American biblical archaeologist

Hershel Shanks (March 8, 1930 – February 5, 2021) was an American lawyer and amateur biblical archaeologist. He was the founder and long-time editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review.

Contents

• 1 Career
• 2 Works
  • 2.1 Books
  • 2.2 Edited by
  • 2.3 Memoir
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Career

Shanks was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, where his father owned a shoe store.

He graduated from Haverford College (English), Columbia University (sociology) and Harvard Law School. After over three decades of legal practice, he became interested in archaeology during a year spent in Jerusalem.

In 1974 he founded the Biblical Archaeology Society and in 1975 the Biblical Archaeology Review, which he edited until transitioning to Editor Emeritus in 2018. He has written and edited numerous works on biblical archaeology. He also wrote works on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

For more than forty years, Shanks communicated the world of biblical archaeology to general readers by magazines, books, and conferences. Shanks was "probably the world's most influential amateur Biblical archaeologist," according to The New York Times book critic Richard Bernstein.

In a legal case before the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993, Shanks and others were successfully sued by leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Elisha Qimron for breach of copyright when Shanks, without permission, published material written by Qimron in A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 2000, Shanks' appeal of the earlier decision was dismissed.

Shanks was the editor of Moment Magazine for 15 years from 1987.

Shanks's television appearances included Who Wrote the Bible? (1996), The Naked Archaeologist (2005), and Mysteries of the Bible.

He used the pseudonym "Adam Mikaya" for a few articles published in the Biblical Archaeology Review.

Shanks died one month and three days short of his 91st birthday.

Works

Books

• Shanks, Hershel (1973). The City of David: A guide to Biblical Jerusalem. Tel Aviv, Israel: Bazak Israel Guidebook Publishers. ISBN:9780960709212. OCLC:2378283.
• ——— (1993). In the Temple of Solomon and the Tomb of Caiaphas. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society. ISBN:9781880317112. OCLC:645662424.
• ——— (1995). Jerusalem: An Archaeological Biography. New York: Random House. ISBN:9780679445265. OCLC:32778599.
• ——— (1998). The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York: Random House. ISBN:9780679457572. OCLC:37499858.
• ——— (1999). 101 Best Jewish Jokes. Illustrated by Dave Clark. Washington, DC: Moment Publications. ISBN:9780967163208. OCLC:1026500545.
• ———; Witherington III, Ben (2003). The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN:9780060556600. OCLC:51865713.

Edited by

• ———; Mazar, Benjamin, eds. (1984). Recent Archaeology in the Land of Israel. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society. ISBN:9780961308902. OCLC:10802842.
• ———, ed. (1988). Ancient Israel: A Short History from Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society. ISBN:9781880317532. OCLC:40395711.
• Hershel Shanks, editor, Early Israel, Biblical Archaeology Society 1990, ISBN:0-685-45487-8
• Hershel Shanks, editor, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of Their Origins and Early Development, Biblical Archaeology Society 1992, ISBN:1-880317-08-7
• Hershel Shanks, editor, Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader From the Biblical Archaeology Review, Vintage Press reprint 1993, ISBN:0-679-74445-2
• Hershel Shanks and Suzanne F. Singer, editors, Cancel My Subscription: The Best of Queries and Comments from Letters to Biblical Archaeology Review, Biblical Archaeology Society 1995, ISBN:1-880317-44-3
• Hershel Shanks, editor, Abraham & Family: New Insights into the Patriarchal Narratives, Biblical Archaeology Society 2000, ISBN:1-880317-57-5
• Hershel Shanks, editor, City of David: Revisiting Early Excavations, English translations of Reports by Raymond Weill and Louis-Hugues Vincent, Notes and Comments by Ronny Reich, Biblical Archaeology Society 2004, ISBN:1-880317-70-2

Memoir

• ——— (2010). Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Adventures of an Archaeology Outsider. Continuum. ISBN:978-1-4411-5217-6.

References

External links

• Biblical Archaeology Review
• Biblical Archaeology Society