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Welcome! » Faculty & Staff » J.P. Dessel


J.P. Dessel

See Also: Curriculum Vitae | Photographs from Tell'Ein Zippori

Field Specialties

History and Archaeology of ancient Israel and the Near East; Rise of Complex Societies; Ethnicity in the Ancient World

Professor Dessel specializes in the history and archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. His research focuses on the rise of social complexity, urban-rural dynamics in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and ethnicity in the ancient world. He has participated in over 25 seasons of excavation in Israel, Egypt and North America and co-directed the excavation of Tell el-Wawiyat in Israel. Since 1993 he directed the excavation of Tell'Ein Zippori in the Lower Galilee of Israel, part of the Sepphoris Regional Project (see "Photographs from Tell'Ein Zippori"). His forthcoming book, Social Transformations in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze I of the Southern Levant, discusses the interrelationship between craft specialization, social boundaries, and the emergence of complex society. In addition to articles on his excavations, he has published on the study of Early Bronze Age Levantine ceramics, the problem of publication in Near Eastern archaeology, Chalcolithic chronology, and Chalcolithic cult. He is currently working on vernacular architectural traditions of the Iron Age Levant.

In addition to the World History survey, Professor Dessel teaches a two-semester sequence in Jewish History. He will teach a variety of topics courses in Jewish and ancient Near Eastern History including "The History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel," "Early Jewish Communal Life and the Synagogue," "History and Archaeology of Mesopotamia," "Ancient Egypt" and "Ethnicity in the Ancient Near East." Professor Dessel is a member of the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies and of the editorial board of Near Eastern Archaeology. He is also a trustee of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.

Education

  • Ph.D. University of Arizona, 1991

Selected Publications

  • "Reading Between the Lines: William Foxwell Albright ‘In’ the Field and ‘On’ the Field," Near Eastern Archaeology. (forthcoming)

  • "The Relationship Between Ceramic Production and Socio-Political Reconfiguration in Fourth Millennium Canaan," in Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring Lands in Memory of Douglas L. Esse. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization No. 59, ASOR Books No. 5. (2001) S. Wolff, ed., Chicago and Atlanta: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Pp. 99-118.

  • [with Alexander Joffe and Rachel S. Hallote] "The 'Gilat Woman', Chalcolithic Cult, and the End of Southern Levantine Prehistory, " Near Eastern Archaeology 64/1-2:9-23. (2001)

  • [with Alexander H. Joffe] "Alternative Approaches to Early Bronze Age Pottery," in: Ceramics and Change in the Early Bronze of the Southern Levant, Levantine Archaeology 2. G. Philip and D. Baird, eds., Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press (2000). Pp. 31 – 58.

Recent Presentations

I was invited to give a paper at an International Conference on "Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt," sponsored by the Institute of Archaeology , Jagiellonian University, Cracow Poland. The title of paper is "Colonialism, Commerce and the Initial Unification of the Egyptian State: Egypto-Canaanite Relations in the Fourth Millennium."

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Jewish Studies Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence, Bucknell University, Spring 1999
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, 1998-1999 (declined)
J.P. Dessel

Contact Information

J.P. Dessel
Assiociate Professor of History and Judaic Studies
915 Volunteer Boulevard
6th Floor, Dunford Hall
Knoxville, TN 37996-4065

Office: (865) 974-9872
Fax: (865) 974-3915
E-mail: jdessel@utk.edu