Published on September 11, 2013  

Samford University professor James Strange and Kinneret Academic College professor Mordechai Aviam will speak about their important recent discovery in Israel at two events Sept. 26.

Strange is Associate Professor of religion at Samford and is Director of the Shikhin Excavation Project in Israel. Aviam is Professor of land of Israel studies at Kinneret Academic College, Israel, Director of the Institute for Galilean Archaeology, and Associate Director of the Shikhin Excavation Project.

Strange and Aviam will present "The Shikhin Excavation Project: An Important Contribution to the Study of Galilean History" at 3:30 p.m. in Samford’s Brock Forum, Dwight Beeson Hall.

The researchers will present "A New Synagogue for the New Year" at 6:30 p.m. at Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham.

The free lectures will describe the summer, 2013, archaeological dig in Israel that revealed the first unknown Galilean synagogue to be excavated in thirty years. Lecture attendees will learn about the ancient village of Shikhin and its importance for understanding the beginnings of both Christianity and the Judaism of the Talmuds.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.