Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

DE."SEL:I'SEARCHOFTIlECOOl>HOOK 93

archaeologistworkinginthe 'carEast. anyconsiderationofJoseph in

Egyptianhistory!Sdeeplytrouhling."'"Simplyput,thesearenotthekinds

ofassen.ionsthatbelonginanarchaeologyhandbook,sincethereareno

textualorarchaeologicaldata 10 corroboratethem.ItisthiSoverwhelming

desireto ~prove~thevalidityofthebiblical narrativesthat completely

underminestheintegrityoflloenh'svolume. Currid'sandThompson's

lX)()ksfalls intorhesamecategoryandareiterationsoftheSJmebasic

materialfromthesamebasicperspective.

ARCHAEOLOGY....1\0....NFWGE!\ERA"llO'<OFBlllUCALIIISTORYJ3<x)KS

Thereisanewgenerationofbiblicalhistorybooksthatabodeserve
someattentionwithinthecontextofthissurvey.Theyarcclearlyhistorical
in theirorientationandmethodologybut relyheavilyon;Irchacological
data intheir interpretation. The most significant ofthese include 'I7)e
Israelites,byB. S.J. Isserlin; 10elIistoryojAncientPalestine, byGosta
Ahlstrom; TheOJ-fordHistory'ojtheBiblicalWorld.editedb}' MichaelD.
Coog.:IO;andAncientIsrael, FromAbrahamtotheRo"um/kstnictionoj
theTemple.editedbyHerschelShanks.flOWhilethesearcbiblicalhistories
inthestyleofJohnBright,81theyhavea sophisticatedappreciationanduti-
lizationofthearchaeologic:l1d:It:1.Inthisregard,theyfollowmoreclosely
inthetrJditionestablishedhyJ MaxwellMillerandJohnllayesintheir
HistoryojAl1cie'ltlsmelmu/jut/ab.Sl
Asthenameimplies. 1beIsraelitesis a thoroughsludyofIsrolelite
societyandculture,seamlesslyinterweavingthearchaeological,histori-
cal, and biblical sources, though its structure is comparable to
arch~lcologyh;mdbooks.Theintroductorychaptcrsundertakea discus-
sionofthearchaeologicalandbiblical.sourcesalongwith~lconsidel.llion
ofIheoriginsoftheIsraelites,a crucialsubjectforanybiblicoll history.
This is followed by anexcellent overviewofthe environmental and
humangeography,completewithmaps.Thereisalso;1briefhistoryof
theIsraelitcsandadescriptionoftheirpoliticalorganiz:ltionbasedonthe
bihlicaltexts.

79 ~'CnOlc 73

I«lu.s.J.1,*r1in.rbi'/sruellfes(l.ondon.TIulnes&Ilucbon.1t)9H);GWJAhlSirUm.The

/lIslOryofA"ne"fP.1lesJme(ed I)1:tn:1Edelman;~linneapoli~:I-'onn.....s.199-ll;.'lichaclD

Coop:an,1..-<1.•7bf:OTjort/IlisJ(jryojlht'/JIlJllCtd\I·hrld.(rt.'"\<-"<1.'cwYork.O.,fonlUnhcT">It)

PK."SS. 2001 I;andIlcrschelSlunk.."1..-<1.•A"de,,'I.~md. FromAbmoomtolbeHo"uJIIDesJruc-

tiol/oflbeTemple(re>, ed.WashinglOn.DC.IlihlicalArcha<-'OI~'SOC·IeI).l')l.m

1:11JohnBrigtll.AJlislorroftsraf.'i(3d'd.;Philadelphia\XcSllllllblcr. 1981 J.

IIIJ-MaxwellMillerandJohnII lIa)c AJlislo,,'ofAI/cit'III/,nu4(PllIl.ldclphia:\Xl..'St-

minSicr.1986)