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Excavator · Scholar · Cataloguer

James Bennett Pritchard

fl. 1943–1978

Excavator and scholar, active 1943–1978. Worked for University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Life and work

  1. 1943
    Excavated at El-Jib, Tell es-Sa'idiyeh and Sarepta, where finds included a Cypriot Base-ring handle at El-Jib, and in a 1943 monograph on female figurines from Palestine suggested Cypriot or Mesopotamian origins for some types.

    Paul Åström, Excavations at Kalopsidha and Ayios Iakovos in Cyprus (1966), p. 187

  2. 1943
    Published a 1943 monograph discussing 249 Bronze and Iron Age female figurines from Israel, including 52 pillar figurines, and suggested Cypriot or Mesopotamian origins.

    Raz Kletter, The Judean Pillar-Figurines and the Archaeology of Asherah (1996), p. 12

  3. 1955
    wrote to Parrot asking whether France still planned to excavate at 'Ay in Claude Schaeffer's papers (Collège de France), 1 document, 1955.

    Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 167, «[Lettre à Schaeffer donnant les résultats de l'élection et des nouvelles académiques]», 7 May 1955of 2

  4. 1960–1964
    Directed the El-Jib excavations whose seasons, fieldbooks and publications (1960–1964) are cited for Iron I finds at El-Jib, including a Cypriote Base-ring ware handle.

    Nancy Lapp, Preliminary excavation reports and other archaeological investigations : Tell Qarqur, Iron I sites in the North-Central highlands of Palestine (1999), p. 168

  5. 1962
    Cited for work on identifying El Jib as Gibeon from inscribed jar-handles, and for his book Gibeon where the Sun stood still (1962).

    Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient And Old Testament (1966)

  6. 1962
    Excavated an object ('Handle Sherd,Milk Bowl', inv. 62-30-1403) in 1962; now in the Penn Museum.

    Penn Museum collection online, 'Handle Sherd,Milk Bowl', inv. 62-30-1403

  7. 1964–1974
    Excavated forty-five Late Bronze and early Iron Age tombs at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh in 1964–1965 and directed the University of Pennsylvania excavations at Sarepta in Lebanon from 1969 to 1974.

    Higginbotham Carolyn R., Egyptianization and Emulation in Palestine (2000)

  8. 1964–1965
    Excavated forty-five tombs dating to LB IIB and Iron IA at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh in 1964-1965 on behalf of the University Museum, Pennsylvania.

    Higginbotham Carolyn R., Egyptianization And Elite Emulation In Ramesside Palestine (2000)

  9. 1964–1965
    Excavated forty-five tombs dating to LB IIB and Iron IA at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh in 1964-1965 for the University Museum, Pennsylvania; fully published.

    Higginbotham Carolyn R., Egyptianization And Elite Emulation In Ramesside Palestine (2000)

  10. 1969
    Directed the excavations at Sarepta (Sarafand, Lebanon) beginning in 1969 for the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania; Sarepta is not Cypriot.

    Philip P. Betancourt, Temple University Aegean Symposium: A Compendium (2015), p. 66

  11. 1969–1974
    Led the University of Pennsylvania excavations at Sarepta (1969–1974) and wrote on Gibeon; his work is cited in Åström's report on Kalopsidha and Ayios Iakovos.

    Sarepta I, the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Strata of Area II, Y: The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania Excavations at Sarafand, Lebanon (1992), p. 505

  12. 1974
    Directed the Sarepta Bronze and Iron Age excavation project in Lebanon, whose 1974 season the author joined as a pottery specialist.

    Ancient Wine.

  13. Undated
  14. Undated
    Proposed, on the basis of tomb finds from Saidiyeh near Beth Shan, that the Sea People introduced new metal working forms into the Jordan Valley.

    John F. Brug, A Literary and Archaeological Study of the Philistines (1985), p. 170

  15. Undated
    Excavated at Sarepta and published the terracotta architectural miniatures and fragments from Sarepta, cited with figures.

    Adriano Orsingher, Architecture and Afterlife: Small Portable Shrines and Ritual Activities from Tyre to Ibiza (2023), p. 257

Mentioned in

6 mentions

Sources

  1. 1.Paul Åström, Excavations at Kalopsidha and Ayios Iakovos in Cyprus (1966).
  2. 2.P. M. Michèle Daviau; Margreet L. Steiner; Gabrielle Cole; Carlos E. Cordova; Christopher M. Foley; Jan Gunneweg; Marta Balla; Robert M. Kerr; David Lipovitch; Kenneth J. McNamara; David S. Reese, A Wayside Shrine in Northern Moab: Excavations in the Wadi ath-Thamad (2017).
  3. 3.John F. Brug, A Literary and Archaeological Study of the Philistines (1985).
  4. 4.Raz Kletter, The Judean Pillar-Figurines and the Archaeology of Asherah (1996).
  5. 5.Adriano Orsingher, Architecture and Afterlife: Small Portable Shrines and Ritual Activities from Tyre to Ibiza (2023).
  6. 6.Nancy Lapp, Preliminary excavation reports and other archaeological investigations : Tell Qarqur, Iron I sites in the North-Central highlands of Palestine (1999).
  7. 7.Higginbotham Carolyn R., Egyptianization and Emulation in Palestine (2000).
  8. 8.Higginbotham Carolyn R., Egyptianization And Elite Emulation In Ramesside Palestine (2000).
  9. 9.Ancient Wine..
  10. 10.Philip P. Betancourt, Temple University Aegean Symposium: A Compendium (2015).
  11. 11.Sarepta I, the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Strata of Area II, Y: The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania Excavations at Sarafand, Lebanon (1992).
  12. 12.Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient And Old Testament (1966).
  13. 13.Penn Museum collection online, 'Handle Sherd,Milk Bowl'.
  14. 14.Collège de France, Paris, Fonds Claude Schaeffer (34 CDF), 34 CDF art. 167, «[Lettre à Schaeffer donnant les résultats de l'élection et des nouvelles académiques]», 7 May 1955of 2. Online

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