Bryant G. Wood

Bryant G. Wood is a prominent American biblical archaeologist known for his work on Bronze and Iron Age pottery and his controversial stance on the dating of Jericho's destruction. Wood argues for a Late Bronze Age destruction of Jericho that aligns with a biblical chronology, a position that has sparked significant debate among scholars. He did not excavate Jericho himself. His case rests on a re-analysis of the pottery and stratigraphy published by the site's excavators, John Garstang and Kathleen Kenyon, and his own field direction was at Khirbet el-Maqatir; before that he worked as a field archaeologist on the excavation at Khirbet Nisya.

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Academic Career and Education

Bryant G. Wood holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University and an M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He later transitioned to biblical studies, earning an M.A. in Biblical History from the University of Michigan in 1974, followed by a Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian Archaeology from the University of Toronto in 1985. As of 2025, Wood serves as the Research Director at Associates for Biblical Research (ABR), where he has been a senior researcher for several years.

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Major Works and Contributions

Wood's scholarly output includes significant publications such as The Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages (1990), his Ph.D. dissertation published in book form. He has contributed numerous articles to journals and technical reports, particularly on Canaanite and Israelite pottery, and the archaeology of Jericho and Khirbet el-Maqatir. Many of these articles are published in Bible and Spade, a journal associated with ABR. His work on the Late Bronze I destruction horizon at Jericho, which he argues aligns with the biblical narrative of conquest, remains a pivotal aspect of his research.

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Organizational Affiliations and Public Engagement

Bryant G. Wood is closely affiliated with the Associates for Biblical Research, a faith-based organization dedicated to biblical archaeology. In addition to his excavation work, Wood frequently engages with the public through media appearances, documentaries, and lectures, often addressing topics like "Jericho and the Reliability of Scripture." He is also featured in various evangelical and creationist publications, reflecting his active role in public archaeology and apologetics.

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Impact on Biblical Studies

Wood's work is influential within evangelical circles, particularly regarding the archaeological evidence supporting biblical narratives. His research on Jericho and other sites has been widely disseminated through evangelical conferences and publications, contributing to the dialogue on the intersection of archaeology and scripture. His date of about 1400 BC for the destruction of Jericho City IV is some 150 years later than the date of about 1550 BC established by Kathleen Kenyon, which mainstream archaeologists accept and which radiocarbon results published by Bruins and van der Plicht in 1995 supported; Wood has continued to hold to 1400 BC on the basis of the pottery.

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Critique and Reception

In a 1990 exchange in Biblical Archaeology Review, Piotr Bienkowski rejected Wood's redating of the destruction of Jericho City IV from about 1550 BC to about 1400 BC, arguing that there was strong evidence for Kathleen Kenyon's Middle Bronze Age date; Wood responded that he had produced evidence to back his argument. Wood's work is appreciated within evangelical scholarship for its clarity and commitment to a biblically consistent historical framework.

See also: Biblical Archaeology, Jericho, Associates for Biblical Research