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

98 B~"'WEENTEXTANDARTIFACT

includethematerialandsocialconstructionsof"theIsraelitehouseand
gOllsehold,""themeansofexistence,""thepatrimonialkingdom,""culture
andtheexpressivelife,"ancl"religiollsinstjrutions."
LifeinBibJicallsraelisverywellwrittenandorganized,anclinthisway
it ismoreofa referencevolumethana handbook.However,thebook's
lavishproduction makesit truly standout.TheillustrJ.tivematerialsare
simplyfabulous;thereareover 228 high-qualityillustrationsreproducedon
high-qualitypaper.Theyincludea widerangeoflinedrawingsandblack
andwhitephotographs,butwhatisespeciallynOlewonhyistheprevalence
ofcolorphotographs,maps,architecturalplans, andsitereconstructions.
Simplyput,thisisa beautifulvolumethattrulymakesthematerialcome
alive.Whileitcannotbeusedalone,it wouldbeanexceptionalcomple-
menttoanappropriatearchaeologicalorhistoricalhandbook.

BIBUCAI.ARCHAEOLOGYtNTEXTANDIMAGE:ToINFINITYANDBEYOND

Thetraditionofbiblicalarchaeologyhandbookscanbetracedbackto
AlbrightandhispowerfullysuccinctArchaeologyo[Palestine, first pub-
lishedin1949.TheoriginalcanonofAlbright,Kenyon,andAharonitook
thistraditionupthroughthe1970s,whenthedisciplineunderwenttremen-
dous growth in termsofits theoretical underpinnings,methodological
practice,andsheerquantityofdata.Fromthegrowthspurtsofthe 19705
and 19805 cameanewcanon:Mazar,Ben-Tor,andLevy.Thehighlycom~
mendableeffortsofMazarandBen-Tor, in particular,continuetobeof
greatpedagogicalimportance.Easytoread,wellproduced,andreflecting
a highlevelofscholarship,theyareprobablythebestoverallhandbooks
onthearchaeologyofthesouthernLevant.
Thatsaid,theyarealsoa littleovertenyearsold,closertofifteenif
datedtotheirpointsoforigin.Sincethentheamountofdatahascontinued
togrow,ashasthecomplexityofinterpretiveframeworks.Newcontrover-
sies abound,especiallyregardingtheIronAgechronology,93andsome
importantoldoneshaveneverquitebeenresolved,especiallyregardingthe
historicityofthebiblicaltextsandtherelationshipbetweentextandartifact.
Itwouldbea realserviceifbothMazarandBen-Torwererevisedandthor-
oughlyupdated;regardless,theirinfluencewillbefelffora vel)'longtime.

93 ttwouldinterestingtoseehowMazar:md!len-Torwouldhandlethisissue;bothare
~trndjtjonalisl~"whenitcomestothetenthcenturyII.C.E.andinterpretationsoftheunited
monarchy.Ma7..arinparticularhasbeenquiteinvolvedin[ronAgechronology,asC-14dates
fromhissiteofRehov:1!"Cofgreatimportancevis-~-vistheredatingeffortsofFinkelstein(see
ingeneralFinkelsteinandSilbennan,TheBibleUnearthc..'li,andbibliography).Regardlessof
wherethedatesfinallysettleout,FinkelsteinhasraisedimportantissuesinSyro-Pa[estinian
3rchaeologythatcannotbeignored.