Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart°

views updated

MACALISTER, ROBERT ALEXANDER STEWART°

MACALISTER, ROBERT ALEXANDER STEWART ° (1870–1951), Irish archaeologist. From 1899 to 1900 he participated with F.J. Bliss in the excavation of mounds in the Shephelah and in 1902–05 and 1907–09 directed the excavation of Gezer, publishing a three-volume report single-handedly in 1912. In 1925 he directed an excavation on the hill of Ophel in Jerusalem. In his later years, he was professor of Celtic archaeology at Dublin (1909–43). He was one of the pioneers of Palestinian archaeology, being the first to publish his finds in an exact manner and laying the foundations for comparative dating by ceramics and context dating. His works include The Philistines (1914) and A Century of Excavation in Palestine (1925).

[Michael Avi-Yonah]

More From encyclopedia.com