigate the topic of violence through different methodological frameworks: (1) in 2017, the anthropology and hermeneutics of text and image analysis, (2) in 2018, the intentions (voluntary or not) and motivations of the authors in their use of violence as part of the narrative arc, and (3) in 2019, the philosophy of a contextualized violence (its social, moral and political questions) based on the understanding of text as well as image. We welcome abstracts from art historians, philologists, historians, anthropologists, and scholars interested in extending their analysis of violence beyond the bounds of traditional text-oriented approaches and determinism. We envision an interdisciplinary session attracting papers from Prehistorians, Assyriologists, Bible scholars, Hittitologists, Egyptologists, Aegeanists, and Byzantinists alike.

The 2016 and 2017 underwater excavation seasons, part of the Dor Joint Land and Sea Expedition, have produced new data which challenges our current understanding of the maritime interface of Iron Age Dor. The massive, ashlar-built coastal walls at the southern edge of the tel previously interpreted as quays, were found to be land structures. These are perhaps part of the site's fortifications during the Iron Ib-II period. An earlier wall made of limestone blocks, found underwater beneath these walls, can also be dated to the Iron I period. Further south, an extensive feature composed of ashlar stones is possibly a buried maritime structure. These discoveries provide a timeline of the development of coastal structures at Dor, possible indicators to ancient sea levels, and insights into the development of maritime activities in the coast of the Carmel.

The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in Kamid el-Loz, ancient Kumidi, has challenged both the urban landscape and the established political system. The architectural as well as functional history of iconic places inside the urban layout of the largest known city in the southern Beqaa suggest political changes that – eventually – had been overcome or have even lead into the transformation that we call Late Bronze Age. In this vein, the archaeological findings of palace and temple shed light on the assumed intersection between Middle and Late Bronze Age. The tight chronostratigraphic sequence allows to closely monitor the lifespan of distinct pottery types and findings. This, in turn, enables us to establish and discuss possible relations between changes in material culture and political establishment. Therefore, and in search for the integration of Kamid el-Loz into the economic and political interrelations to both the southern and northern Levant, the paper takes a diachronic view focusing on the chronostratigraphic presentation of the pottery findings and their architectural contexts during this important transitional period.

During a recent underwater survey conducted by the Laboratory of Coastal Archaeology and Underwater Survey at the University of Haifa’s Department of Maritime Civilizations, a limestone block presenting a Greek inscription was discovered. It was found in Dor’s northern bay at a shallow depth. The block was removed from its place of discovery, and underwent a thorough process of cleaning and preservation before the inscription was read by the authors of this paper.

This is a joint meeting of the AAR, SBL, and ASOR academic societies. I presented my paper, "The 'Bad' Samaritan? A View of the Economics of Radical Generosity from Luke 10:25–37" in Session IV (Saturday March 04, 4:30-6:00pm) of the AAR Bible and Modern Culture section.

Saturday, November 18 - 3:45 "A New Glance at the Old Babylonian Letter-Writing Practice through Digital Technologies"