Burton MacDonald
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Burton MacDonald (born September 13, 1939) is a Canadian archaeologist - specializing in Near Eastern studies with an emphasis on the country of Jordan - and a biblical scholar. He was professor of Religious Studies at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia from 1965 to 2006. Since then, he has been a Senior Research Professor at the same university.
Early Life
MacDonald was born in Témiscamingue, Quebec. MacDonald’s father was a miner and moved to Quebec in 1939 for work purposes. However, MacDonald’s father joined the Canadian army in 1941 and MacDonald’s mother, along with three young children, moved back to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia that same year. As a result, MacDonald grew up in a traditional, Cape Breton, Roman Catholic family in Port Hood. For six years he was taught by the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame at St. Peter’s Convent. He completed Grades 6-11 at Port Hood Academy.
University Education
MacDonald entered St. Francis Xavier University (St. F. X.) in September 1956 with financial assistance from the Knights of Columbus. For the last two years of his time at St. F. X., he was supported by the Scots Scholarship Fund. He received his BA, Summa Cum Laude, in Philosophy in 1960. To help finance his undergraduate studies, MacDonald worked in the iron ore, uranium, and gold mines in New Brunswick and Ontario during the summer months. MacDonald began studies at St. Paul’s Seminary, the ecclesiastical “branch” of the University of Ottawa, in September 1960. During his years at the seminary he received a Baccalaureate and a Licentiate in Theology in 1962 and 1964 respectively, and a Masters in Religious Education in 1965, all from the University of Ottawa. During the summer months of his seminary studies, he continued to work in a gold mine in Balmertown, ON. MacDonald was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1964 and served as an assistant pastor for one year in Sacred Heart Parish, Sydney, NS. He began his university teaching at Xavier College (now Cape Breton University), Sydney, NS in 1965. This was a junior college of St. F. X. After one year, in the fall of 1966, he went on to teach at St. F. X. St. F. X.’s administrators wished MacDonald to continue his graduate studies and, as a result, he enrolled as a student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature at The Catholic University of America (CUA), Washington, DC in 1967. After two years of graduate studies at CUA, he went on to complete his doctoral studies and work on his dissertation at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française, Jerusalem (1969-1971). At the École Biblique, he was mentored by Father Roland de Vaux, O.P. and in 1970 he was awarded an Élève Titulair in “Bible and Archaeology.” He received his Ph.D. from CUA in 1974. It was during his time at CUA that he met his future wife. He applied for laicization in 1977, left the priesthood in 1978, and married in 1980.
Career
MacDonald returned to St. F. X. in the fall of 1972 as a member of the Department of Theology (later changed to the Department of Religious Studies). He served as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, from 1992 to 1995 and again from 1996 to 2000. However, his career was not to be limited to that of a university teacher and/or administrator. While a student at the École Biblique, he became involved in archaeological field work in Israel, most notably at the sites of Gezer (1970) and Tell el-Hesi (1971). He then joined the excavations led by G. Ernest Wright at Idalion, Cyprus (1971). After further work at Idalion (1974) and Tell el-Hesi (1975), he was introduced to the archaeology of Jordan as a member of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, directed by Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (1977) and the Central Moab Survey, directed by J. Maxwell Miller (1979). In addition, the summer months of 1978 and 1979 saw MacDonald participating in the University of Toronto’s The Wadi Tumilat Project, East Nile Delta, Tell al Maskhuta, Egypt, under the directorship of John S. Holladay. It thus became MacDonald’s annual schedule: teaching at St. F.X. from September-April and conducting archaeological field work from May-July. MacDonald directed five major projects in Jordan: 1) The Wadi el-Hasa Archaeological Survey, West-Central Jordan (1979-1983); 2) The Southern Ghors and Northeast `Arabah Archaeological Survey (1985-1986); 3) The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey (1999-2001); 4) The Ayl to Ras an-Naqb Archaeological Survey (2005-2007)); and 5) The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey (2010-2012). He has published preliminary and final reports on all these projects (see “Selected publications”). All five projects are located in the Southern Transjordan or Edomite Plateau. In addition, he has published a summary of the findings of these projects that is a contribution to the archaeology and history of Southern Jordan. During university sabbaticals and in retirement, MacDonald was Annual Professor (1979-1980 and 1986-1987), Dodge Fellow (1991-1992), and Publications Fellow (2013) at the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan; Senior and, then, Visiting Scholar at Massey College, within the University of Toronto (1995-1996; 2003; 2012); Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall College, and Visiting Scholar within the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University (spring term 2000); Father Gatto Chair of Christian Studies, St. F. X. (fall term 2006); Senior Researcher, Pontifical Canadian College, Rome (winter term 2007); Reader, Dumbarton Oaks, Center for Byzantine Studies, Washington, DC (winter term 2008); Reader, Clare Hall College and Tyndale House, Cambridge University (winter term 2011); and Visiting Faculty, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto (winter term 2014). These positions provided MacDonald with the opportunity to work on publications related to his archaeological projects.
Committee Work
MacDonald served on numerous St. F. X. committees:
| Committee | Year(s) Active |
|---|---|
| University Senate | 1972-1975, 1989-1991 and 1996-1997 |
| University Council for Research | 1980-1983 and 1996-1999 |
| Rank and Tenure | 1984-1985 |
| Board of Governors | 1991-1992 |
| Outstanding Teaching Awards | 1994-1995 |
| Canadian Research Chair | 2005 |
Additionally he served on the following:
| Committee | Organization | Year(s) Active |
|---|---|---|
| Board of Trustees | American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan | 1981-1991 |
| Doctoral Fellowship Committee | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada | 1984-1986, 2001-2003 and 2009-2011 |
| Committee on Archaeological Policy | American Schools of Oriental Research | 1987-1991 and 2000-2007 |
| Board of Directors | American Schools of Oriental Research | 1997-2000 and 2004-2007 |
| Permits Committee | Canadian Archaeological Institute in Greece | 1998-2004 and 2006-2013 |
Financial Funding and Other Awards
Over the years and in various amounts, MacDonald has received research funding from: Social Science Federation of Canada; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; American Schools of Oriental Research; American Center of Oriental Research; Kyle-Kelso Foundation; Joukowsky Family Foundation; St. F. X.’s Council for Research; Innovations in Teaching/Learning Process – St. F. X.; St. F.X.’s Research/Publication/Teaching Awards; and Human Resources Development Canada – Summer Career Placements. MacDonald has also received non-monetary awards: St. F. X.’s University Research Award (2000); G. Ernest Wright Publications Award, American Schools of Oriental Research (2005); and St. F. X.’s University Hall of Honour (2010). Colleagues of MacDonald have acknowledged his achievements in the publication Walking through Jordan: Essays in Honor of Burton MacDonald (2017).
Selected Publications
MacDonald, B.; Banning, E. B.; Clark, G. A., Majchrowicz, D. and Coinman, N. R.; Coinman, N., Clark, G. A. and Lindly, J.; Donahue, J. and Beynon, D. E., Harlan, J. R.; Betlyon, J.; King, G.; and Piccirillo, M. (1988), The Wadi el-Hasa Archaeological Survey 1979-1983, West-Central Jordan. Wildrid Laurier University ISBN 0-88920-965-0
MacDonald, B.; `Amr, K.; Broeder, N. H.; Skinner, H. C. W.; Meyer, C.; Neeley, M. P.; Reese, D. S.; and Whitcomb, D. S. (1992), The Southern Ghors and Northeast `Arabah Archaeological Survey. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 5. J. R. Collis, Department of Archaeology and History, University of Sheffield ISBN 0-906090-43-1
MacDonald, B. (1994), Ammon, Moab and Edom: Early States/Nations of Jordan in the Biblical Period (End of the 2nd and During the 1st Millennium B.C.). Al Kutba ISBN 930-10565
MacDonald, B., and Younker, R. (eds.) (1999), Ancient Ammon. Brill ISBN 0169-9024
MacDonald, B. (2000), “East of the Jordan”: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures. American Schools of Oriental Research ISBN 0-89757-031-6
MacDonald, B.; Adams, R. B.; and Bienkowski, P. (eds.) (2001), The Archaeology of Jordan. Levantine Archaeology 1. Sheffield Academic ISBN 1-84127-1365-5
MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Neeley, M. P.; Gagos, T.; Moumani, K.; and Rockman, M. (2004), The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West-Central Jordan. Archaeological Reports 8. American Schools of Oriental Research ISBN 0-89757-066-9
MacDonald, B. (2010), Pilgrimage in Early Christian Jordan: A Literary and Archaeological Guide. Oxbow ISBN 978-0-9774094-9-5
MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; Clark, G. A.; and Macdonald, M. C. A. (2012), The Ayl to Ras an-Naqab Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2005-2007). Archaeological Reports 16. American Schools of Oriental Research ISBN 978-0-89757-085-5
MacDonald, B. (2015), The Southern Transjordan Edomite Plateau and the Dead Sea Rift Valley: The Bronze Age to the Islamic Period (3800/3700 BC-AD 1917). Oxbow ISBN 978-1-87297-832-9
MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; Clark, G. A.; Hayajneh, H.; and Eggler, J. (2016), The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2010-2012). Archaeological Reports 24. American Schools of Oriental Research ISBN 978-0-89757-093-0
Neeley, M. P.; Clark, G. A.; and Daviau, P. M. M. (eds.) (2017), Walking through Jordan: Essays in Honor of Burton MacDonald. Equinox ISBN 9781781792834
References
http://people.stfx.ca/bmacdona/
http://sites.stfx.ca/religious_studies/burton_macdonald
| This article, Burton MacDonald, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
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