UPCOMING EVENT: Memorial Lecture in Honour of J Basil Hennessy

The Inaugural Memorial Lecture in Honour of Emeritus Professor J Basil Hennessy (1925-2013), presented by the Council of the Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation, will be given by Dr Stephen Bourke on Wednesday 8th November, 2017. The event will take place at 6.30pm, in General Lecture Theatre 1 which is in the Main Quad of Sydney University, with light refreshments afterwards in the Nicholson Museum.

J. Basil Hennessy AO was Professor of Middle Eastern Archaeology (1970-1990) and Foundation Director of NEAF (1986-1991). After Undergraduate study at Sydney (1947-49), postgraduate research in the Middle East (1950-1952) and several years teaching at Sydney University (1953-61) under the legendary Jim Stewart, Hennessy read his Doctorate at Oxford (1962-64) before launching his field career in Jerusalem at British School Director (1965-70).

He returned to Australia in 1970, and effectively re-instituted the teaching of Near Eastern Archaeology at Sydney University after a ten-year hiatus. He was confirmed as Edwin Cuthbert Hall Professor in 1973, and thereafter developed hugely influential courses in Levantine and Cypriot archaeology, which produced most of the current batch of Australian Near Eastern scholars active today. As well as his teaching, Hennessy directed two hugely important excavation projects in Jordan, the first at Chalcolithic Teleilat Ghassul (1975-77) and the second at the long-lived ancient city of Pella of the Decapolis (1978-90).

This first Memorial Lecture will celebrate Hennessy’s many achievements in the world of Near Eastern Archaeology, and call for the setting up of a Fund, administered through NEAF, to support the ongoing research and publication of the many works Hennessy set in train.

The inaugural lecture will be given by Dr. Stephen Bourke, current NEAF Treasurer and Director of the Pella Excavations since 1992. Stephen also led four seasons of renewed excavations at Teleilat Ghassul in the 1990s. The lecture will outline Hennessy’s life in Near Eastern Archaeology, from his first work in Turkey and Cyprus, to his seminal meeting with Kathleen Kenyon at Jericho in 1952, which shaped his life in archaeology.

We hope that many of you can come and learn about the man who was the founder and driving force behind the establishment of the Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation.

Although this event is free we would greatly appreciate if you could RSVP your attendance for catering purposes: Phone +61 2 9351 4151, Fax +61 2 9114 0921, or Email [email protected]