William F. Albright | |
---|---|
Born | Coquimbo, Chile | May 24, 1891
Died | September 19, 1971 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 80)
Nationality | American |
Academic background | |
Education | |
Thesis | The Assyrian Deluge Epic[1] (1916) |
Doctoral advisor | Paul Haupt[2] |
Influences | Louis-Hugues Vincent[3] |
Academic work | |
Discipline | |
Sub-discipline | Biblical archaeology |
School or tradition | Biblical archaeology |
Doctoral students | |
Notable students | Harry Orlinsky[12] |
Influenced |
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars",[17] having become known to the public in 1948 for his role in the authentication of the Dead Sea Scrolls.[18] His scholarly reputation arose as a leading theorist and practitioner of biblical archaeology.
Albright was a leading theorist and practitioner of biblical archaeology, and is regarded as the founder of the biblical archaeology movement. He served as the W. W. Spence Professor of Semitic Languages at Johns Hopkins University from 1930 to 1958 and was the Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem for several terms between 1922 and 1936. Albright made significant contributions to the fields of Near Eastern studies, biblical archaeology, and ceramic typology, and his work has had a lasting impact on the understanding of ancient Near Eastern history and the historicity of the Bible.