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ACU Fellowship brings renowned archaeologist to Australia

World renowned archaeologist and scholar Professor Yossi Garfinkel will visit Australia this month as the inaugural ACU Sir Asher Joel Fellow.

Professor Garfinkel will deliver several public lectures in Australia, including The Sir Asher Joel Oration at the Sydney Jewish Museum on Thursday 20 April.

The lecture will explore the early kings of Judah: David, Solomon and Rehoboam. Professor Garfinkel and his team are currently excavating an historic city in Israel, which has given them unique insights into these ancient kingdoms.

The event is a collaboration of the Australian Catholic University, the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Australian Friends of the Hebrew University.

It will also feature ACU Associate Professor Gil Davis who recently led a group of Australian students on a dig in Israel with Professor Garfinkel.

The archaeological dig at Tel Lachish in southern Israel provided students with a close-up view of the history they are studying.

ACU students worked on the site of an ancient Canaanite and Judahite city celebrated by Lord Byron in his famous poem "The Destruction of Sennacharib".

The three-week tour was organised as part of ACU's new Ancient Israel Program led by Associate Professor Gil Davis, which includes a full Major in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and is offered as part of the University's Arts, Education and Biblical Studies disciplines.

The program has academic links with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University and other international institutions. It is fully funded by generous philanthropic donations from the Education Heritage Foundation, Henroth Foundation, the Sir Asher and Lady Joel Foundation, Isaac Wakil, and The Australian Friends of The Hebrew University.

Professor Garfinkel occupies the Yigael Yadin Chair in Archaeology of Israel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He has directed excavations in the Judean lowlands at the sites of Khirbet Qeiyafa, Khirbet al-Ra'I and Tel Lachish.