Matthew J. Adams

Matthew J. Adams is an archaeologist who specializes in the Near East. He earned his degrees at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Los Angeles.^[1] He served as the director of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem (2014–2022),^[2][3] and is the current the president of American Archaeology Abroad, Inc.^[4][5][6] He has worked on several archaeological projects in the past, and is currently director of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project,^[7] Co-Director of the Megiddo Expedition along with Israel Finkelstein and Mario Martin,^[8] and co-director of the Solomon's Pools Archaeological Project with Mark Letteney.^{[9][10][6][11]}

Media coverage

Adams' work in Tel Megiddo has been extensively covered in the press in relation to Christian eschatological interest in Armageddon.^{[12][13][14][15]} His discoveries at the site of the Roman military camp at Legio has attracted public attention,^[16][17] including the uncovering of a legionary burial.^[18][19]

In 2014, Adams and his colleagues revealed that Megiddo's proto-historic Great Temple contained evidence for mass animal sacrifice and the dawn of urbanization in the Levant.^[20][21] In 2018, excavators led by Adams announced the discovery of an undisturbed Canaanite royal tomb, for the first time in over a century.^[22][23][24]

Business affiliations

Adams is also the owner of Djehuti Productions, a musical/film production company, and published titles for Harvey Brooks.^[25][26]

He is also co-owner of St. Thomas Liquor Co. (STLC), a family-run commercial real estate company owning and leasing property at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.^[27][28]

Published works

Monographs and edited volumes

• Salvage Excavations at Tel Qashish (Tell Qasis) and Tell el-Wa’er (2010-2013) (ed. with E.C.M. van den Brink, Jezreel Valley Regional Project Studies, 1; Lockwood Press, 2023).
• Egypt and the Mediterranean World from the Late Fourth Through the Third Millennium BCE (ed. with K. Sowada, Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 37, 2023).
• Transitions during the Early Bronze Age in the Levant: Methodological Problems and Interpretative Perspectives (ed. with V. Roux, Ägypten und Altes Testament, 109; Münster: Zaphon, 2022).
• Movement and Mobility Between Egypt and the Southern Levant in the Second Millennium BCE (ed. with Susan Cohen; Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 21; 2019).
• Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein (ed., with Oded Lipschits and Yuval Gadot; Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2017).
• The Books of Kings: Sources, Composition, Historiography and Reception (Assoc. Ed., with eds. Baruch Halpern and Andre Lemaire; VTSup, 129; The Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature; Leiden: Brill, 2010)
• From Gods to God: Essays on the Social and Political Dynamics of Cosmologies in the Iron Age by Baruch Halpern (ed.; Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 63; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck; 2009).

Articles

• R. Marom, Y. Tepper, and M.J. Adams, "Al-Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine," Levant (Published online: 09 May 2023): 1–24.
• M.J. Adams, "The Three Temples in antis at Megiddo," Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 37 (2023): 17–38.
• R. Kalisher, M.S. Cradic, M.J. Adams, M.A.S. Martin, I. Finkelstein, "Cranial trephination and infectious disease in the Eastern Mediterranean: The evidence from two elite brothers from Late Bronze Megiddo, Israel," PLOS One (22 Feb, 2023).
• R. Shaar, Y. Gallet, Y. Vaknin, L. Gonen, M.A.S. Martin, M.J. Adams, I. Finkelstein, "Archaeomagnetism in the Levant and Mesopotamia Reveals the Largest Changes in the Earth's Geomagnetic Field," Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth (2022): 1–16.
• S.J. Price, M.J. Adams, Y. Tepper, "Lifeways and Settlement Choices at Tell Abu Shusha, Israel: An Integrated Spatial Approach to Survey Archaeology," Archaeological Prospection (2022): 1–15.
• M. Fischer, M.J. Adams, N.L. Ben Ami, and Y. Tepper, "A Fragmentary Sculpture of Victoria from the Legionary Base at Legio," Israel Exploration Journal 72.2 (2022): 238–254.
• L. Sapir-Hen, D.N. Fulton, M.J. Adams, and I. Finkelstein, "Temple and the Town at Early Bronze Age I Megiddo: Faunal Evidence for the Emergence of Complexity" Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 387 (2022): 1–14.
• I. Finkelstein and M.J. Adams, "The Megiddo Gates: Outdated Views Versus New Data," Tel Aviv 48.2 (2021): 208–212.  
• Y. Tepper, W. Eck, G. Leyfirer, and M.J. Adams, "A Roman Military Funerary Inscription from Legio, Israel," Tel Aviv 48.2 (2021): 248–266.
• I. Finkelstein, M.J. Adams, E. Hall, and E. Levy, "The Iron Age Gates of Megiddo: New Evidence and Updated Interpretations," Tel Aviv 46.2 (2019): 167–191.
• M.J. Adams, M. Cradic, Y. Farhi, M. Peers, and Y. Tepper, "A Betyl with a Decorated Base from the Principia of the Roman VIth Ferrata Legionary Base, Legio, Israel," Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology 9 (2019): 68–91.
• V. Linares, M.J. Adams, M.S. Cradic, I. Finkelstein, O. Lipschits, M.A.S. Martin, R. Neumann, C. Spiteri, P.W. Stockhammer, and Y. Gadot, "First Evidence for Vanillin in the Old World: Its Use as Mortuary Offering in Middle Bronze Canaan," Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 25 (2019): 77–84.
• M.J. Adams, M. Letteney, and M.T.B. Peers, "Survey and Excavations at Solomon's Pools, Palestine: 2018 Preliminary Report," Palestine Exploration Quarterly 151.1 (2019): 15–35.
• I. Finkelstein, M.J. Adams, Z.C. Dunseth, and R. Shahak-Gross, "The Archaeology and History of the Negev and Neighboring Areas in the Third Millennium BCE: A New Paradigm," Tel Aviv 45.1 (2018).
• R. Homsher, M.J. Adams, A. Prins, R. Gardner-Cook, and Y. Tepper, "New Directions with Digital Archaeology and Spatial Analysis in the Jezreel Valley," Journal of Landscape Ecology 10.3 (2017): 154–164.
• M.J. Adams, "The Egyptianized Pottery Cache from Megiddo's Area J: A Foundation Deposit for Temple 4040," Tel Aviv 44.2 (2017): 141–164.
• M.J. Adams, "Djehutihotep and Megiddo in the Early Middle Bronze Age," Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 13 (2017): 1–11.
• Y. Tepper, J. David, and M.J. Adams, "Excavations at the Camp of the Roman Sixth Ferrata Legion at Legio (el-Lajjun), Israel. A Preliminary Report of the 2013 season," Strata: The Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 34 (2016): 87–120.
• D. Langut, M.J. Adams, and I. Finkelstein, "Climate, Settlement Patterns and Olive Horticulture in the Southern Levant during the Early Bronze and Intermediate Bronze Ages (ca. 3600–1950 BCE)," Levant 48.2 (July 2016): 1–18.
• R.S. Homsher; B. L. Drake; Y. Tepper; M. J. Adams; J. K. David (2016). "From the Bronze Age to the 'Lead Age'. Observations on Sediment Analyses at Two Archaeological Sites in the Jezreel Valley, Israel: the Roman Camp at Legio and the Early Bronze Age Village at Tel Megiddo East" (PDF). Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry. 16 (1): 187–204. doi:10.5281/zenodo.35533.
• A. Prins, M.J. Adams, M. Ashley, R.S. Homsher, "Digital Archaeological Fieldwork and the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, Israel," Near Eastern Archaeology 77:3 (2014): 196–201.
• M.J. Adams, J. David, R. Homsher, M.E. Cohen, "New Evidence for the Rise of a Complex Society in the Late Fourth Millennium at Tel Megiddo East in the Jezreel Valley," Near Eastern Archaeology 77:1 (2014): 32–43.
• M.J. Adams, I. Finkelstein and D. Ussishkin, "The Great Temple of Early Bronze I Megiddo," American Journal of Archaeology 118.2 (2014): 1–21.
• J. Pincus, T. DeSmet, Y. Tepper, and M.J. Adams, "Ground Penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic Archaeogeophysical Investigations at the Roman Legionary Camp at Legio, Israel," Archaeological Prospection 20.3 (2013): 1–13.

References