William Culican facts for kids

William "Bill" Culican (born August 21, 1928 – died March 24, 1984) was an amazing Australian archaeologist. He was also a teacher, called a lecturer, at the University of Melbourne. He taught about ancient history, especially about the Bible and times before classical Greece and Rome.

William Culican's Early Life and Studies

William Culican was born in a place called New Barn Farm in Lancashire, England. After spending some time in the Army, he went to the University of Edinburgh. There, he studied "classics," which means ancient Greek and Roman history, language, and culture, along with archaeology.

He was very good at his studies! He even won a special scholarship to Queen's College, Oxford. His learning focused on ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean Sea region, and the Middle East. He learned several ancient languages, including Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian. These languages helped him understand old texts and discoveries.

Moving to Australia and Teaching

In 1960, Bill Culican moved to Australia. He started working at the University of Melbourne as a lecturer. He taught about Semitic studies, which are related to languages and cultures from the Middle East. He became a senior lecturer in 1964 and later a "reader" in 1972. A reader is a senior academic position, like a professor.

He was also a founding member of important groups like the Humanities Research Council (in 1966) and the Australian Academy of the Humanities (in 1969). These groups help support and promote studies in history, languages, and culture. In 1965, he started the Archaeological Society of Victoria. This group later grew into the Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria, and he was its president from 1982 to 1983.

Discovering the Past: Excavations

In 1967 and 1968, Bill Culican led an important archaeological dig. He worked with John Taylor, students, and even friends and family. They excavated the Fossil Beach Cement Works site near Mornington, Victoria.

What was special about this dig? They published their findings very quickly! This was unusual for archaeologists at the time. Their report was one of the first historical archaeological excavations in Australia. It even won several prizes. Bill believed it was his duty to share what they found, even if the site wasn't as famous as places like Ur of the Chaldees.

During the 1970s, Bill Culican traveled a lot for his work. He worked on digs in Iran, the Levant (a region in the Middle East), Sicily, Africa, and other parts of Europe. He directed excavations in Syria in 1982. He also helped excavate an ancient Aboriginal ochre mine in Tasmania in 1983.

His main research areas were Iran and Phoenicia. The Phoenicians were an ancient people known for being great sailors and traders. He wrote books like The Medes and Persians (1965) and The First Merchant Venturers (1966). A very important chapter he wrote about Phoenician colonization was published after he passed away.

Bill Culican's Legacy

Sadly, Bill Culican passed away on March 24, 1984, from a heart attack and diabetes. His student, Antonio Sagona, took over his teaching duties. Antonio continued to develop the archaeology courses that Bill had started.

To honor his memory, the University of Melbourne gives out the William Culican Memorial Award every year. This award goes to the student with the best research paper in archaeology or ancient history. In 2007, a meeting room at the Combined Australian Archaeological Societies Conference in Sydney was named 'Culican'. This was to remember his important contributions to historical archaeology.