Some projects are undertaken by private individuals who have the money or can raise it from others who believe in their cause. Most times the ideas that these individuals have are not the result of scholarly research. Since many countries (especially in the Near East) require the excavator to have scholarly background and training in order to acquire a permit, these private individuals have to enlist the participation of a qualified individual or institution for this purpose. However, there are times that private wealthy individuals support genuine scholarly projects because of their interest in the topic, site or region that are studied without trying to advance a particular point of view. This could be considered as a branch of philanthropy.
Article from The Five-Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant (Equinox, 2016).
By Oded Borowski
Professor of Biblical Archaeology and Hebrew
Emory University
November 2016
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