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Biography 
Robert R. Cargill was born in Van Nuys, California to Leonard and Sharon Cargill. His family soon relocated to Madera, California, a small farm town in central California that he called home for 15 years. He attended John Adams Elementary, Thomas Jefferson Junior High, and Madera High School. At age 17, his family moved to nearby Fresno, California, where Mr. Cargill graduated from Bullard High School. He attended Fresno City College, where he earned his A.A. degree and won a state championship in 1992 as a catcher with the baseball team. He then transferred to California State University, Fresno, where he followed a pre-medical curriculum and earned a B.S. degree in Human Physiology. Mr. Cargill then accepted the J.P. Sanders Ministerial Scholarship to attend Pepperdine University, where he earned a Master of Science degree in Christian Ministry and his seminary degree, the Master of Divinity. While at Pepperdine, Mr. Cargill began studying archaeology and Middle Eastern culture and politics under Dr. Randall Chesnutt and Dr. John F. Wilson. Also while at Pepperdine, Mr. Cargill experienced the birth of his daughter, Talitha Joy. Mr. Cargill returned to Pepperdine in 2002 and taught courses in Hebrew Bible and New Testament at Pepperdine University. In 2004, he was hired by Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman to teach her history and religion of the Middle East. He then accepted a fellowship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, and study under Dr. William Schniedewind in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, with an emphasis in Second-Temple Period archaeology and biblical studies. His dissertation work focuses on the archaeological remains of Khirbet Qumran, the site associated with the composition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He serves as Chief Architect and Designer of the Qumran Visualization Project, a realtime virtual reconstruction of the site of Qumran. Mr. Cargill has appeared as an expert on numerous documentaries and television shows, and regularly lectures on topics concerning archaeology, biblical studies, the Dead Sea Scrolls, religious sects in the Second-Temple period, and linguistic ideology. Mr. Cargill has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East. Mr. Cargill began his archaeological career in 1999 as a Square Supervisor in the excavations at Banias (Golan Heights) with Dr. Vassilios Tzaferis and Dr. John F. Wilson. The next year he served as Area Supervisor at Banias. In 2004, he began work as a Square Supervisor for the excavations at the nearby site of Omrit, Israel with Dr. Andy Overman. Most recently, Mr Cargill participated in the excavations at Hatzor, Israel in 2006 with Dr. Amnon Ben-Tor. Mr Cagill is presently finalizing the Qumran Digital Model for release to the public. The Qumran Digital Model is a realtime, virtual reconstruction of Khirbet Qumran and its surroundings. The model will be made available free of charge. Mr. Cargill is also producing a film enitled "Ancient Qumran: A Virtual Reality Tour," which is scheduled for release on DVD in mid-2008. The movie is an expanded version of a shorter film of the same title produced for the San Diego Natural History Museum. Mr Cargill received a grant in 2006 from the museum and Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation for dissertation work on the Qumran Visualization Project. He was granted several UCLA graduate student research fellowships while at UCLA. He was named to the Who's Who Among America's Teachers for the 2003-4 academic year, and named to the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges for 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 years. He was awarded the J.P. Sanders Scholarship for a four-year period from 1996-2000 academic years, and was awarded the Pepperdine Seaver Dean's Scholarship in 1998 for work on the project: 'The History of Israel through Coins.' Mr. Cargill is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, American Schools of Oriental Research, Israel Exploration Society, and the Archaeological Institute of America, among others. He presently resides in Southern California with his daughter. |
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©2008 Robert R. Cargill |