The conference will deal with the enormous historical confrontations between the great ancient powers and civilizations, and will examine the international cultural consequences of these conflicts. The conference will present new archeological findings and examine them in the light of ancient scrolls records, the Scriptures and other historical sources. In addition, the conference will address developments in ancient architecture, technology, ancient trade and arts, and will present findings regarding the birth and the spread of Christianity from the Land of the Bible.
The conference, whose official language is English, is open to participants from around the world who are engaged or interested in archeology, history, religions or education, as well as those who are interested in the arts, wishing to discover and understand their historical and cultural origins.
The conference combines special tours in the most intriguing and amazing sites of the Holy Land, and will allow participants to meet personally with the famous researchers and excavators of these historical sites.
Since the early 1960s, when 6,000 volunteers from around the world gathered in the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea, to participate in an excavation to uncover the legendary story of Masada, Israel has not hosted a major international conference to discuss its amazing archaeological treasures.
The International Conference on Archaeology in Israel and the Ancient Near East is a unique celebration of 50 years of scientific archaeological excavation and research. The conference gives a platform for all interested parties to participate, to hear firsthand of the latest, most exciting discoveries, to actually see the finds and meet the archaeologists who are excavating sites throughout the Lands of the Bible, and to visit and explore these sites in specially organized, professional tours: from King David's palace in Jerusalem to the tomb of Herod, from biblical battlefields to Crusader fortresses, from ancient monasteries in the isolated Judean Desert to fascinating seaports and ancient agricultural villages that have been miraculously preserved.
The conference is a collaborative project of the central institutions of archeology in Israel, among them the Universities of Jerusalem, Haifa, Bar Ilan and Beer Sheva, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel Exploration Society, Nature and Parks Authority, Israel Museum, Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, German Protestant Institute of Archeology and others.