The Boomer Archaeologist: A Graphic Memoir of Tribes, Identity and the Holy Land

by Thomas Evan Levy, Lily Almeida (Illustrator)

Overview

Archaeology is science and adventure rolled into one. The Boomer Archaeologist: A Graphic Memoir of Tribes, Identity and the Holy Land traces the 20th century evolution of a field, known to the public mostly through Indiana Jones, into a 21st century state-of-the-art transdisciplinary research endeavor with global implications. A coming-of-age story beginning in the wild 1960s, the graphic memoir embodies the 'American Dream' where citizens can rise to the pinnacle of their chosen professions. The Boomer Archaeologist reflects on a career dedicated to understanding the evolution of social inequality and the importance of cultural identity both in the past and present. Boomer highlights how risk taking and 'pushing the envelope' can promote new directions in academic work, even in the context of changing and disappointing values in elite US research universities over the past 30 years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800506954
Publisher:	Equinox Publishing
Publication date:	07/01/2025
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	8.27(w) x 11.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas Evan Levy is Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division, Co-Director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability at the Qualcomm Institute and inaugural holder of the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the University of California, San Diego. With over forty years of archaeological field experience in Israel and Jordan, Levy's current research focuses on marine and cyber-archaeology in Israel.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Rivers in the Desert Chapter 1 Early History of the Levys: From Bialystok to Woodbine, NJ Chapter 2 World War II with the U.S. 452nd Bomb Group: Howard I. Levy, Serial No. 13-097-882 Chapter 3 Post-WWII California Dreamin: 1950s in the San Fernando Valley Chapter 4 1960s: In the Valley Chapter 5 The Late 1960s: Rediscovering Anthropology Chapter 6 Road to Anthropology: Late 1960s - 1970 Chapter 7 I am a Jew: A Message to All Minorities, 1969 - 1971 Chapter 8 Journey to the Holy Land: Archaeology & Kibbutz, 1971 Chapter 9 To the Old Pueblo: Discovering Behavioral Archaeology Chapter 10 Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Greece, 1973 Chapter 11 Yom Kippur War, 1973 Chapter 12 Back to Tucson and Back to Home, 1974 Chapter 13 Licking my Wounds in the Valley, 1974 Chapter 14 The Road to Prehistory - Final U of A Days, 1975 Chapter 15 The Full Monty - Early Days in Sheffield, 1976 - 1977 Chapter 16 Back to the Holy Land, 1977 Chapter 17 Copper Age Nirvana and Dad's Death, 1977 Chapter 18 The Man in the Desert Museum - Bedouins, 1979 - 1985 Chapter 19 Marriage & Tribe, 1978 - 1979 Chapter 20 The People's Army - IDF, 1984 - 1992 Chapter 21 East Jerusalem and the W.F. Albright Institute, 1985 - 1987 Chapter 22 West Jerusalem and the Nelson Glueck School for Biblical Archaeology, 1987 - 1992 Chapter 23 Beautiful Boys - Ben and Gil, 1988 Chapter 24 Warring Chiefdoms from the Banks of the Wadi Beersheva, 1987 - 1993 Chapter 25 The Archaeology of Cult - 1987, 1990 - 1992 Chapter 26 Terror in Baka, 1990 Chapter 27 From Ethnoarchaeology in Cameroon to the Gulf War Chapter 28 The Golden Medina, 1992 Chapter 29 Earliest Egyptian Colonization in Canaan, Nahal Tillah, 1994 - 1996 Chapter 30 Crossing Jordan, 1997: Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, October 26th 1994 Chapter 31 Archaeometallurgy & Cyber Archaeology in Jordan, 1999 Chapter 32 Ethnoarchaeology in India, 2004 - 2007 Chapter 33 Quest for Solomon's Mines, 2002 - 2014 Chapter 34 At-Risk World Heritage and the Oracle at Delphi Chapter 35 Underwater Archaeology in Israel Chapter 36 The Collapse of Civilizations Epilogue Gratitude Photo Story 1 Shiqmim: The Rise of Social Inequality, ca. 4500-2600 BCE Photo Story 2 Gilat: Earliest Temples in the Holy Land, ca. 4500-3600 BCE Photo Story 3 Copper Trail: Journey to the Copper Age Action Archaeology, 1997 Photo Story 4 ELRAP, Jordan: Copper and the Rise of a Biblical Iron Age Kingdom, 10th - 9th Century BCE Photo Story 5 Ethnoarchaeology: The Hereditary Bronze Casters of South India Photo Story 6 Methoni Bay Marine Archaeology Cultural Heritage Project, Greece Photo Story 7 Deep-time Holocene Coastal Adaptation: Israel and the Earliest Tsunami Postscript October 7th, 2023

Editorial Reviews

"A creative and completely unique self-excavation by a gifted archaeologist equally at home in America and the Middle East, in the present and in Biblical times. The Boomer Archaeologist is at once playful, serious, and deeply touching." Matti Friedman, author of Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai "Levy writes with charm and humor and most of all wonder at the adventure that has been his life. One of the most fascinating Jewish autobiographies of our time." Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor "A very personal and entertaining narrative, looking behind the scenes of a life well lived. Tom Levy's reminiscences of his experiences as a ground-breaking archaeologist are amusing and thought-provoking by turns, well worth reading and contemplating by students, specialists, and the general public alike." Eric H. Cline, Professor of Classics, History, and Anthropology, The George Washington University and author of After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations

From the Publisher