John Garstang

John Garstang ( born May 5, 1876 in Blackburn, Lancashire, † September 12, 1956 ) was a British archaeologist and antiquary.

Life

Garstang first studied mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford. Early on, he was interested in the archeology and switched to the subjects of Latin and Greek. He also worked extensively with ancient Near Eastern languages ​​and archeology.

In 1899 and 1900 he took part in an expedition to Abydos in Egypt, which was headed by W. Flinders Petrie. From him he learned the proper evaluation of the findings.

Garstang in 1902 was appointed to the University of Liverpool, his field of activity was the Egyptian archeology. In 1907 he began his teaching career there as a professor of archeology. During this time he also made two expeditions to Anatolia. 1907 to 1911 he began his own excavations in Saktschegözu and Aleppo and was able to recover large quantities of painted ware and evaluate. In the years 1910 to 1914 were under his direction excavations at Meroe in Sudan instead.

From 1919 to 1926 he headed the British School of Archaeology in Palestine. During this time he expanded the collection of the Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem to numerous artifacts. He carried out further excavations at Tell es-Sultan ( Jericho ) and Mersin ( Cilicia ).

Garstang became head of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara in the postwar period.

The excavation methods of Garstang and highly selective in its publication manner were normal for his time, but are no closer to the accuracy of other contemporary colleagues, for which he is now criticized.

Publications (selection)

• The Foundations of Biblical History: Joshua and Judges
• The Land of the Hittites (1910 )
• The Hittite Empire (1929 )
• Collaboration on Index of Hittite Names ( 1923)
• Mahâsna and Bêt Khallaf (1902 )