Download a free eBook and get our Bible history emails.

Robert Cargill

Dr. Robert R. Cargill is Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at The University of Iowa. He earned his M.Div. at Pepperdine University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at UCLA. He is the author of Qumran through (Real) Time: A Virtual Reconstruction of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Gorgias, 2009).While at UCLA, he was the chief architect and designer of the UCLA Qumran Visualization Project, a real-time virtual reconstruction of the site of Qumran, and a research associate at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Dr. Cargill has appeared as an expert on numerous documentaries and television shows, and recently hosted the National Geographic special, Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls (2010). He is also well known for his widely-read blog, XKV8R (xkv8r.com), which specializes in debunking sensational archaeological claims made by amateurs and the media. Professor Cargill is also an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he serves as Chair of the Blogging and Online Publication section, and in the American Schools of Oriental Research, where he chairs ASOR's Media Relations Committee.

Presenter at

Bible & Archaeology Fest XIV, November 18-20, 2011
No, No You Didn’t Find That: The Importance of Scholarly Refutation in An Era of Social Media
This lecture examines several false, sensational archaeological claims related to the Bible made by amateurs and the media over the past few years and refutes them. The lecture then argues why scholars must engage in organized, public refutation of sensational Biblical archaeological claims, and how a knowledge of and presence within popular social media outlets like Facebook and blogs can help curtail the sensationalism that continues to plague the field of Biblical archaeology.