Teleilat Ghassul is one of the most significant Chalcolithic sites in the Levant. A stones’ throw from the north shore of the Dead Sea, Ghassul tells us about the Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic transition, along with key developments in the ‘secondary products’ economy, cult practice and political and social organisation in the 4th Millennium BCE.  We are celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Pontifical Biblical Institute atRome (PBI) and 50 years of University of Sydney/BSAJ.

Dr Josef Briffa and Dr Peta Seaton AM will talk about the contribution of excavation and research, and the legacy of these projects to contemporary scholars and new research questions. 

Biographies

Rev Dr Josef Mario Briffa SJ is a lecturer at the Pontifical BiblicalInstitute in Rome and Jerusalem, and Director of the same Institute in Jerusalem. Dr Briffa has field experience both in Malta and in Israel, where he currently is Area supervisor with the Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition. Besides continuing to pursuehis interest in the figurines of the Late Iron Age, his research also focuses on the history of archaeology, with a particular interest in Teleilat Ghassul, and his native Malta.

Dr Peta Seaton AM is the President of NEAF, a former student of Basil Hennessy and a member of Dr Stephen Bourke’sTeleilat Ghassul field team.Peta Seaton published Chalcolithic Cult and Risk Management: the AreaE Sanctuary at Teleilat Ghassul in 2008, and continues research on the site.