HELEN SADER

• Chair, Department of History and Archaeology, AUB, since October 2010
• Ph.D. in Assyriology and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, the University of Tübingen, 1984
• Professor, Department of History and Archaeology, AUB, since October 2001
• Chair, Department of History and Archaeology, AUB, from October 2002 to October 2005
• Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, AUB, from October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2009
• Joined the Department of History and Archaeology in 1985.
• Co-director of the Beirut Excavations: Site BEY 020 between 1994 and 1997
• Co-director of the Tell el-Burak and Tell Fadous-Kfarabida Archaeological Projects since 2001 and 2004 respectively.

Research Interests 

The History and Archaeology of First Millennium Syria

My research interests focus on the origin and development of the Aramaean states of Syria in the first millennium B.C. more particularly on their formation process. The increasing archaeological and epigraphic evidence is leading to the revision of traditional views regarding the beginning of the Syrian Iron Age and the role the Aramaeans played in the formation of Syrian culture.

 The History and Archaeology of Lebanon in the Bronze and Iron Ages

The main focus of my research is Lebanese archaeology with special focus on MBA urban characteristics and Phoenician epigraphy and material culture. These periods have suffered from a serious lack of archaeological information for the last decades and this gap is being progressively bridged by the results of recent excavations in Lebanon.

Research projects

• Tell el-Burak (Lebanon) : Excavation Project 

Grants

• URB Research Grant in 2009
• Research stipend, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin, September-November 2008
• Research stipend, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut , Berlin, June- August 2004 
• Mellon Grant, special summer stipend, 2000     
• Research stipend, Deutsch ArchäologischeInstitut , Berlin, 1999                         
• Mellon Grant, special summer stipend, 1997
• Research stipend, Centre Culturel Hispanique, Beirut, September 1993.
• Research sitpend, Conseil National de la recherche scientifique, Paris, September 1992

Courses Taught at AUB

Undergraduate Courses

• Ancient Mesopotamia I. Sumer and Akkad (AROL 219)
• Ancient Mesopotamia II. Assur and Babylon (AROL 220)                                            
• Ancient Near Eastern Religions (AROL 231)
• Ancient Near East and Classical Civilization (CVSP 201)                                                               
• Ancient Texts (AROL 293/294)
• Archaeology of Lebanon(AROL201)                                                                              
• Fieldwork in Archaeology (AROL 233/234)
• Phoenicia and the Phoenicians (AROL 217)                                                                              
• Medieval, Islamic, and Renaissance Civilization (CVSP 202)
• Senior Seminar in Archaeology (AROL 291/ 292)                                                               
• The Phoenician Expansion in the Western Mediterranean (AROL 218)
• The World of the Philistines, Israelites, and Aramaeans (AROL 226)               

Graduate Courses

• Advanced Readings in Ancient Texts (AROL 303/304)                                                                       
• Advanced Fieldwork and Data Collection (AROL 323/ 324)                                      
• Graduate Seminar in Current Approaches to Archaeology  (AROL 301)                       
• Graduate tutorial in Near Eastern Archaeology  (AROL 321)                                                      
• M.A. Thesis (AROL 399)

Publication projects

• Tell Hizzin (Lebanon) : (together with Prof. Hermann Genz)
• The Phoenician Inscriptions in the Directorate General of Antiquities Collection (Lebanon): Publication Project with P. Xella, J.A. Zamora, Amadasi, M.J. and Oggiano, I.
• An Introduction to the Archaeology of Lebanon from Prehistory to  Hellenistic Times :(together with Prof. Hermann Genz) An up-to-date book on the archaeology of Lebanon has long been overdue. In order to close this gap Hermann Genz and the author are currently writing a book entitled An Introduction to the Archaeology of Lebanon from Prehistory to Hellenistic Times. This book will present the archaeological results from past and current excavations as well as  the relevant textual sources for the Bronze and Iron Ages in Lebanon.  The project is in an advanced stage of research.

Recent Publications

Sader, H. 2007    Phoenician Stamp Impressions from Beirut. Baghdader Mitteilungen 37, 565-574.

Sader, H. 2007    New Phoenician Seal Impressions from Beirut, Orientalia N.S. 76, 57-63.

Genz, H- Sader, H  2007    Bronze Age Funerary Practices in Lebanon, Archaeology and History in the Lebanon 26-27, Autumn 2007-Spring 2008, 258-283.

Genz, H.- Sader, H  2007    Excavations at the Early Bronze Age Site of Tell Fadous-Kfarabida. Preliminary Report on the 2007 Seasons of Excavations, Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises 11, 7-16.

Sader, H. 2009    Ägyptens Pforte zur Levante, in Landesmuseum Württemberg ed., Schätze des Alten Syriens-Die Entdeckung des Königreichs Qatna, Stuttgart. 54-57.

Sader, H.  2009    Palace Architecture in Tell el-Burak-Lebanon: Some Evidence for Egyptian-Mesopotamian-Levantine Interconnections, in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean held in November 2008 in Beirut, Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises hors-série VI, 177-186.

Sader, H.  2009     Beirut and Tell el-Burak. New Evidence on Phoenician Town Planning and Architecture in the Homeland. In S. Helas- D. Marzoli eds. Phönizisches und punisches Städtewesen. Akten der internationalen Tagung in Rom vom 21. bis 23. Februar 2007. Iberia Archaeologica 13. 55-67.

Complete list of pubications