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.
I never met him personally but am thankful he walked among us
I’m saddened to hear, loved his feisty dialog and reading the letters to him and his answers. Will not be replicated.
Thanks Hershel. I always looked forward to reading the BAR issues. Your career path was a blessing for my life.
I was saddened by the news of Hershel Shanks’ passing while grateful for his long, well lived life. I discovered BAR one day years ago when opening a box of my father’s containing neatly stacked, very early editions of BAR that he had saved. I devoured them! I sent off for my own subscription and have been hooked ever since. I’ve yet to encounter such a diverse publication. Where else can I read about a hotly contested topic on one page and see a Cartoon Caption Contest on the next? This mix of intelligence and whimsy seems to sum up Mr. Shanks personality. Many times my jaw would drop at the audacity of some scholars and their arrogance only to find myself grinning at Mr. Shanks quick and cutting come-backs to them. I remember reading of the Dead Sea Scrolls “imprisonment” while muttering under my breath, “Go, Hershel, go get ’em!” And he did! One day I decided to enter the Cartoon Caption Contest and lo and behold, much to my surprise, I won first place! (March/April 2016) Seeing my name printed in a magazine of the caliber of BAR was a pride filled moment of which I made a ridiculously huge deal! My name in BAR? I gleefully imagined hundreds of scholars across the world sitting at their serious desks, intensely admiring the quick-witted woman down in Florida! My poor daughter, Sarah, bore the brunt of my indulgence, although she was as proud as I was. OK, it was only a cartoon contest but still, I have that magazine and letter of congratulations written to me in a special folder that I will always treasure. I still brag about it unashamedly to this day. So, thank you to Hershel Shanks, a innovative, brave, loyal, persistent, intelligent, curious, irreplaceable man with the endearing quality of a bit of whimsy thrown in to keep heavy subjects a little lighter. I dug out my special issue, lit a candle for Mr. Shanks and said my own goodbye while celebrating his extraordinary life. I envy those that knew him. He was one in a million. I miss him.
I started reading BAr a decade ago, that makes me a new reader. I never got to thank Hershel in person for his magazine, but it’s brought me many smiles and pleasure over the years. And not every magazine has done that for me as a casual reader and subscriber, thank you.