Lecture by Art Historian Michael Nelson

The Roman Period Temples at Omrit in Northern Israel

Michael Nelson

Michael Nelson is an art historian and an active field archaeologist studying the ancient architecture of the Mediterranean. For more than a decade, he has been a member of an international team of scholars excavating at Omrit, a Roman and Early Byzantine site in northern Israel. Currently, his research focuses on the well-preserved temple complex at Omrit and its three Corinthian temples. His interests include the use and reception of Roman religious architecture and temple sculpture in the fringe areas of the empire and the transmission of stoneworking techniques. He also works at Leukos, a Roman and Early Byzantine port settlement on the Greek island of Karpathos in the Dodecanese. His research here explores insular settlement archaeology in relation to seaborne trade.

In this lecture Nelson will briefly summarize the history of the excavations at Omrit and discuss the historical significance of the site. His paper will focus on examining the architectural remains of the three phases of the Roman period temple at Omrit, which date between the late first century BC and the late first century AD. He plans to walk the audience through the process of architectural reconstruction and then discuss the symbolic significance of the hybridized appearance of the Omrit temples, which incorporated elements of Greek, Roman and Near Eastern architectural orders.

Michael Nelson’s summary of Omrit excavations.

Michael Nelson’s CV.