Deus Artefacta: Nelson Glueck

Nelson Glueck in Israel, 1956

Nelson Glueck (June 4, 1900 – February 12, 1971)

was an American rabbi, academic, and archaeologist, most famously remembered for his pioneering work in biblical archaeology. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Lithuanian Jewish parents, and served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death in 1971. Glueck’s remarkable career in archaeology led to the discovery of 1,500 ancient sites and his expertise on ancient pottery enabled him to match small ceramic fragments to distinct time periods. He was the first to identify some ancient wares such as the Edomite and Midianite pottery, re-discovered what is now called Negevite pottery, and surveyed many unknown sites in the Transjordan.

(Rabbi) Nelson Glueck, was a very interesting individual and significant for many reasons however, finding information may be difficult. The main biography is Jonathan M. Brown and Laurence Kutler. Nelson Glueck: Biblical Archaeologist And President of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Jerusalem: Hebrew Union College Press, 2005. You will find some information associated with this organization American School of Oriental Research (known as ASOR) of which he was associated. For more information look in a good Bible Dictionary or Encyclopedia LINK under the sites that he excavated.

Available Sources:

“Archaeology: The Shards of History.” Time 82, no. 24 (December 13, 1963): 60. (Cover Story: Archaeologist Nelson Glueck ) EBSCO
“Our Founder: Nelson Glueck.” The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology. LINK.
Albright, William F. “Nelson Glueck in Memoriam.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 202 (Apr., 1971): 1-6. JSTOR
Blank, Sheldon H. & Ginsberg, H.L. “Necrology: Nelson Glueck (1900-1971).” Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 40, (1972): xix-xxi. JSTOR

Brown, Jonathan M. Nelson Glueck: Biblical Archaeologist And President of the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. Detroit, Mich: Hebrew Union College Press, 2006.
Davis, Thomas W. “Faith and Archaeology—A Brief History to the Present.” Biblical Archaeology Review 19, No. 2 (March/April 1993): 54-57. BAR
Fierman, Floyd S. “Rabbi Nelson Glueck: An Archaeologist’s Secret Life in the Service of the OSS.” Biblical Archaeology Review 12:05 (Sep/Oct 1986): 18-22. BAR

Glueck, Nelson, Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev. New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959. PDF

______. “Ezion-Geber.” The Biblical Archaeologist, 28, no. 3 (1965): 71-73. JSTOR

______. “Ezion Geber: Solomon’s Naval Base on the Red Sea.” The Biblical Archaeologist 1, no. 3 (1938): 13-16. JSTOR

______. “The Archaeological History of the Negev.” Hebrew Union College Annual 32 (1961): 14-15. PDF

______. “The Nabataean Temple of Khirbet et-Tannûr.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 67 (1937): 6-8. JSTOR

______. The Other Side of the Jordan. New Orleans, Conn: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1940.

Lance, H. Darrell. “Nelson Glueck: In Memoriam.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 203 (Oct,1971): 3-4. JSTOR.
Philip J. King, “American Schools of Oriental Research, History of the,” ed. David Noel Freedman et al., Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1996), 1:186.
Pratico, Gary Davis, and Robert A. DiVito. Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell El-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1993. LINK .

Seger, Joe D. “Nelson Glueck: Biblical Archaeologist and President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.” Near-Eastern Archaeology 74, no. 1 (2011): 62. LINK

Sherrard, Brooke. “American Biblical Archaeology and Jewish Nationalism: Rabbi Nelson Glueck, the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Israeli State.” Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal 11 no. 2, (Nov 2012): 151-174. LINK
Wright, G. Ernest. “The Achievement of Nelson Glueck.” The Biblical Archaeologist 22, no. 4 (1959): 98-99. JSTOR