My wife and I are attending the ASOR Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. This is one of several professional organizations for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies that meet in a different U.S. city every November to share results and research. It is also an opportunity for archaeologists and other scholars to network and shop for books directly from the publishers.
I have been a member of ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research) for a number of years, though this is only the third time being able to attend the Annual Meeting. Other professional organizations with similar interests such as SBL (Society for Biblical Literature) and ETS (Evangelical Theological Society) meet around the same time every November. Each year some scholars stay around and present for two or three of these groups on different days.
ASOR is the most archaeologically-based of these groups, and most of the presentations I’ve attended relate to Biblical Studies. Some of the sessions my wife and I both (hopefully) have enjoyed include new results from Jerusalem, Philistine Gath, ancient Egypt, and sites all over ancient Canaan/Palestine including the project I work with at Lachish.
Prof. Yosef Garfinkel at ASOR presenting on results from our work at Tel Lachish. His presentation includes an aerial photo from my friend Ferrell Jenkins.
This is also a good time to connect with people. I’ve enjoyed connecting with several friends from Tel Lachish and my previous site of Khirbet Qeiyafa. It’s also been a pleasure to introduce them all to my wife, Melanie. (She has not yet been to Israel, though we hope to remedy that next summer.)
Reconnecting with Itamar Weissbein and Igor Kreimerman, staff members with the Tel Lachish excavation.
The ASOR meeting began Thursday and concludes Saturday.
Bible, Archaeology, and Travel with Luke Chandler 
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