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George Ernest Wright (September 5, 1909 – August 29, 1974), was a leading Old Testament scholar and
biblical archaeologist ''Near Eastern Archaeology'' is an American journal covering art, archaeology, history, anthropology, literature, philology, and epigraphy of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds from the Palaeolithic through Ottoman periods. The journal is ...
. An expert in
Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...
ern archaeology, he was especially known for his work in the study and dating of
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
. He was associated with the biblical theology movement.


Biography

He was born on September 5, 1909, in Ohio, son of a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister. He received his B.A. from the
College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...
(Ohio) and his Bachelor of Divinity from
McCormick Theological Seminary McCormick Theological Seminary is a private Presbyterian seminary in Chicago, Illinois. It shares a campus with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, bordering the campus of the University of Chicago. A letter of intent was signed on May ...
in 1934. The same year he was ordained in the Presbyterian church. He studied with
William Foxwell Albright 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." ...
at
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, where he received his M.A. (1936) and PhD. (1937). He taught Old Testament History and Theology at McCormick Seminary from 1939 to 1958. He joined the faculty of
Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
in 1958, where he was Parkman Professor and the Curator of the Semitic Museum (the latter beginning in 1961) until his death from a heart attack on August 29, 1974.


Legacy

Professor Wright published numerous monographs and articles on subjects ranging from biblical theology to Palestinian archaeology. He was also the founder of the periodical '' The Biblical Archaeologist'', a magazine now known as '' Near Eastern Archaeology Magazine''. He was a staunch defender of the relevance of Old Testament study to the Christian faith.


Archaeological expeditions

During his teaching career, professor Wright directed three archaeological expeditions: * (1956–1974)
Drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...
- McCormick Archaeological Expedition to
Shechem Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first c ...
; * (1964–1965) Hebrew Union College Biblical and Archaeological School Expedition at
Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Av ...
; * (1971–1974) Joint American Expedition to
Idalion Idalion or Idalium ( el, Ιδάλιον, ''Idalion'') was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name in the 8th century BC was "Ed-di-al" as it appears ...
,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
(1971–1974).


Bibliography

Some of his publications include: * The pottery of Palestine from the earliest times to the eighteenth century B.C (1937); * Iron: the date of its introduction into common use in Palestine (1939) * The Old Testament: Impediment or bulwark of the Christian faith? -McCormick Seminary addresses-(1945); * God Who Acts, Biblical Theology as Recital (1952); * The faith of Israel (1952); * The Biblical doctrine of man in society -Ecumenical biblical studies- (1954); * The pottery of Palestine from the earliest times to the end of the early Bronze Age (1962); * Archaeology, history, and theology (1964); * The challenge of Israel's faith (1956); * The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible (1956); * Biblical Archaeology (1957); * Bringing Old Testament times to life (1957); * ''The Book of the Acts of God: Christian Scholarship Interprets the Bible'', with Reginald H. Fuller (1957
Full text.
Doubleday. * A hiding place of sinners: An exposition of Jeremiah 7:1-15 ... -A sermon delivered in the McCormick Seminary Chapel, Feb. 3; to the pre-Lenten conference ... of Harvard Divinity School on Feb. 12.- (1958); * An introduction to Biblical archaeology -Studies in theology- (1960); * The Bible and the ancient Near East: Essays in honor of William Foxwell Albright (1961); * Isaiah (1964); * Biblical Archaeology (1962); * The Old Testament Against Its Environment (1962); * Shechem, Biography of a Biblical City (1965); * The Book of the acts of God: Modern Christian scholarship interprets the Bible (1965); * The Old Testament and Theology (1969); * The thousand years before Christ (1969); * The book of Isaiah -The Layman's Bible commentary-(1972);


References


External links


The papers
of George Ernest Wright are in the Harvard Divinity School Library in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, George 1909 births 1974 deaths American orientalists American biblical scholars Johns Hopkins University alumni Harvard Divinity School faculty Christian Hebraists Old Testament scholars College of Wooster alumni McCormick Theological Seminary alumni American magazine editors 20th-century American writers 20th-century American archaeologists