Dr. Gabriel Barkay, one of the world's most renowned archaeological excavators, will visit Geneva College on Monday, November 11. The program begins at 5:30 p.m. with a meet-and-greet session. Then, from 6:30 to 9:20 p.m., Barkay will present two lectures: "The Temple Mount Sifting Project" and "The Oldest Biblical Texts in the World: The Silver Amulets from Ketef Hinnom."
"‘Gabi′ Barkay is one of the most celebrated excavators in all the archaeological world, so it is a real coup that we get to have him lecture here at Geneva," states Dr. Byron G. Curtis, an internationally published Geneva professor. "He probably knows more of the archaeology of Jerusalem than any living scholar. I've toured the Temple Mount with him twice; he's a phenomenon."
Barkay teaches at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat Gan, Israel) and at Jerusalem University College (Mt Zion). He is the discoverer of the oldest surviving biblical texts in the world, the inscribed silver amulets from Ketef Hinnom, which are from around 600 BC and contain the Israelites′ priestly blessing mentioned in Numbers chapter 6. For his decades of distinguished scientific achievement, he was awarded the Jerusalem Prize in 1996.
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is a sacred site for Judaism and Christianity, as well as the location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the shrine of the Dome of the Rock. The Waqf, the Muslim trust which manages the site, has conducted various illicit construction and renovations over the last century without any archaeological supervision or control, peaking in 1999-2000. The Temple Mount Sifting Project was established with the purpose of sifting all the debris removed from the Temple Mount and to try to retrieve as many artifacts as possible.
Managed by Barkay, along with Zachi Dvira, the Temple Mount Sifting Project is an educational tourism site that receives daily groups of visitors from all over the world who participate in the sifting. More than 130,000 people, including three groups from Geneva College, have taken part in the sifting, which is a unique phenomenon in archaeological projects.
Barkay's appearance at Geneva is part of Barkay's current U.S. speaking tour. Upcoming engagements include Princeton University and the University of Nebraska.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Bible, Christian Ministries & Philosophy and the Geneva Visiting Artist and Lecture Series (GVALS), the meet-and-greet session and lectures are free and open to the public.
Learn more about Dr. Gabriel Barkay here.
Explore the Temple Mount Sifting Project here.
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