John Bennet (archaeologist)

John Bennet FSA
Professor Bennet during an online Zoom conference in 2021
Born	Donald John Logan Bennet (1957-06-04) 4 June 1957 Singapore
Nationality	British
Known for	Director of the British School at Athens (2015 to 2022)
Title	Professor of Aegean Archaeology
Spouse	Deborah
Awards	Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Doctoral advisor	John F. Cherry
Academic work
Discipline	Archaeology and Classics
Sub-discipline	Minoan civilisation Mycenaean civilisation Bronze Age Aegean Linear B
Institutions	Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University of Wisconsin–Madison Keble College, Oxford University of Oxford University of Sheffield British School at Athens

Donald John Logan Bennet, FSA (born 1957), known as John Bennet, is a British archaeologist, classicist, and academic, who specialises in the Aegean civilisations. He has been Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Sheffield since 2004, and was Director of the British School at Athens from 2015 to 2022. He previously taught at the University of Cambridge, the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Oxford.

Early life and education

Bennet was born in Singapore and was brought up in Yorkshire, England. He studied the Classical Tripos at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1980. He remained at Cambridge to undertake postgraduate research on "The administrative organization of Late Minoan II–IIIB Crete based on archaeological and textual (Linear B) evidence": his supervisor was John F. Cherry. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1986.

Academic career

Bennet began his academic career as a junior research fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, after completing his doctorate, he moved to the United States and joined the Department of Classics of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. He was a Visiting assistant professor of Classics for the first year, an assistant professor of classics from 1987 to 1991, and achieved tenure as an associate professor of Classics from 1991 to 1995. In 1995, he was appointed a professor of classics.

In 1998, Bennet returned to England and joined the University of Oxford as the Sinclair & Rachel Hood Lecturer in Aegean Prehistory. The lectureship was attached to Keble College, Oxford, and so he was elected a Fellow of the college upon taking up the appointment. In April 2004, he gave the Marett Memorial Lecture at Exeter College, Oxford; this lecture was titled "Archaeologies of Homer".

In January 2004, Bennet was appointed Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. He has served as Director of the Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology since 2004, and was Head of Department of Archaeology between 2006 and 2010. He served as Director of the British School at Athens from October 2015 to September 2022, returning thereafter to Sheffield. In addition to directing the School's operation in Greece, he was also co-editor of the BSA Annual and Editor of its publication series.

Personal life

Bennet is married to Deborah.

Honours

On 19 November 2015, Bennet was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).

Selected work

• Zarinebaf, Fariba; Bennet, John; Davis, Jack L. (2005). A historical and economic geography of Ottoman Greece the southwestern Morea in the 18th century. Princeton, N.J.: American School of Classical Studies at Athens. ISBN 978-0876615348.
• Baines, John; Bennet, John; Houston, Stephen, eds. (2008). The disappearance of writing systems: perspectives on literacy and communication. London: Equinox. ISBN 978-1845530136.
• Wilkinson, Toby C.; Sherratt, Susan; Bennet, John, eds. (2011). Interweaving worlds: systemic interactions in Eurasia, 7th to 1st millennia BC. Oakville, CT: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1842179987.
• John Bennet (28 May 2015). A Short History of the Minoans. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-326-2.
• Galanakis, Yannis; Wilkinson, Toby; Bennet, John, eds. (2014). ΑΘΥΡΜΑΤΑ: Critical Essays on the Archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean in Honour of E. Susan Sherratt. Oxford: Archaeopress. ISBN 978-1784910198.
• Sherratt, Susan; Bennet, John, eds. (2016). Archaeology and the Homeric Epic. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1785702952.