Whatever inspired Yadin, be it the Dorot program or the simple fear that in the greater and ever-changing Middle East Israel’s place in it and its archaeology might ultimately be slighted or diminished, he convened a high-powered ASOR group to meet at Leon and Shelby White Levy’s apartment in Manhattan on June 27th, 1984. In attendance were the Levys, Joy, Dick Scheuer, Ernie Frerichs, Jim Sauer, ASOR President, myself, ASOR First Vice President, and possibly Phil King, past ASOR President, whose participation I cannot recall. Yadin was so concerned about the future of the field of biblical archaeology, he said, that he intended to devote his final days — he was 67 when he died—to ensure the future of the field in the United States and he offered to lecture anywhere and turn over all of his lecture fees, which were very high even in those days, to a central fund except for his personal expenses. ...He died the next day. His untimely death was a great loss to the field in many ways.
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