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Harvard Expedition to Samaria, 1908–1910

"Israelite Inscriptions, III. Ostraca in Facsimile." Detail of page from George Andrew Reisner, Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 1908–1910. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924. Harry Elkins Widener Library, Harvard University

"Israelite Inscriptions, III. Ostraca in Facsimile." Detail of page from George Andrew Reisner, Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 1908–1910. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924. Harry Elkins Widener Library, Harvard University.

Map of Palestine, D. Appleton and Company, New York: D. Appleton & Co., c1891, Harvard Map Collection, Harvard University, Cambirdge, Mass.

Harvard’s Committee on Exploration in the Orient designated the American archaeologist George A. Reisner to direct the University’s expedition to Samaria. With sponsorship from Jacob H. Schiff, the expedition was intended to excavate the site of Samaria (Sebaste), which was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel.

Reisner located remains of the royal palace built by Omri and Ahab during the Israelite period, as well as remnants of buildings constructed during later periods of occupation by Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. Noteworthy among the artifacts found were ostraca, or pottery fragments, depicting Hebrew-character inscriptions in carbon ink of Biblical names and memoranda of commercial shipments.

Expeditions and Discoveries Resources on the Harvard Expedition to Samaria

Selected Manuscripts and Records in Expeditions and Discoveries

George Reisner Diaries, 1909–1910. Samaria, 1908–1910, Box 6. The Semitic Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Records of the Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 1908–1910. The Semitic Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Lyon, D. G. Diary of Samaria Expedition, 1908–1911. Samaria 1908–1910, Box 5. The Semitic Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Schumacher, Gottlieb. Diary, Harvard Samaria Excavations, 1908. Samaria 1908–1910, Box 5. The Semitic Museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Publications

Reisner, George Andrew, Clarence Stanley Fisher, David Gordon Lyon. Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 1908–1910. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1924.

Harvard Expedition to Samaria Resources at Other Sites

West Semitic Research Project
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/

References

The following sources were used in writing this page.

Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1903–04. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1905.
Lyon, David Gordon. "Recent Excavations in Palestine." Harvard Theological Review , 1:1 (1908) 70–96.
Reisner, George A. "The Harvard Expedition to Samaria Excavations: Excavations of 1909." Harvard Theological Review , 3:2 (1910) 248–263.
Stern, Ephraim, Ed. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society & Carta, 1993– .
Tappy, Ron E. The Archaeology of Israelite Samaria. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1992.

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