Forthcoming Lectures

Here is where you will find the schedule of AIAS lectures for the coming months.

As you will be aware, all charities are going through hard times during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society is no exception. Although we do not charge for our lectures, any contribution to the general costs of the Society would be more than welcome, particularly from non-members.

Anyone who would like to make a donation, large or small, can send an email to:   se*******@ai**.uk for details as to how to pay by credit card.

Our regular lectures are currently being held online, via Zoom, but we are also now hosting some in-person events at various locations in London and elsewhere. Check the lecture notices below for details.

King Solomon’s Mines Revisited: 10 Years of Excavations in the Timna Valley — PROFESSOR EREZ BEN-YOSEF

Thursday, 10 October 2024, at 5:00 pm BST (online, via Zoom)
Timna Valley excavations
Excavating copper mines in the Timna Valley. Photograph courtesy of Erez Ben-Yosef.

Tel Aviv University excavations in the Timna Valley have demonstrated that the peak of industrial activities occurred during the 10th century BC — and not during the time of the Egyptian New Kingdom, as previously believed.

So this raises the question of who was responsible for these vast mining activities. Could the Aravh copper from this region have been the source of King David and Solomon’s wealth in Jerusalem?

This lecture will explore these questions through the finds from 10 years of excavations in this fascinating region.

Registration details will be posted here in October. Zoom access will be from 4:45 pm.

Joint lecture with the Institute of Jewish Studies

Monday 11 November 2024 at 6.00pm (GMT) on Zoom.

Dr Eyal Baruch (Bar-Ilan University) will be talking about ‘Ritual Baths (Mikvehs) in Synagogues: Between Law (Halakhah) and Piousness’.

The discovery of mikvehs in Early Roman Period synagogues fits well with the discovery of many domestic mikvehs – in some settlements, a mikveh was unearthed in almost every house – and together seem to indicate that large segments of Jewish society followed halakhaic norms concerning purity and impurity. Mikvehs are so prevalent, that the synagogues in which mikvehs were discovered are surrounded by houses with mikvehs, which raises the question why were so many public mikvehs needed. 

Registration details will be posted here in due course. Zoom access will be from 4:45 pm.

Exploring the Holy Land with Josephus in Hand — PROF. TESSA RAJAK. Special Lecture (AIAS members only)

Thursday, 12 December 2024, 5:00 — 8:00 pm (Wiener Library, London)

This lecture will be part of a special event to celebrate AIAS Trustee Barbara Barnett’s 100th birthday. More information, including the lecture topic, will be posted here closer to the date.