Dale Manor

Harding professor ‘digs’ into history

Dale Manor explains some of the artifacts in the Linda Byrd Smith Museum of Biblical Archaeology at Harding University in Searcy. Manor uncovered many of the artifacts housed in the museum on trips to the Tel Beth-Shemesh dig site in Israel.
Dale Manor explains some of the artifacts in the Linda Byrd Smith Museum of Biblical Archaeology at Harding University in Searcy. Manor uncovered many of the artifacts housed in the museum on trips to the Tel Beth-Shemesh dig site in Israel.

Dale Manor, a professor of archaeology and Bible at Harding University in Searcy, has a “deep” passion for history and exploration.

Manor, who is the field director of the Tel Beth-Shemesh Excavation Project in Israel, said he has made 30 trips to Israel over the years.

“I think preserving elements of human history is important and gives us a definition of where we come from,” Manor said.

Manor has been associated with the Tel Beth-Shemesh Excavation Project since 2000 and said he has excavated almost every summer since then.

Most years, students from Harding join the group for excavations, he said.

“This year, three students will be joining us. We teach them how to excavate strategically and think about what they’re doing. Everyone is involved in processing finds,” he explained.

Manor said the project focuses upon a site 15 miles west of Jerusalem, a site that is mentioned several times in biblical narrative.

The Linda Byrd Smith Museum of Biblical Archaeology opened in April at Harding University.

“I have a number of artifacts I had when I moved here and wanted to put them on display. The initial place I had them on display wasn’t secure enough,” Manor said.

“I desired somewhere more permanent, secure and elegant to display the artifacts. Mrs. Linda Smith became [the project’s] sponsor and footed the bill for building the museum,” he said.

Manor said Smith is the “matron of the museum,” and it took around a year to put the museum together.

“It houses over 100 artifacts,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of the artifacts are real, along with a few reproductions.”

Manor said he wants the museum to demonstrate practices dealing with writing, weaponry and everyday life in the biblical world.

“All of the feedback I’ve gotten on the museum has been very positive,” Manor said. “The artifacts themselves are very nice. I haven’t heard anything negative.”

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year, and by appointment during the summer.

“If people want to see it, they can call the office, and someone will let them in,” he said.

Admission is free, and the museum is open to the public.

Manor, who has been a professor at Harding University for 21 years, began working there after he moved from Arizona to Arkansas.

“Since moving to Harding, I have been part of the overseas studies program as a teacher at Harding’s Greece program, HUG, five times, from which we have traveled to a number of countries—Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Italy and England,” Manor said. HUG stands for Harding University in Greece.

Manor said he began preaching at age 13 at various congregations in San Diego, California.

“I preached all through my college years and then full time for 25 years after graduating, before becoming a professor,” he said.

“I did not make the transition to study archaeology until I was 33 years old. When professors in college would permit us to choose any topic on which to write, I gravitated toward historical and archaeological issues. Two books other than the Bible influenced me greatly in this direction: One was Richard Halliburton’s Complete Book of Marvels, and [the other was] James Michener’s The Source,” Manor said.

“Halliburton’s book is about his visit to a host of archaeological and natural sites scattered around the world — the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Mycaenae, Ephesus, Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, Athens, etc. Mom and Dad gave me the book while I was in junior high, and I devoured it,” Manor said.

“The Michener book is fictional, but in it, he re-creates an archaeological site in Israel and composes narratives around the various strata of the excavation. His thorough research helped me put the biblical narrative into a larger context, which clarified for me a number of enigmas that lingered in my mind,” he said.

Manor said his first trip to Israel in 1975 led to three other trips shortly after that.

Elders in the congregation in Arizona where Manor was preaching when he finished his doctorate urged him to start teaching, he said.

“While I had a desire to do that, I was also happy in the local ministry context,” he said.

“Preaching and teaching are my background, and I remain active preaching and teaching and lecturing in churches and other settings. In my opinion, I think I would not be a faithful steward of this discipline if I were not to use the things that I have learned to help people understand, appreciate and live by the Bible’s teachings,” Manor said.

Manor is an active member of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Near Eastern Archaeology Society.

He is also affiliated with the Israel Exploration Society and the Palestine Exploration Society.

“At Harding, I am the sponsor of the Society of Near Eastern Archaeology, which seeks to promote the archaeology of the biblical world in popular presentations to anyone interested in attending. We have speakers from Israel, Alabama and Tennessee, and various others give presentations,” he said.

Manor said his father was a preacher; thus the family moved around frequently throughout Manor’s childhood.

He was born in Tennessee and moved to California with his family between his fourth- and fifth-grade years of school.

“Living in California meant we were away from my folks’ families, so we would always make trips in the summer to go to Tennessee to visit them, and along the way, we usually stopped at various places to sightsee, such as Native American sites and the Grand Canyon,” he said.

Manor said he met his wife, Sharon Manor, at Freed-Hardeman College in Tennessee on the first night of freshman orientation.

“It was a case almost of love at first sight,” he said. “I knew no one at the school and was standing alone; she was there with a bunch of her friends and had one of the guys invite me over to join her group.”

The couple have been married for more than 46 years.

“We have two children: a daughter, Cynthia, who is a nurse in Tucson, Arizona, and a son, Elijah, who is a computer programmer in Nashville, Tennessee. Each of them has three children, and the six range in age from 6 to 15,” Manor said.

Manor said he attended Freed-Hardeman College, then transferred to Pepperdine University in California.

As a Bible major, he said, he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Manor received his doctorate in Near Eastern archaeology from the University of Arizona.

He is a member of the College Church of Christ in Searcy and said Churches of Christ will always remain a priority to him.

Manor’s hobbies include collecting books, traveling and a general interest in sports cars.

“Sharon and I just returned from Arizona, and on the trip, we visited Judge Roy Bean’s place, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley and Sequoyah’s home. We enjoy museums as well, particularly ones that deal with the ancient world and how people lived,” Manor said.

Philip Thompson, a professor of Bible at Harding, said he has been a friend and teaching colleague of Manor’s since 2001.

“For 12 years, our offices were next door. Thus, I enjoyed frequent conversations about archaeology and his work as field director of the dig at Tel Beth Shemesh, Israel,” Thompson said. “His office was crammed full of archaeological artifacts and reproductions, many of which may now be seen in the Linda Byrd Smith Museum of Biblical Archaeology.”

Thompson said he and his wife excavated at Tel Beth-Shemesh for one week in 2010, and he joined the excavation for a full season of four weeks in 2016.

“I like to say that participating in an archaeological dig allows you to hold history in your hands,” Thompson said. “Holding a pottery vessel, a flint sickle blade, a figurine and other artifacts that have not seen the light of day in 3,000 or more years is an overwhelming experience to me.”

Thompson said he finds Manor’s objectivity in weighing and assessing the data that comes to light during excavations impressive.

“Shunning sensationalism, he deliberates carefully and is willing to go where the evidence leads,” Thompson said.

Thompson said Manor practices hands-on learning while excavating and in the classroom.

“When an excavator uncovered a notable artifact, Dr. Manor often called groups of workers together to view it. Enthusiastically, he provided detailed information about the object, put it in historical context and explained its potential significance,” Thompson said.

Thompson said Manor has a delightful sense of humor and is warm and sincere in his relationships with colleagues and students.

“Dr. Manor is an accomplished scholar and a skilled archaeologist, yet he treats everyone on the dig as a valued partner. He is never condescending toward the volunteers but is patient and graceful in answering questions he’s probably been asked a thousand times,” Thompson said.

“When he needs to offer advice to the volunteers, he does so gently and kindly. His love for archaeology, especially for hands-on excavating, is contagious,” Thompson said. “He capably fills his supervisory role as field director, but he never seems happier than when he has a trowel in his hand, working alongside the volunteers.”

Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.

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