Nelson Glueck - Biography

Nelson Glueck (1900–1971) was an American rabbi, academic and archaeologist. Dr Glueck served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death, and his pioneering work in biblical archaeology resulted in the discovery of 1,500 ancient sites.

Biography

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1900 to German Jewish parents, Glueck developed a passion for religion early in life, and was ordained as a Reform rabbi in 1923. He received his Ph.D from the University of Jena in Germany in 1926. By 1928 he was a member of the Hebrew Union College faculty, teaching at the seminary of the Reform Jewish movement. It was during this time period that he first visited the Holy Land. Over his career, he developed an intimate knowledge of the land's rich history. Dr. Glueck, an expert on ancient pottery, was able to match small fragments of ceramic to distinct time periods. He was the first to identify some ancient wares such as the Edomite pottery and Midianite ware, while he re-discovered the now-called Negevite pottery. During World War II, Dr Glueck used his intimate knowledge of Palestine's geography to help the Office of Strategic Services develop a contingency plan for a retreat from Nazi General Erwin Rommel who was advancing through Northern Africa. (Rommel was stopped, however, and the plan was not needed.)

In the 1950s, Dr Glueck discovered remains of the advanced Nabataean civilization in what was then Transjordan. Using irrigation, the Nabateans were able to grow crops and develop a densely populated civilization in the Negev desert, despite receiving under six inches of rainfall a year. Dr Glueck worked with Israeli leaders to build an irrigation system modeled on that of the Nabataeans.

Dr Glueck's scholarship led to personal relationships with many world leaders: he delivered the benediction at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961; and he was personal friends with many of the State of Israel's early leaders, including David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban, Golda Meir, Henrietta Szold and Judah Magnes.

Dr. Glueck was the author of several books on archaeology, religion, and the intersection of the two. They include Explorations in Eastern Palestine (4 vol., 1934–51), The Other Side of the Jordan (1940), The River Jordan (1946), Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (1959), Deities and Dolphins (1965), and Hesed in the Bible (1968). Although he worked to develop a historical understanding of biblical events, Dr. Glueck always maintained that his faith was not based on a literal interpretation of the bible. To do that, he once said, would be to "confuse fact with faith, history with holiness, science with religion." He died in Cincinnati in 1971, after having previously announced plans to step down from the HUC presidency the following year, and just four months after his final trip to Israel. He was succeeded as president of HUC by Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk.

The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at the Hebrew Union College is named after Dr. Glueck.

Logan

Biography

• Nelson Glueck: Biblical Archaeologist and President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jonathan M. Brown, Laurence Kutler, Hebrew Union College Press, 2006

External links

• Article in Time Magazine, 13/12/1963