Date Time Abstract Location Comments
Thursday, December 6, 2012 20:00 Screening of the film "Farewell My Concubine" (China, 1993, 171 min.) with a short introduction by Prof. Gideon Shelach Jerusalem Cinematheque  
Sunday, December 9, 2012 14:00-17:00

A Walk Through the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 CE) with Ronnie Ellenblum 
 

Old City (Jerusalem)
 
 
  20:00 Opening Remarks by Ronnie Ellenblum and Opening Dinner Jerusalem YMCA  
Monday, December 10, 2012 09:00-10:30

The Decline of Complex Civilizations: Resilience or Collapse? 


Norman Yoffee: The Evolution of Fragility

Israel Finkelstein and Dafna LanggutNew Evidence on the Collapse of the Egypto-Canaanite System in the Levant at the End of the Late Bronze Age and on the Recovery in the Iron I 

Michael McCormick: What Really Happened with Rome? Thinking about Collapse, Decline, Fall and Historical Understanding

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)

 
  11:00-12:30 

Seminar plenary discussion led by Norman Yoffee

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  12:30-14:30 Lunch Break    
  14:30-16:00

Crumbling Ancient Powers

Gideon Shelach: The Rise, Decline and Transformation of Early Regional States in China

Miroslav Bárta: The Demise of the Egyptian Old Kingdom: 2200 B.C.

Joseph MaranMonuments and Social Memory Before and After the Demise of the Mycenaean Palaces

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  16:00-16:30

Coffee Break

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  16:30-17:30 Response by Amihai Mazar followed by discussion Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  17:30-19:30 Poster Reception and Buffet Dinner Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 07:00 Leave for Beth Shean   Tour to the North of Israel
  09:30-12:00 Tour of the ruins of Beth Shean and a discussion about the decline of major classical cities led by Hugh Kennedy, Gideon Avni and Yoram Tsafrir Bet Shean  
  12:30-13:30  Lunch Bet Shean  
  13:30-16:30  Drive and visit to the Late Bronze Age city of Hazor, led by Sharon Zuckerman, and a response by Joseph Maran Hazor  
  17:00           Stop at Vered HaGalil for a light dinner    
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 09:00-10:30

Empires in Perspective

Yuri Pines: The Political Resilience of the Chinese Empire

Bryan Ward-PerkinsWhy Has it Been Possible to Ignore the Collapse that Happened at the End of the Roman Empire?

Miriam Stark: Political Cycling in Southeast Asia’s Classical States

Scholion Center, Mt. Scopus Campus (Jerusalem)  
  11:00- 12:30

Plenary discussion led by Yuri Pines and Alex Yakobson

Scholion Center, Mt. Scopus Campus (Jerusalem)  
  12:30-14:00 Lunch    
  14:00-16:00

The Decline, Fall and Memory of Great Cities

Ari Daniel Levine: Dream Records of the Eastern Capital – Song Dynasty Kaifeng, Diasporic Nostalgia, and Reconstructed Memories

Hugh Kennedy: The Decline and Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate in the Tenth Century

Michal BiranThe Fall and Rise of  Baghdad Under Mongol Rule - Between History and Memory

Jodi MagnessDid Galilean Jewish Settlement Collapse in the Mid-Fourth Century C.E.?

Scholion Center, Mt. Scopus Campus (Jerusalem)  
  16:00-16:30 Coffee Break Scholion Center, Mt. Scopus Campus (Jerusalem)  
  16:30-18:00

Plenary discussion led by Bryan Ward-Perkins

Scholion Center, Mt. Scopus Campus (Jerusalem)  
  18:15 Return to the YMCA. Free night.    
Thursday, December 13, 2012 07:00 Leave for Shivta   Tour to the Cities of the Negev
  09:30-11:00 Tour of the site of Shivta Shivta  
  11:30-13:00

Collapse: A View from the Edge

A discussion led by Gideon Avni over lunch

Shivta  
  13:00-16:00 Exploring ancient agriculture in the Negev - a motorized tour to the impressive remains of abandoned agricultural sites    
  16:00-18:00 Return to Jerusalem and group dinner on the way    
Friday, December 14, 2012 09:00-11:00

The Decline, Fall and Memory of Great Cities

Margalit Finkelberg: Immortalized in Destruction – The Fall of Troy in Greco-Roman Tradition

Sarah Morris: Cities of Memory in Monuments and Narrative – Troy, Mycenae and the Afterlife of the Aegean Bronze Age

Peter MachinistThe Collapse of Nineveh: Reality and Symbol

Nili Wazana: The Real and Imagined Destruction of the Canaanite Cities

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  11:00-11:30 Coffee Break Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  11:00-13:00

Plenary discussion led by Nili Wazana and Sharon Zuckerman

Institute for Advanced Studies, Givat Ram Campus
(Jerusalem)
 
  20:00 Concluding Dinner Jerusalem Cinematheque  
Saturday, December 15, 2012 09:30-11:30 

Climatic Disasters and Societal Changes

Ronnie Ellenblum: ”Domino Effects” – the Moyenne Durée and the Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean during the MCA

Yochanan KushnirClimate Teleconnections - What They Are, Their Impact, and Cause

Ofer Bar Yosef: Climate Change and Societal Transformations in Prehistory

Yehuda Enzel: Modern Extreme Events as Guides to Past Climatic Conditions

YMCA (Jerusalem)  
  11:45-13:00

Plenary discussion

YMCA (Jerusalem)