Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences
Encyclopedia
The Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, ISIS (1985 - 2005) was a British
educational charity established in 1985 and founded by researchers formerly connected with the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies
(SIS) whose original purpose was to examine and debate the revisionist theories of Immanuel Velikovsky
.
The principal aim of ISIS was to promote discussion on the history and chronology of the ancient world. The objective of the Institute was to bring together scholars from many different disciplines so that their collective knowledge could be brought to bear on the problems of chronology and history in the ancient world.
Thus ISIS attracted scholars working in ancient history, radiocarbon dating and other scientific dating methods, astronomical dating, Old Testament studies, Egyptology, Assyriology and many branches of archaeology. The Institute became international in scope with Research Associates from at least a dozen countries and included representatives and graduates from University College London, and universities in Swansea
, Madrid
, Belfast
, Bristol
, Cambridge
, Melbourne
, Egypt
, France
, Netherlands
, Japan
, Oxford
, Durham
, Nottingham
, New Jersey
, Michigan
, Belgium
.
The acronym ISIS, being the name of an Egyptian goddess, no doubt alluded to the key role played by Egyptology in establishing Ancient Near Eastern chronology, but presumably also harkened back to SIS, the Velikovskian Society, from which some members came.
, it aimed to sustain a high standard of scholarship while at the same time fostering "creative, courageous, international and interdisciplinary approaches" to research into the history of the Ancient Near East (ANE). However, the ISIS was not able to maintain its initial ambitious programme of research throughout its twenty-year existence. (See Chairman’s Report, JACF Volume 10.)
The publication of the "New Chronology" in 1995 (separately by David Rohl, A Test of Time, Century, Random House, London) caused something of a furore and the Institute underwent a further period of re-examination. Successful lectures and conferences continued however, as well as involvement in the pioneering work of the Eastern Desert Survey, led by Rohl.
The Institute was dissolved in October 2005.
. These papers eventually appeared in a book, Centuries of Darkness, (published independently by Jonathan Cape, London) which, drawing on a wide range of archaeological evidence, tentatively proposed a 250 year reduction in the dates of the New Kingdom of Egypt.
The JACF series extended to ten volumes over a period of twenty years. They record the history and activities of the Institute, as well as the development of the ‘New Chronology’ and chronological issues relating to the conventional chronology. These volumes are now available on-line and free of charge at the ISIS Archive website.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
educational charity established in 1985 and founded by researchers formerly connected with the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies
Society for Interdisciplinary Studies
The Society for Interdisciplinary Studies is a membership-based organization "formed in 1974 in response to the growing interest in the works of modern catastrophists, notably the highly controversial Dr Immanuel Velikovsky"...
(SIS) whose original purpose was to examine and debate the revisionist theories of Immanuel Velikovsky
Immanuel Velikovsky
Immanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-born American independent scholar of Jewish origins, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950...
.
The principal aim of ISIS was to promote discussion on the history and chronology of the ancient world. The objective of the Institute was to bring together scholars from many different disciplines so that their collective knowledge could be brought to bear on the problems of chronology and history in the ancient world.
Thus ISIS attracted scholars working in ancient history, radiocarbon dating and other scientific dating methods, astronomical dating, Old Testament studies, Egyptology, Assyriology and many branches of archaeology. The Institute became international in scope with Research Associates from at least a dozen countries and included representatives and graduates from University College London, and universities in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
The acronym ISIS, being the name of an Egyptian goddess, no doubt alluded to the key role played by Egyptology in establishing Ancient Near Eastern chronology, but presumably also harkened back to SIS, the Velikovskian Society, from which some members came.
History
Starting under the directorship of David RohlDavid Rohl
New Chronology is the term used to describe an alternative Chronology of the ancient Near East developed by English Egyptologist David Rohl and other researchers beginning with A Test of Time: The Bible - from Myth to History in 1995...
, it aimed to sustain a high standard of scholarship while at the same time fostering "creative, courageous, international and interdisciplinary approaches" to research into the history of the Ancient Near East (ANE). However, the ISIS was not able to maintain its initial ambitious programme of research throughout its twenty-year existence. (See Chairman’s Report, JACF Volume 10.)
The publication of the "New Chronology" in 1995 (separately by David Rohl, A Test of Time, Century, Random House, London) caused something of a furore and the Institute underwent a further period of re-examination. Successful lectures and conferences continued however, as well as involvement in the pioneering work of the Eastern Desert Survey, led by Rohl.
The Institute was dissolved in October 2005.
Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum
The journal of the Institute was the Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum (JACF) produced in ten volumes from 1987 to 2006. Volume One set out an array of chronological problems surrounding the ‘dark age’ of the Bronze Age collapseBronze Age collapse
The Bronze Age collapse is a transition in southwestern Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age that some historians believe was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive...
. These papers eventually appeared in a book, Centuries of Darkness, (published independently by Jonathan Cape, London) which, drawing on a wide range of archaeological evidence, tentatively proposed a 250 year reduction in the dates of the New Kingdom of Egypt.
The JACF series extended to ten volumes over a period of twenty years. They record the history and activities of the Institute, as well as the development of the ‘New Chronology’ and chronological issues relating to the conventional chronology. These volumes are now available on-line and free of charge at the ISIS Archive website.