George F. Bass, professor emeritus of nautical archeology at Texas A&M University, will be a Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) visiting scholar at Syracuse University on Oct. 28-29. Bass will speak on "Two Bronze Age Shipwrecks," Oct. 28 at 4:15 p.m., in SU's Heroy Geology Laboratory Lecture Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Bass's lecture will describe a shipwreck from around 1300 B.C. off the coast of Turkey. Excavation of the shipwreck yielded 20 tons of artifacts from the Age of King Tut, including the oldest known book, the oldest known tin ingots, the oldest known glass ingots, the largest hoard of Canaanite gold and silver jewelry, the only gold scarab of Egypt's famed Queen Nefertiti, and much more.
"Who could not be fascinated by exploring ancient ships, full of the artifacts of commerce, and doing it under water?" says Marion E. "Pat" Bickford, the Jesse Heroy Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences at SU and vice president of the PBK's chapter at SU.
Bass has been a pioneer in the field of underwater archeology since his doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania more than 40 years ago. After serving on the University of Pennsylvania faculty until 1973, Bass left to found the Institute of Nautical Archeology, which in 1976 affiliated with Texas A&M University.
Bass's visit to SU is sponsored by the National PBK organization, Kappa Chapter of New York, the Departments of History; Archeology; Fine Arts; and Classics;
and the Renee Crown University Honors Program. Besides his public lecture, Bass will give several seminars in the host departments. For further information, please contact Martin Sage, chapter president, at 443-2713 or mlsage@syr.edu ; or Bickford at 443-9290 or mebickfo@syr.edu.
The PBK Society, the nation's leading advocate for the liberal arts and sciences at the undergraduate level, has pursued its mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the those disciplines for more than 200 years. PBK has more than 50 associations made up of PBK members in cities across the United States. Through 270 chapters, they support the ideals of the Society through academic, social, and community-based programs that honor and champion liberal arts scholarship. Each year, PBK and its affiliates raise and distribute more than $1 million to benefit students and scholars through scholarships, lectureships, book and essay awards, summer institutes for teachers and funds for visiting scholars.
