Jodi Magness (born September 19, 1956) is an
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
, orientalist and scholar of religion. She serves as the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
. She previously taught at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
.
Early life and education
Magness received her B.A. in
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
(1977), and her
Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(1989).
Academic career
From 1990 to 1992, Magness was Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in
Syro-Palestinian Archaeology
Levantine archaeology is the archaeological study of the Levant. It is also known as Syro-Palestinian archaeology or Palestinian archaeologyDavis, 2004, p. 146.Dever, 2001, p. 61. (particularly when the area of inquiry centers on ancient Palestin ...
at the Center for Old World Archaeology and Art at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. She also taught at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
before joining the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, where she is Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism.
Magness has participated in 20 different excavations in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. She co-directed the 1995 excavations of the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
siege works at
Masada
Masada ( he, מְצָדָה ', "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dea ...
. From 1997 to 1999 she co-directed excavations at Khirbet Yattir in Israel. Since 2003 Professor Magness has been the co-director of the excavations in the late Roman fort at
Yotvata :''"Yotvat" is also the Hebrew name for Tiran Island''.
Yotvata ( he, יׇטְבָתָה, ar, يوتفاتا) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on the Arabah road in the southern Negev, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Eilot Regi ...
, Israel. In 2011 she began to dig at
Huqoq
Huqoq or Hukkok ( he, חוקוק) was an ancient Jewish village, located 12.5 km north of Tiberias.
The area had been settled since ancient times and is mentioned in the Book of Joshua. The Palestinian village Yaquq was built at Huqoq's loca ...
.
Magness is a popular professor whose "unique teaching style of using vivid anecdotes
eepsstudents on the edge of their seats".
Magness has strongly criticized the docu-drama ''
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
''The Lost Tomb of Jesus'' is a Pseudoarchaeology, pseudoarchaeological docudrama co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by C ...
'' of
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
and
Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker.
Biography
Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In ...
, stating that "at the time of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, wealthy families buried their dead in
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
s cut by hand from solid rock, putting the bones in niches in the walls and then, later, transferring them to
ossuaries
An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...
". Whereas "Jesus came from a poor family that, like most
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s of the time, probably buried their dead in ordinary graves. If Jesus' family had been wealthy enough to afford a rock-cut tomb, it would have been in
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
, not
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
", she said. Magness also said the names on the Talpiyot ossuaries "indicate that the tomb belonged to a family from
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
, the area around Jerusalem, where people were known by their first name and father's name. As
Galileans
Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him a ...
, Jesus and his family members would have used their first name and hometown."
Magness has been a guest on the
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
's ''
The Story of God with Morgan Freeman
''The Story of God with Morgan Freeman'' is an American television documentary series that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on April 3, 2016. The series features actor Morgan Freeman who explores various cultures and religions, and ...
'', a documentary television series exploring religious beliefs across cultures around the world.
Honors and awards
She was American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow of 2019.
Books
Jodi Magness, as an author, has published various works:
* ''The Archaeology of
Qumran
Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
and the
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...
'', 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2021)
* ''Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth'',
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...
(May 14, 2019)
* ''Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011)
* ''The Archaeology of the Early
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
Settlement in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
'' (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003), 2006 Irene Levi-Sala Book Prize.
* ''The Archaeology of
Qumran
Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
and the
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...
'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002) – winner of the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society's Award for Best Popular Book in Archaeology and an “Outstanding Academic Book for 2003” by Choice Magazine.
* ''Debating Qumran: Collected Essays on Its Archaeology'' (Leuven: Peeters, 2004); Hesed ve-Emet, Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs (co-edited with S. Gitin; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998)
* ''Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology circa 200–800 C.E.'' (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1993)
See also
*
Upper Zohar
References
External links
Official siteBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magness, Jodi
Qumran
American biblical scholars
Living people
1956 births
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Tufts University faculty
American archaeologists
American orientalists
Female biblical scholars
American women archaeologists
American women academics
21st-century American women
Members of the Jesus Seminar
Presidents of the Archaeological Institute of America