In Memory of Hershel Shanks
The Biblical Archaeology Society remembers the life and achievements of Biblical Archaeology Review’s founder and Editor Emeritus, Hershel Shanks, who passed away February 5, 2021 at the age of 90.
In 1974, Hershel envisioned BAR, creating a modest publication that reflected his deep personal interest in the biblical past. Over the following four decades, until his retirement in 2017, he transformed BAR into the world’s best-selling and most widely read biblical archaeology magazine, enjoyed by millions. He was firmly committed to making the latest archaeological discoveries—and scholarly controversies—accessible to the broader public, through well-written, beautifully presented, and engaging content that brought the biblical world to life. BAS is honored to carry on the tremendous legacy left to us by our friend, colleague, and mentor, Hershel Shanks.
Hershel Shanks: March 8, 1930—Feb 5, 2021
We have collected tributes from Hershel’s family and close friends, current and former BAS staff members, and scholars and colleagues from across the world. Please enjoy these memories and celebrate Hershel’s contributions to the fields of biblical archaeology and biblical studies. We also invite you to leave your own remembrances of Hershel’s life and legacy in the comments section below.
Additionally, you can read his obituaries (which may be behind paywalls) in The Washington Post and The New York Times.
“My Companion”
Judith Shanks
Hershel’s wife
“A Father and a Colleague”
Elizabeth Alexander
Hershel’s daughter
“A Healthy Dose of Mischief”
Julia Shanks
Hershel’s daughter
BAS Staff, Contributors, and Associates
“In the Giant’s Shadow”
Susan Laden
BAS, Publisher & President
“A Hero to His Readers”
John Merrill
BAS, Chairman Emeritus & Contributing Editor
“Even Before There Was BAR”
Suzanne Singer
BAR, Contributing Editor & Former Managing Editor
“Breathing Biblical Archaeology”
Janet Bowman
BAS, Administrative Assistant
“A Showstopping Act”
Robert R. Cargill
BAR, former Editor
“An Unexpected Mentor”
Glenn J. Corbett
BAR, Editor
“Lessons of the Red Pen”
Marek Dospěl
BAR, Associate Editor
“Sweet Memories”
Jennifer Drummond
BAS, Circulation Manager
“Challenging Norms”
Steve Feldman
BAR, former Managing Editor
“Expanding Knowledge of the Bible”
Janice Krause
BAS, former Travel/Study Manager
“Making the Arcane Accessible”
Molly Dewsnap Meinhardt
Bible Review, former Managing Editor
“An Armchair Adventure”
Heather Witte Metzger
BAS, Production Manager
“Enthusiastic Doer”
Bonnie Mullin
BAR, former Administrative Editor
“The Lone Red Pen”
Robin Ngo
BAS, former Web Editor
“Learning from a Legend”
Megan Sauter
BAR, Managing Editor
“My Longest Client”
Robert Sugar
AURAS Design, Inc.
“A World Without Hershel”
Ellen White
BAR, former Senior Editor
“Interesting and Interested”
Sarah K. Yeomans
BAS, Contributing Editor & former Educational Programs Director
Scholars and Colleagues
Note: These tributes originally appeared in Festschrift: A Celebration of Hershel Shanks, the special double issue of Biblical Archaeology Review that was published in 2018 on occasion of Hershel’s retirement as Editor of BAR.
“A Man for the People”
Christopher Rollston
The George Washington University
“Born in Our Living Room”
Eric and Carol Meyers
Duke University
“Larger than Life”
Eric H. Cline
The George Washington University
“The Archaeological Evangelist”
Amy-Jill Levine
Vanderbilt University
“The Face of BAR”
André Lemaire
École Pratique des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne University
“Scaling Ivory Towers”
Alan Millard
University of Liverpool
“Unwavering and Obstreperous”
William G. Dever
University of Arizona
Hershel Shanks founded the Biblical Archaeology Society in 1974 and published the first issue of Biblical Archaeology Review in 1975. He served as the editor of BAR until his retirement in 2017. In the very first issue, Hershel wrote, “The aim of The Biblical Archaeology Review is to make available in understandable language the current insights of professional archaeology as they relate to the Bible.” In his 43 years as editor, he did not deviate from this mission.
Hershel’s family requests that donations in memory of Hershel be made to the Biblical Archaeology Society.
Please share your memories of Hershel in the comments section below.
My interest in Biblical Archaeology Review goes back to 1990. I enjoyed reading BAR and particularly Hershel Shanks’ involvement and leadership in presenting such an excellent coverage of happenings in Israel archaeology. It was by reading the “dig” issue in 1997 that finally convinced me that I needed to be involved in a “dig” in Israel. I selected the Bethsaida Excavation Project as the one to bring me into the mystery and excitement of Israel archaeology. I experienced four wonderful seasons with this Project.
I “knew” Shanks only through B.A.R. and an occasional reference to him elsewhere. However, that in itself singled him out as truly exceptional in a positive sense. Much like I.F. Stone, Shanks not only had a vision but, much more significantly, transferred that vision into a journalistic tour de force, in the process filling a void others were too reticent to take on.
What hooked me on B.A.R. was Shanks integrity, his devotion to genuine dialogue. While he encouraged strong opinions, including his own, he equally encouraged intelligent disagreement, which is why I began each new issue of the magazine reading the letters-to-the-editor.
Unlike in the current internet era of free, instantaneous, ubiquitous, oxymoronic “alternative facts”, there was huge cost, intellectual, emotional, and personal, as well as financial, in starting a magazine, especially one that was not designed primarily as a commercial vehicle. One did not start a project such as B.A.R. knowing the difficulties. Instead, one said, “This is what I want to do”, and accepted that you would, and hopefully could, deal with problems and consequences as they arose. It wasn’t about instant gratification but about doing the right thing, about understanding that there was no free lunch, that to make the world a better place involved personal risk and, consequently, a willingness to sacrifice.
Not only his memory, but the fruits of Hershel Shanks heart and labors shall also truly live for a blessing !
I must acknowledge one regret: I never sent my words of appreciation to Shanks when he could see them. While lauded by NAMES (as is evident here), he seemed to be the unusual individual who wanted to make a difference, wanted to challenge, wanted to engage those of us who were not NAMES, not credentialed. He wanted to enlist everyone in the passion of his calling, and in that he succeeded admirably.
It was deeply sad to read of Hershel’s passing. He was so uniquely fitted to lead the BAS and BAR for more than four decades that it is hard to grasp that he is gone. Obviously, no one can completely fill the role that he created, born of his irrepressible enthusiasm for biblical archaeology and driven to continual achievements. New leadership can only hope to grow in that direction, as he did.
I warmly support your resilient response, to build on his legacy. In that way, his memory can reach its fullest potential to be a blessing.
In my case, it was his bold challenge to push my research beyond my self-imposed limits that was key to my own growth. I had kept my published diss., conference papers, and publications carefully limited only to certain time periods, only to certain parts of the Bible, and only to inscriptions in certain languages. So when he phoned me “out of the blue” in January 2013 to invite me to write “an article,” I retreated to these “safe” limits.
I will never forget Hershel’s instant reply. With stunning boldness he asked: “Why don’t you just cover the whole Bible?”
At first, my response was shocked silence. As we talked, however, I began to see how it could be done. As you are thoroughly aware, the “article” has multiplied. It was Hershel who gave me my research agenda for years to come. I will always be grateful to God for him, for his pivotal challenge, and for his encouragement.
I was a subscriber to BAR for over twenty years and just recently decided ti renew the opportunity to read my favourite magazine about biblical archeology and related articles about new discoveries and ongoing commentary about the study of the Old Testament. It was BAR that kept my passion alive and eager to continue. The diversity,
quality, and content of the articles was incomparable.
To the family, and staff at BAR, please accept my sincere condolences.
I first came across Herschel Shanks with the December 1975 issue. It featured an extensive article of the Temple Mount Dig in Jerusalem, Israel. I had just returned from Jerusalem to the US in January 1976 to return to college. I had worked on that dig since June of 1975. Reading through the article was a picture of the Herodian building site we had been excavating. Ironically I had taken an identical picture in December before I left. I was hooked on BAR after that and subscribed. I have been a subscriber ever since. Mr. Shanks magazine cut through the veil of secrecy that had clouded so much of archaeology what with the reluctance of archaeologists to publish their findings. How he braved the fury of the Dead Sea Scroll community by “outing” the scrolls was amazing. He was never one to shrink from controversy. I was and am so grateful to him through BAR in keeping me in the loop of the field of study I so love. I will miss him and am glad his legacy lives on in BAR.
Miss you so much that I can not hear your name as often as I used to hear anymore. Ever since I left religious college the most exciting magazine that ever encountered on bookshelves out in the open. Subscription started then on until now, and probably last until my days will meet The almighty and it isn’t that far , brother. I did really envied your gutsy style as a publisher and showed me that you wanted cover people of all walks of trade, and also of those with various sects of religious backgrounds. I’ll miss you and wishing your sprit remain guiding BAR for ever more.
I never knew him personally but I felt like I did through all his columns and comments. I don’t think a greater friend to the field of Biblical archeology has ever lived. My faith has been deepened by the many years of reading BAR. I am saddened to know you left this life but as a Christian, I am gladdened to know you have gone to a better one. Thank you.
I counted Hershel as a friend, although most of our contact was through email or telephone — and the occasional glimpse in the hallways at annual SBL meetings. I enjoyed reading BAR (and its predecessor) from the start, and passing issues along to friends with similar interests. The world(s) of “biblical scholarship” have lost a major promoter and popularizer, and is/are less vibrant for it. Farewell, Hershel; we will miss you.
My interest in Biblical Archaeology owes itself to Hershel’s far sighted creation of BAR. When I first met him at one of the ‘Fests” I was struck by how friendly and approachable and accepting he was. We have lost a giant.
I “knew” Shanks only through B.A.R. and an occasional reference to him elsewhere. However, that in itself singled him out as truly exceptional in a positive sense. Much like I.F. Stone, Shanks not only had a vision but, much more significantly, transferred that vision into a journalistic tour de force, in the process filling a void others were too reticent to take on.
What hooked me on B.A.R. was Shanks integrity, his devotion to genuine dialogue. While he encouraged strong opinions, including his own, he equally encouraged intelligent disagreement, which is why I began each new issue of the magazine reading the letters-to-the-editor.
Unlike in the current internet era of free, instantaneous, ubiquitous, oxymoronic “alternative facts”, there was huge cost, intellectual, emotional, and personal, as well as financial, in starting a magazine, especially one that was not designed primarily as a commercial vehicle. One did not start a project such as B.A.R. knowing the difficulties. Instead, one said, “This is what I want to do”, and accepted that you would, and hopefully could, deal with problems and consequences as they arose. It wasn’t about instant gratification but about doing the right thing, about understanding that there was no free lunch, that to make the world a better place involved personal risk and, consequently, a willingness to sacrifice.
Not only his memory, but the fruits of Hershel Shanks heart and labors shall also truly live for a blessing !
I must acknowledge one regret: I never sent my words of appreciation to Shanks when he could see them. While lauded by NAMES (as is evident here), he seemed to be the unusual individual who wanted to make a difference, wanted to challenge, wanted to engage those of us who were not NAMES, not credentialed. He wanted to enlist everyone in the passion of his calling, and in that he succeeded admirably.