Clemson University’s Office of the Provost and the College of Arts and Humanities will host Jodi Magness as a Provost Distinguished Lecturer on Monday, March 10.
Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More Than Just Mosaics: The Ancient Synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee
Monday, March 10 | 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Daniel Hall 105
No registration is required.*
*Accommodations are available by request.
Please contact Ben White at bwhite5@clemson.edu
as soon as possible, to help ensure availability.
LECTURE ABSTRACT
Professor Jodi Magness has been directing excavations in the ancient village of Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee. The excavations have brought to light the remains of a monumental Late Roman (fifth century) synagogue building paved with stunning and unique mosaics, including biblical scenes and the first non-biblical story ever discovered decorating an ancient synagogue. In this slide-illustrated lecture, Professor Magness describes these exciting finds, including the discoveries made in last summer’s season.
ABOUT JODI MAGNESS
Professor Jodi Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Magness’ research interests, which focus on Palestine in the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods, and Diaspora Judaism in the Roman world, include ancient pottery, ancient synagogues, Jerusalem, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Roman army in the East.
Magness has participated in 20 different excavations in Israel and Greece, including co-directing the 1995 excavations in the Roman siege works at Masada and co-directing excavations in the late Roman fort at Yotvata, Israel. Since 2011, Magness has directed excavations at Huqoq in Galilee.
Magness is the author of several award-winning books, including Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine.
Her scholarship has earned fellowships from the National Endowment for Humanities, Fulbright and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, among others. She has received numerous accolades, including the Archaeological Institute of America’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the 2025 Archaeological Institute of America’s Martha and Artemis Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award.
She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past president and honorary president of the Archaeological Institute of America. In addition to serving on the boards of leading archaeological institutions, she has also contributed as a consultant and on-screen expert for the National Geographic series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman and produced a 24-lecture course on “Jesus and His Jewish Influences” with The Teaching Company’s Great Courses.