William Foxwell Albright (1891 – 1971) was an American archaeologist, known as a key figure of the twentieth century biblical archaeology movement. A noted biblical scholar, historian, linguist and expert in ancient ceramics, Albright obtained his doctorate in Semitic languages at Johns Hopkins University and later became a fellow at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem.

Albright was a prolific author who wrote several seminal books on the history and archaeology of ancient Israel. He was universally acknowledged as the dean of the biblical archaeology movement. His student George Ernest Wright followed him in that capacity. Others of his students, such as Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman, became noted leaders in the study of the Bible and the ancient Middle East. Although Albright is, thus, assured of a major place in the history of the development of Near Eastern archaeology, some of his methods and attitudes lately have come under criticism. (+info).

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