For a man who sings in an a cappella choir and acts in a drama group, Barry M. Gittlen sure likes to talk about the ancient Philistines.
But Gittlen, a popular biblical and archaeological studies professor at Baltimore Hebrew University, said his graduate course that combines text with artifacts actually excites students about biblical Israel.
"Teaching involves provoking the text and the artifacts, urging them to speak to us, to give us further insight into the life of biblical Israel and her neighbors 1200-500 B.C.E.," said Gittlen. "We try to look at that interplay between the text and artifacts. The text tells us who was empowered and the artifact tells us about the common person. When we bring those together, we get a deeper understanding of biblical Israel."
Gittlen, who earned his doctorate in archaeology in 1977 from the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, has taught biblical studies at BHU for three decades. He also leads excavations in Israel to "explain the lives of the Israelites, Philistines and Canaanites," he said.
Some of Gittlen's students have joined him on annual excavations for an international archaeology project in Ekron in central Israel. The project, sponsored from 1981-1996 by Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, is now in the publication phase. Gittlen, who, so far, has published a book and an article on the excavation, said he hopes his end (the report of the excavaction of Ekron Field III) of the publication will be completed by 2004. The Albright Institute of Archaeological Research will publish the report.
"We put all the things discovered under a microscope and see what it is all about," he said. "What does it mean for the life of these people? How did they live and what did it mean for their next-door neighbors?"
Gittlen, who has been digging since 1967, said his most "incredible" find took place in 1974 when he discovered a cache of weapons on the floor of a seventh-century B.C. Judea/Assyria fortress in the northern Negev. The find included bronze weapons and a bronze Assyrian royal military standard, which is similar to a battle flag with its own insignia.
A day or two later, Gittlen unearthed a two-foot-long, bronze spearhead in beautiful condition, figurines and ostraca, pieces of pottery re-used for writing. "It was one of my most fascinating discoveries," he said.
All those items are on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Because Israel owns all antiquities, artifacts must be given over to the Jewish state's Antiquities Authority. But after an excavation is published, the Antiquities Authority may release up to 50 percent of the artifacts to a project's sponsoring institution, which was Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva.
Locally, Gittlen served two years as a principal investigator for the Fells Point Synagogue Excavation Project with the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology. "We found a wealth of artifacts illustrating life in Baltimore during the late 18th and 19th centuries," Gittlen said.
Married with a daughter, Gittlen finds time to sing bass in Kol Rinah, a Jewish a cappella choir. He also performs with his wife, Elaine, in Country Drama, a 30-year-old local company that performs five times annually for fellow members and invited guests only.
But for the author of such provocative articles as "The Cultural and Chronological Implications of the Cypro-Canaanite Trade during the Late Bronze Age," biblical studies should never be dry.
"Not if you're teaching it right," Gittlen said. "I try to bring biblical Israel to life -- to create a full, breathing picture of what it was all about. It might be dead, but it is far from dusty and dry. Even reading the Bible is fun -- if people understand it and have a guide who understands it. It's fascinating; everything Jewish springs out of biblical literature."
But Gittlen, a popular biblical and archaeological studies professor at Baltimore Hebrew University, said his graduate course that combines text with artifacts actually excites students about biblical Israel.
"Teaching involves provoking the text and the artifacts, urging them to speak to us, to give us further insight into the life of biblical Israel and her neighbors 1200-500 B.C.E.," said Gittlen. "We try to look at that interplay between the text and artifacts. The text tells us who was empowered and the artifact tells us about the common person. When we bring those together, we get a deeper understanding of biblical Israel."
Gittlen, who earned his doctorate in archaeology in 1977 from the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, has taught biblical studies at BHU for three decades. He also leads excavations in Israel to "explain the lives of the Israelites, Philistines and Canaanites," he said.
Some of Gittlen's students have joined him on annual excavations for an international archaeology project in Ekron in central Israel. The project, sponsored from 1981-1996 by Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, is now in the publication phase. Gittlen, who, so far, has published a book and an article on the excavation, said he hopes his end (the report of the excavaction of Ekron Field III) of the publication will be completed by 2004. The Albright Institute of Archaeological Research will publish the report.
"We put all the things discovered under a microscope and see what it is all about," he said. "What does it mean for the life of these people? How did they live and what did it mean for their next-door neighbors?"
Gittlen, who has been digging since 1967, said his most "incredible" find took place in 1974 when he discovered a cache of weapons on the floor of a seventh-century B.C. Judea/Assyria fortress in the northern Negev. The find included bronze weapons and a bronze Assyrian royal military standard, which is similar to a battle flag with its own insignia.
A day or two later, Gittlen unearthed a two-foot-long, bronze spearhead in beautiful condition, figurines and ostraca, pieces of pottery re-used for writing. "It was one of my most fascinating discoveries," he said.
All those items are on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Because Israel owns all antiquities, artifacts must be given over to the Jewish state's Antiquities Authority. But after an excavation is published, the Antiquities Authority may release up to 50 percent of the artifacts to a project's sponsoring institution, which was Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva.
Locally, Gittlen served two years as a principal investigator for the Fells Point Synagogue Excavation Project with the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology. "We found a wealth of artifacts illustrating life in Baltimore during the late 18th and 19th centuries," Gittlen said.
Married with a daughter, Gittlen finds time to sing bass in Kol Rinah, a Jewish a cappella choir. He also performs with his wife, Elaine, in Country Drama, a 30-year-old local company that performs five times annually for fellow members and invited guests only.
But for the author of such provocative articles as "The Cultural and Chronological Implications of the Cypro-Canaanite Trade during the Late Bronze Age," biblical studies should never be dry.
"Not if you're teaching it right," Gittlen said. "I try to bring biblical Israel to life -- to create a full, breathing picture of what it was all about. It might be dead, but it is far from dusty and dry. Even reading the Bible is fun -- if people understand it and have a guide who understands it. It's fascinating; everything Jewish springs out of biblical literature."