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Lawrence E. Stager was born Larry Elwood Stager in Kenton, Ohio on January 5, 1943. He received bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University. In 1973, he became a professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. In 1986, he became the inaugural Dorot professor of the archaeology of Israel at Harvard. He retired in 2012 as professor emeritus.

As an archaeologist, he found evidence that ancient Israelites sinned by worshiping a golden calf just like the Bible said and was credited with coining the term port power to explain the impact of maritime trade as an urban magnet during the Bronze Age. His book, Life in Biblical Israel written with Philip J. King, was published in 2001. He died from injuries after a fall on December 29, 2017 at the age of 74.

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