During the years 2014–2015, the Ackerman Family from South Africa, provided a gen- erous donation to the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project (directed by A.M.M.), on the basis of which the project was renamed the “Ackerman Family Bar-Ilan University Expedition to Gath” for that period. In addition to providing funding for the research activities of the project, the Ackerman Family’s support included two other important aspects – funding for stipends to college students from throughout the world (from 6 continents!) to join the excavation team, and a professional meeting dealing with biblical archaeology. And in fact, on Wednesday- Thursday, April 15th–16th, 2015, the “Ackerman Family Workshop in Biblical Archaeology” took place, which included a first day of lectures at Bar-Ilan University (Fig. 1), followed by a field trip to archaeological sites in the Shephelah (Judean Foot- hills) and Philistia. Approximately 50 scholars from Israel and abroad participated in the workshop.