Bar-Ilan University plans Institute of Biblical Archeology
The $50 million institute will be part of the university's Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology.
By ETGAR LEFKOVITSbar ilan artifacts 88 29(photo credit: Courtesy)
Bar-Ilan University plans to build a new Institute of Biblical Archeology to counter revisionist historians skeptical of connections between archeology and the Bible.
The $50 million institute will be part of the university's Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology.
"The University has made a long-term commitment to place archeology at the forefront of its priorities at a time when archeology has been pushed to the way-side," said institute director Prof. Aren Maeir. Maeir added that Bar -Ilan was trying to fine a middle ground between "post-modernist revisionist nihilists" and "ideologically driven conservatives," using archeology to study Jewish history within the context of contemporary culture.
