1.t\UGHUN:ONTilECONVERGE'1CEOFTEXTSANDAIl.TIFACrs 117cross-cultural anthropological theorizing. Regional surveys have also
helpedtotakeawaytheearlierconcentrationonmajortellsidentified
withbiblicalcitiesandhaveprOVideda muchbroaderperspectivewithin
whichhi~lorians/archat'ologi~l~arenuwalll::mplingluunderstandthehis-
toryofancient~Israel."Thesechangeshaveresultedina more"secular"
approach to whatfor a long time wastermed "biblical archaeology.";
BuildingonthetcrminologyofDever,wemayexpressthegoalofarchae-
ologysimplyastheattempt"toexplainwhathappenedinthepastaswell
astodescribeit,"6
Atthesametimethatarchaeologicalfieldmethods,paT<ldigml:l,models,
andthelikearebeingrefined, criticaltheorizingaboutthebiblic<ll texts
hasalsocontinuedunabated.NewerdevelopmentsinHebrewBiblestud-
iesincludesuchthingsasreader-responsecriticismanddeconstructionas
wellasliteraryanalysesfromfeminist,psychoanalytic,anclmaterialistper-
spectives,7 As if this were not enough to weary the modern mind
interestedin suchstuff,therehasalsoappearedduringthepasttwenty
yearsorsobiblicalscholarswhohavebeendubbedthe"minimalists"(as
wellasa fewotherchoicewords),whoessentiallydenyanyhistoricityto
theBible.
Furthermore, the popular pendulum vis-a-vis archaeologyand the
Bibleis, insomeinstances,beginningtoswingintheoppositedirection
fromtheheydayofthe"biblicalarchaeologists."If toomuchwasassumed
forarchaeology'ssupportofthehistoricalveracityoftheBibleina previ-
ousgeneration,istooIiulebeingassumednow?8Giventheserapidand,
somewouldsay,revolutionaty,developmentsinbothdisciplines(archae-
ology and the Bible) over the past few years, what if anything can
archaeologyhopctocontributetothestudyoftheHebrewBiblebeyond
';il1ustrating" thecultunll/historicalbackgroundofthebiblicalworldingen-
eralancl/orsomephysicalpartofthatworlelinp<lrticular(e.g.,acooking
pot,a building,a swordblade,awatersystem)?
Theissuehereisa validmethodologicalprocedurethathonestlyand
fairlyassessesandimerprctsboththebiblicalandarchaeologic::l1data.Per-
haps the question can be rephrased: Since archaeologists recover the
maleria!remainsleftbyrealpeople(aswellasbytheenvironment)who; Spacedocsnotallowadiscus.~ionoflhehistoryofthismovement,butseeMoorey,A
Cell/llr)'ofBiblicalArchaeo/rwy;,melthediscussionmostrecentlywithbibliogr:lphybyDever,
WhatDidtheBiblical1\"ril(1)"Kllou'.
6 Il.enfrewandBalm,Arc!JacoloR,I',39.
7 SL""eJ.CherylEXlIl1I,lrldDavidJ.A.Clines,cds.."[1)('NewLf/enllJ'CrillclslIIalldtbe
HehrewI3ible(ValleyForgo.:,Pa.:TrinityI'r(°s.sInternational,1993).
H SecmO~1recentlyDaniel[_1Z<lfC,"FalseTest,lInent:Arch,h:ologyRefuteslht.:"Bibk·'s
ClaimtoHbtory,"llarper:sol1aRazille(March2002),W-47.