Connecting Principle is an art centred international multi-disciplinary research forum at Newcastle University instigating a dialogue between art and other disciplines. The aim of the forum is to increase opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration within academia and independently. Connecting Principle sees itself as an international network of artists, theorists and researchers.
Our current activities feature a series of presentations, round table discussions and an annual event that showcases the recent projects and collaborations of our members.
Upcoming next:
The “Art” of the Covenant: Rediscovering Egyptian Sculpture in the Cult of Ancient Israel?
John Will Rice
Heidelberg University / Tel Aviv University
- Online Presentation -
Date TBC (March 2025)
The Hebrew Bible tells of an Israelite “exodus” from Egypt that brought them into the land of Canaan (modern Israel-Palestine). History, of course, is more complicated: The “Israelites” were themselves probably “Canaanites,” and during and after the supposed time of the exodus, the Egyptian Empire actually ruled over Canaan. Yet even after the Egyptians withdrew from the region, the material traces of empire remained visible in local culture for centuries.
In fact, significant cultic objects described in the Hebrew Bible show distinctly “Egyptian” artistic influence, such as the Ark of the Covenant and the “Seraphim” of the Jerusalem temple. This artistic entanglement in such objects, whether real or literary, tells exciting stories about the longevity of cultural exchange in (post-)imperial contexts.
John Will Rice is an archaeologist and biblical scholar trained in the United States, Germany, and Israel. His doctoral dissertation, a combined project between Heidelberg University and Tel Aviv University, is an analysis of the Egyptian cobra as an artistic motif in the ancient southern Levant (modern Israel-Palestine and Jordan). Since 2022, he has been a staff member on Tel Aviv University’s archaeological excavations to Tel Azekah (Israel). He has published multiple articles in international journals on how biblical narratives reflect complex provincial interactions with imperial hegemony, especially that of the Neo-Assyrian empire.
