Avraham Biran

Infobox_Scientist
name = Avraham Biran


caption =
birth_date = 23 October, 1909
birth_place =
death_date = 16 September, 2008
death_place =
residence =
nationality =
field = Archaeology
work_institution = Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem
alma_mater = Johns Hopkins University
doctoral_advisor =William F. Albright
doctoral_students =
known_for = Tel Dan archaeological excavation, Tel Dan Stele discovery
prizes = Israel Prize 2002 [ [http://www.huc.edu/newspubs/pressroom/2002/biran.shtml DR. AVRAHAM BIRAN, DIRECTOR, NELSON GLUCK SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION/JERUSALEM, AWARDED ISRAEL PRIZE, THE STATE OF ISRAEL'S HIGHEST HONOR] ]
religion = Judaism
footnotes =

Avraham Biran (23 October, 1909 – 16 September, 2008) (born Avraham Bergman; _he. אברהם בירן) was an Israeli archaeologist, most well known for heading excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel for more than 30 years. Biran received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, studying under the dean of Near Eastern scholarship, William F. Albright. Biran knew Sir William Flinders Petrie, the father of modern Near Eastern archaeology. In addition to leading the Tel Dan excavation, Biran dug at numerous sites in Israel, British Mandate-era Palestine and in Iraq, and he headed the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem for many years.

Childhood and Education

Biran was born in 1909 in Petah Tikva, then part of the Ottoman Empire, almost four decades before the establishment of the State of Israel. He liked to refer to himself as a "Mayflower Israeli", since his ancestors were among the founders of the settlement of Rosh Pina. During his youth his family moved to Egypt, where his father managed a farm in a small village. After his father's death the family returned to Palestine and he grew up in his grandparents house until the age of 13. He studied at the Hebrew Reali School of Haifa which he says left an lifelong impression on him. He said:cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.il/pras-israel/pras_5k.htm|title=Biography and work of Avraham Biran (Hebrew)|accessdate=2008-09-18]

My initial interest in archaeology began when I was a student at the Reali school in Haifa, under the influence of the principle Dr. Arthur Biram, who taught us Bible combined with ancient history. During those days we went on many hikes, and we loved to hike with the Bible in hand. Among other places, we visited ancient Samaria and the archaeological digs of the American expedition; we visited Jerusalem, the Western Wall, Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs. I think that these were the seeds that later sprouted when Professor Albright, one of the great archaeologists, invited me to come study with him.

Afterwards, he continued his studies in the David Yellin Teachers College in Jerusalem. From 1928-1930 he taught in the Reali school in Haifa. In 1930 he began his studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and in 1931 he enrolled as a student in the department of Near Eastern Studies under Prof. William F. Albright at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He received his M.A. in 1934 and his PhD in 1935.

Early work in Archaeology

Biran returned to Jerusalem in 1935, serving as a Fellow in the American Schools of Oriental Research until 1937, participating in a number of archaeological digs, including Tel Halifa near Aqaba, digs near the cities of Mosul and Bagdad in Iraq, Irbid in Jordan and Ras El Haruba outside Jerusalem. At the request of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, the head of the Jewish National Council (and later the President of Israel), Biran wrote a response to an anti-Zionist tract authored by Dr. TaWfik Canaan.

A break from archaeology

In 1937, Biran took an extended break from academia and archeology, taking up an appointment as District Officer for the Afula district and the Jezreel Valley settlements. Referring to this sudden career change Biran wrote:

In 1937, in response to the events (of the time) the Jewish settlers demanded that the British Mandate authorities appoint Jewish district officers to deal with their settlements so that they would not have to enter heavily populated Arab cities (to deal with bureaucratic affairs). The Jewish Agency offered me the position. I responded in surprise: what does an archaeologist have to do with Mandatory affairs?. To which they responded: But his this the (Jezreel) Valley! so I could not refuse.

In 1938, Biran began an archaeological survey in the Beit She'an valley in conjunction with Ruth Berndstadter-Amiran. He was miraculously saved after his jeep tripped a land mine on the way to Kibbutz Tirat Zvi. In 1946, Biran was appointed District Officer for the Jerusalem district; he also served as a member of the city counsel of Jerusalem until the Israel's Declaration of Israel's Independence in 1948. During the waning days of the British Mandate in 1948, Biran packed up Jewish property deeds so the owners could reclaim their lands and houses following the anticipated war. He saw this act as paralleling with the experiences of another Jew who hid property titles in the Judean Hills to protect them from Roman legionnaires almost two thousand years ago.cite web|url=http://www.insideout.org/documentaries/jerusalem/people/biran.html|title=wbur|accessdate=2008-09-18]

After Israeli independence, Biran was appointed as the assistant to the cabinet secretary, also serving as the the assistant military governor of Jerusalem. At his time he changed his name from Bergman to Biran. Until 1955 he served as a member of the committee overseeing the cease-fire agreement with Jordan. In 1955 Biran was appointed counsel-general of Israel in Los Angeles, Cakifornia.

Back to archaeology

In 1961, Biran returned to his suspended career in archaeology, receiving an appointment as the head of the Department of Antiquities and Museums under the Ministry of Education and Culture, a post he held until 1974. He initiated the publication of the journal "Archaeology News" in Hebrew and English. After Israel's capture of the West Bank in 1967, Biran initiated archaeological surveys in Judea and Samaria. He also served as the Israeli representative at the Hague Convention. At UNESCO seminars he encouraged the commencement of archaeological digs at the Western Wall and in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem. He was instrumental in the founding of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and he was active in the refurbishment of the Rockefeller Museum and the Shrine of the Book that contains the Qumran scrolls.

From 1974 Biran headed the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem . In 1977 he organized an international conference on the subject of "Temples and High Places in Biblical Times", publishing the results of the conference in a book with the same name in 1981. He served as a member of the organizing committee of the International Conference of Biblical Archaeology in 1984 and 1990.

In 1966, Biran began the project with which he has been most famously identified: the excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel, where he dug for more than 30 years. The 5,000-year-old "Tel" is a mound formed by layer-upon-layer of remnants from civilizations that once occupied the site. In the Tel, Biran discovered the largest religious site ever found that dates from the Israelite period. The excavations revealed fragments from the period when the Cannanite settlement of Laish was re-settled by the Israelite tribe of Dan. Dating from the earlier period of the patriarchs, Biran discovered an arched gate, the only such gate still standing today, as well as a tremendous dirt wall that surrounded the city. Biran also found artifacts from the period of the Jewish monarchy - the city's defenses, walls and gates as well as the "High Places of the Gate" mentioned in the Bible. Biran's most important discovery at the Tel was an inscription on a slab of basalt, known as the Tel Dan Stele, that consists of 13 lines in ancient Canaanite script that mention "The House of David". Regarding the significance of this inscription Hebrew University archaeologist Professor Amnon Ben-Tor said:

In this inscription, which dates to around 800 BCE, a king from the House of David is mentioned as being struck down in the battle with the Arameans. This is the only extra-Biblical source ever found to date that mentions the existence of the Davidic dynasty and it indeed is an extra-Biblical source that confirms the existence of David as a real historical figure. During the last few years a number of English and Scandinavian researchers have published works suggesting that the kingdoms (and figures) of David and Solomon are literary inventions rather than historical facts. [see The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, Free Press, New York, 2001,ISBN 0-684-86912-8] The discovery of the Tel Dan inscription utterly removes the basis for these hypotheses.

The Moore College archaeologist George Athas writes: [see "The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation", George Athas,Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006,ISBN 0567040437, 9780567040435 ]

With regards to the Biblical texts, the Tel Dan Inscription demonstrates that there are definite historical kernels in the Bible that cannot readily be dismissed ... The Tel Dan inscription has brought us a definite step closer to finding a historical David.

Why is archaeology important

Biran explained his own view of the importance of archaeology, particularly for Jews in modern day Israel:

Israeli archaeology is important to enable us to understand the nations who lived here from prehistoric times onwards. Since the stories of the Bible are connected to this specific land, every archaeological discovery (in Israel) has signficance for understanding the Bible. We wish to identify and recognize the places we heard of growing up studying the Bible in school.

In 1984, Biran was awarded the prestigious Schimmel Prize for Archaeology and in 1996 he was awarded the prize Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem). He died in 2008, a month before his 99th birthday, in Jerusalem, Israel. Biran was married to Ruth nee Frankel. The couple had 3 children.

Criticism of Biran

Biram has been criticized by some archaeologists for interpreting his discoveries as validating the accuracy of the bible as history. Accusations such as these are not unique to Biran; indeed, claims of political, religious, or cultural bias have been raised against many archaeologists who dug in the contested soil of the Middle East. Archeology has been used by both sides searching for evidence of the superiority of their historical claim to the land.

Biran on Israel's right to Judea and Samaria

Biran remained unapologetic for Israel's control of the West Bank and Jerusalem. He said:

In times of war, the victor takes over the possession of the vanquished. That's what the Jordanians did in the Old City and in the areas which they held and that is what the Israelites did after 1967.

Books by Avraham Biran

* "Dan: 25 Years of Excavation" (Hebrew), Kibbutz Hameuhad Press and the Society for the Exploration of Israel and its Antiques, 1992
* "Temples and High Places in Biblical Times", Hebrew Union College Press, 1977
* "Biblical Dan", Hebrew Union College, 1994
* "Detailed Report on the Excavation at Tel Dan", (5 parts [Only part 1 was published in Biran's lifetime.] ), Hebrew Union College Press

References

ee also

*Biblical archaeology
*Tel Dan
*Tel Dan Stele
*Syro-Palestinian archaeology
*Near Eastern archaeology
*Dating the Bible

External links

*Biran's life and work [http://www.education.gov.il/pras-israel/pras_5k.htm (Hebrew)]
*Tribute to Biran in the Biblical Archaeology Review [http://www.bib-arch.org/news/biran-obit.asp BAR]
* [http://cojs.org/cojswiki/BAR_Interview:_Avraham_Biran%E2%80%94Twenty_Years_of_Digging_at_Tel_Dan%2C_Hershel_Shanks%2C_BAR_13:04%2C_Jul/Aug_1987. BAR Interview: Avraham Biran—Twenty Years of Digging at Tel Dan, Hershel Shanks, BAR 13:04, Jul/Aug 1987.]