HUGH WILLIAMSON— Old but Still Topical: The Dispute between Driver and Sayce on Biblical Archaeology

The closing decades of the 19th century were a time when many of the most famous finds associated with ‘Biblical Archaeology’ were discovered. Two prominent scholars in Oxford, one the Professor of Assyriology and the other the Regius Professor of Hebrew, both changed their views on how these finds should be related to the Bible and effectively established two distinct approaches to this subject, both still very much debated.

In his lecture, Professor Williamson explored the history of their journey, suggesting a middle way forward, which might take some of the heat out of the continuing debate.

Hugh Williamson was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University until his retirement in 2014. During his career he participated in excavations at Lachish and Jezreel and he has always taken an interest in the relationship between archaeology and the Bible. He was chair of the AIAS for 19 years, up to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Committee of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem at a time when it was facing pressure to close; with the help of others, this decision was eventually reversed, and it since gone from strength to strength as the Kenyon Institute.