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John R. Hale (archaeologist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John R. Hale (born 1951) is an American archaeologist and historian.[1] He was a highly regarded professor [2] and field archeologist, and was Director of the Liberal Studies Program at the University of Louisville.[3] He lectures widely for the public on topics in classicism, ancient history, and archeology [4] and his archeological fieldwork has been featured in a number of documentary films for the Discovery Channel and the History channel.[5]

Early life and education

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Born and raised in New Albany, Indiana, Hale earned his B.A. undergraduate degree in Archaeology at Yale, where he rowed for four years on the Lightweight Crew rowing team,[6] and also rowed in his Senior year in the 1973 Yale-Harvard race at New London, Connecticut, the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in American history. During his studies at Yale, John Hale was profoundly influenced by military historian Donald Kagan.[7][8] He earned his PhD at Cambridge, where his dissertation was on the Bronze Age ancestors of the famous Viking longships.[9][10]

The Oracle at Delphi

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He is an expert [11] on the ancient religion and modern science of geological fumes [12] at the ancient site of the Delphic Oracle[13] in Greece, and has spoken on the topic widely.[14][15] His research, along with that of geologist Jelle Zeilinga de Boer,[16][17] has demonstrated that the psychoactive gas ethylene[18] seeped from under the oracular site, and would have led to an "altered mental status" by the Pythia, the prophetess-priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.[12][19][20][21] Later research has further supported the geological fumes theory.[22][23]

Professor Hale's research on the geological fumes theory is recounted in The Oracle: Lost Secrets and Hidden Message of Ancient Delphi,[24] by science writer William Broad. It was also featured in the August 2003 issue of Scientific American magazine.[25][26]

Books and other writing

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John Hale has authored a number of books. His book on the Athenian navy and the birth of classical democracy was well reviewed in both popular and academic press.[1][27][28][29][30][31][32] It is entitled Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy [33] (2009).

He has written a number of articles for Scientific American, including about the Viking Longship,[34] and the technology of ancient Greek rowing.[35] and has published widely in academic journals.

Video Lecture Series

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Professor Hale has created numerous well-reviewed [36] long-form lecture series for audio and video with The Great Courses. These include:

  • Greek and Persian Wars (24 lectures) [37]
  • Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome (36 lectures) [38]
  • Art of Public Speaking: Lessons from the Greatest Speeches in History (12 lectures) [39]
  • Exploring the Roots of Religion (36 lectures) [40]
  • Great Tours: Greece and Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul (24 lecturers) [41]

These lecture series are available both on DVD and CD,[42] and two of them are available through "The Great Courses Plus" streaming service.[43]

Archeological Travel Tours

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Professor Hale has conducted numerous archeological tours, for academic and travel institutions such as the Archaeological Institute of America,[5] Thalassa Journeys,[44] and Yale Educational Travel.[45] His tours cover extensive geography, including Northern Greece and Albania.[46]

References

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  1. ^ a b Garner, Dwight (6 August 2009). "Rowing to Democracy (book review)". New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  2. ^ "John Hale at University of Louisville - RateMyProfessors.com". www.ratemyprofessors.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  3. ^ "About Dr. John Hale — Liberal Studies - The Individualized Major Program". louisville.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  4. ^ "SOLD OUT – Cleopatra: An Archaeological Perspective on Egypt's Last Pharaoh –– Minneapolis Institute of Art". new.artsmia.org. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  5. ^ a b "John R. Hale". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  6. ^ Broad, William J. (2007-01-30). The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the Science Behind Its Lost Secrets. Penguin. ISBN 9781440649349.
  7. ^ Garner, Dwight (2009-08-06). "Rowing to Democracy: 'Lords of the Sea,' by John R. Hale". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  8. ^ "Yale Alumni Magazine: Donald Kagan, Lion in Winter (April 02)". archives.yalealumnimagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  9. ^ "Genius and Terror on the High Seas". louisville.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  10. ^ "John Hale". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  11. ^ Hale, John (2000). "The Geological Origins of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece" (PDF). Geological Society of London. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Broad, William J. (2002-03-19). "For Delphic Oracle, Fumes and Visions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  13. ^ "The Delphic Oracle: Ancient Religion, Modern Science by John R. Hale". Vimeo. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  14. ^ rogueclassicist, David Meadows ~ (2010-04-10). "John Hale Talk on the Delphic Oracle". rogueclassicism. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  15. ^ "Stanford welcomes Prof. John Hale on Mysteries of the Delphic Oracle". aia-stanford.org. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  16. ^ "The Oracle of Delphi—Was She Really Stoned?". Biblical Archaeology Society. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  17. ^ Donald Munro, The Fresno Bee. "In Delphi, a mysterious past provokes navel gazing". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  18. ^ "The Ancients Were Right - Delphi Was A Gas!". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  19. ^ "Delphi Oracle". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  20. ^ Krajick, Kevin (2018-05-17). "The Scientific Detectives Probing the Secrets of Ancient Oracles". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  21. ^ "A High Calling for Priestesses at Delphi". Los Angeles Times. 2002-02-07. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  22. ^ "The Delphic Oracle: A Multidisciplinary Defense of the Gaseous Vent Theory". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  23. ^ "A Reconstruction of the Oracle's Chambers in Apollo's Temple at Delphi – Ancient Art". ancientart.as.ua.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  24. ^ Broad, William J. (2006). The oracle : the lost secrets and hidden message of ancient Delphi. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1594200815. OCLC 62326880.
  25. ^ "Delphi's oracle was just stoned". The Age. 2003-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  26. ^ Hale, J. R.; De Boer, J. Z.; Chanton, J. P.; Spiller, H. A. (2003). "Questioning the Delphic Oracle: Overview / An Intoxicating Tale". Scientific American. 289 (2): 66–73. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0803-66. PMID 12884540. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  27. ^ Dubail, Jean (2009-08-10). "John R. Hale delights with 'Lords of the Sea,' a lifetime of scholarship sprung from an oar". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  28. ^ "Hale Explores the Athenian Voyage to Democracy | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  29. ^ Lewis, John (2010). "Review of: Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.
  30. ^ Horne, Ryan. The History Teacher, vol. 43, no. 1, 2009, pp. 146–147. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40543364.
  31. ^ Potts, Samuel (5 August 2010). "Lords of the Sea: The Triumph and Tragedy of Ancient Athens (book review)_". Times (of London). ProQuest 761029171.
  32. ^ Whitewright, Julian. Journal of Maritime Archaeology, vol. 6, no. 2, 2011, pp. 151–153. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43551349.
  33. ^ Hale, John R., 1951- (2009). Lords of the sea : the epic story of the Athenian navy and the birth of democracy. New York: Viking. ISBN 9780670020805. OCLC 276819722.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ Hale, John R. (1998). "The Viking Longship". Scientific American. 278 (2): 56–63. Bibcode:1998SciAm.278b..56H. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0298-56. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  35. ^ Hale, John R. (1996). "The Lost Technology of Ancient Greek Rowing". Scientific American. 274 (5): 82–85. Bibcode:1996SciAm.274e..82H. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0596-82. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  36. ^ "Search results for: 'John Hale'". www.thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  37. ^ "Greek and Persian Wars". English. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  38. ^ "Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome". English. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  39. ^ "Art of Public Speaking: Lessons from the Greatest Speeches in History". English. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  40. ^ "Exploring the Roots of Religion". English. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  41. ^ "Great Tours: Greece and Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul". English. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  42. ^ "Professor Bio Page". www.thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  43. ^ Plus, The Great Courses. "John R. Hale". The Great Courses Plus. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  44. ^ "Meet the Expert Lecturers - Thalassa Educational Journeys to Greece". www.thalassajourneys.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  45. ^ "Yale Educational Travel". ivy.yale.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  46. ^ "Yale Educational Travel - Program Detail". ivy.yale.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-21.