Highly Recommended:
On Jan. 7, 1956, William Foxwell Albright, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, appears live on WAAM Baltimore. In this video, “Albright explains how to determine the age of an object by datable style and carbon-14 testing. He then shows slides and diagrams of the Hajar bin Humeid mounds in south Arabia. As authenticator of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dr. Albright discusses authentication methods for writings and scripts, such as comparing changes in the Hebrew alphabet and dated documents of the same period. Lastly, he describes qualities required for becoming an archaeologist.”
Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, interviews Joseph A. Fitzmyer SJ (1920-2016). Fitzmyer studied at Loyala University Chicago (B.A., M.A.), KU Leuven, Johns Hopkins (Ph.D. 1956 under William F. Albright), and the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He taught at various institutions, retiring from The Catholic University of America. He is best known for his work in Aramaic, early Jewish literature, and the Semitic background of the New Testament.
Cyrus Herzl Gordon (1908-2001) is interviewed by Gary A. Rendsburg (then of Cornell University, now of Rutgers University) at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (CAJS) at the University of Pennsylvania on Feb. 3, 1998. Born in Philadelphia, Gordon took his academic degrees from the University of Pennsylvania while having also studied at Gratz College and Dropsie College. His autobiography, A Scholar’s Odyssey, was published in 2000.
Gary A. Rendsburg (Rutgers University) presents his “Life in Scholarship” covering 45 years of academic life held at a Festschrift Celebration Event on Nov. 6, 2023. Rendsburg received his education at the UNC Chapel Hill (B.A.) and New York University (M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Studies under Cyrus Gordon). He taught at Canisius College and Cornell University prior to teaching at Rutgers. He is best known for his work in Israelian Hebrew, Hebrew literature, and medieval Hebrew codicology, among other subjects.
Edward M. Cook (The Catholic University of America) is interviewed about Aramaic language and literature. Cook is the author of a recent grammar of Aramaic called Biblical Aramaic and Related Dialects which situates the Aramaic portions of the Hebrew Bible in its dialectological context (Imperial and Qumran Aramaic). The interview discusses, inter alia, the inductive approach to language learning, the role of comparative Semitics in understanding Aramaic, and Aramaic as a lingua franca in the first mill. BCE.
Also Recommended:
Individual Lectures/Videos:
- Paul Delnero (JHU), “What Did You Learn in School Today? A Day in the Life of a Mesopotamian Student,” delivered at The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures on Nov. 8, 2023.
- Hugh Williamson (Oxford), “Old but Still Topical: The Dispute between Driver and Sayce on Biblical Archaeology,” presented for the Anglo-Archaeological Society in April, 2023.
- Richard Jasnow (JHU), “Do You Believe in Thoth? My Life With an Amiable Ancient Egyptian God,” delivered at The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures in April, 2023.
- British Academy presents, “Winners of the Edward Ullendorff Medal 2020 and 2021”: Otto Jastrow (2020) and Olga Kapeliuk (2021)
- Interview with Frank Moore Cross, Jr. (1921-2012), the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University. Most notable for his work on NWS epigraphy/paleography, work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient Canaanite/Israelite myth and epic, Cross received his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins under William F. Albright. At Harvard, he trained a generation of leading scholars in biblical and ANE studies. (N.b., the interview itself is subpar but videos of him are otherwise rare.)
YouTube Channels:
- British Library YouTube Channel
- Cambridge Archaeology
- Exploring the Quran and the Bible
- Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
- Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
- Israel Antiquities Authority
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Professor Michael Wingert
- W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
- Assyriology videos recommended by the International Association for Assyriology
- Assyriology and ancient Near East videos from the Collège de France