About Me

These were my best finds at the Temple Mount Sifting Project: A marble tile and an iron nail, both from the Roman period.

Hi! My name is Abigail. I’m a Christian and a biblical archaeologist, and I’m currently the Assistant Director of the Shiloh excavation. My first archaeological project was at the Temple Mount Sifting Project. I volunteered there for two weeks in 2008.

I remember this well. It was at Khirbet el Maqatir, and I had just found my first ancient coin. I was ridiculously excited about it.

In 2010, I started volunteering with Associates for Biblical Research at the Khirbet el-Maqatir excavation. I worked there until 2016, when we completed our excavations at that site and began digging at Tel Shiloh. I also worked at the Mount Zion excavation in 2014.

On the left is the first coin that I found. On the right is a modern Israeli coin bearing the same design.

In 2016, I went back to school to start working on a degree in Archaeology. My goal was to receive a good education in biblical archaeology without going into debt. I started with a year of Bible School at Frontier School of the Bible. After that, I spent a year and a half at University of Pikeville. From there, I transferred to The Bible Seminary, where I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Christian studies and received a Master’s degree in Biblical History and Archaeology.

I graduated from The Bible Seminary with both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree.

I am currently pursuing a PhD at Ariel University in Israel. I knew that I wanted to complete a PhD, but for some reason I hadn’t considered attending an Israeli University. I think that I just assumed that Israeli Universities wouldn’t accept a Christian American student. I looked into several American universities, but I wasn’t convinced that any of them were the right option for me.

A few years ago, I co-presented at the Near Eastern Archaeological Society meeting with Dr. Boyd Seevers.

This last spring, when I was finishing up my Master’s degree, I realized that I should at least do my due diligence and look into Israeli universities. I discovered several promising options and applied at three universities. One turned me down based on accreditation issues, but the other two accepted me. Of those two, Ariel University ended up being the better option, especially from a financial standpoint, since they granted me a nice scholarship.

Attending university in Israel is definitely an adventure. I’m not only figuring out how to do a PhD program, but I’ll also have to navigate classes in Hebrew (I’m not fluent in Hebrew – yet!) and life in a new and different place. While I’m here, I’m hoping to be able to explore ancient sites, and perhaps participate in various archaeological projects in addition to the Shiloh excavation.

I’m planning to update this blog regularly to keep my family and friends updated on my progress. I would greatly appreciate your prayers. If you would like to contribute financially, you can do so here, at the Go-Fund-Me that Dr Stripling started on my behalf.