Frederick Jones Bliss

Frederick Jones Bliss (1857 - 1939) was an American archaeologist. After training under Flinders Petrie in Egypt, Bliss became involved with the Palestine Exploration Fund working in the field of Biblical archaeology at the site of Tell el-Hesi between 1894 and 1897. Between 1898 and 1900, along with R.A.S. Macalister, Bliss excavated several sites in the Shephelah region of modern Israel, helping to improve the chronology of the region. His excavation reports appeared frequently in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and included the first jar handle stamped by one of the Hebron LMLK seals (in 1899 simultaneously the first one with a 4-winged icon) as well as the first complete MMST inscription (in 1900). He was dismissed as the head of the Fund in 1900 due to his ill health. After the publication of his and Macalister's Excavations in Palestine in 1902, he was not active in the field.