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

118 BI:.'1WEENTEXTANDARTIFACf

livedina real,empiricalworld,doesthisworldandtheworldofthetext,
ora!leasttheworldbehindthetext,oftheHebrewBibleeverintersect?Or
again,when thebiblical textualrecordandthearchaeological material
recordarebothproperlyinterpretedandunderstood,cantheyilluminate
or"speak"toeachother?Thisbegsthequestionofwhat"properlyinter-
pretedandunderstood"means,yetmypointis thatbothtextsandartifacts
arcobjectivedawthatcontemporaryreadersinterpretsubjectively.
Furthermore,inthisdayofproliferatingspecializedstudiesinbothdis-
Ciplines,itisextremelyunlikelythatanyofushasthetimeorexpertiseto
becomecompetentinbothfieldsofstudy.Consequently,thearchaeologist
willhavetodependonthecompetencyofthetextualscholarandvice
versa.Otherwise,bothdisciplinesruntheriskofcontinuingonparallel
coursesthatnevershallmeet.Whileit isnotmyintentiontotlytodeni-
gratetheuseofbiblicaltextstouytorecoversome"history"ofancient
Israel,I thinkDeverwascorrectwhenhearguedthatarchaeologicaldata
areoftenprimaryandevensuperiortothebiblicalandotherancienttexts
whenundeilakingthistaskofhistorywriting.^9 IfDeveriscorrect,archae-
ologyshouldplayapivotalroleinanyattempttoreconstructthehistoryof
ancientIsrael.Whatfollowsaresimplysuggestionsfortryingtointegrate
someofwhatisnowknownarchaeologicallyfromIsraelandelsewhere
intointroductioncoursestotheHebrewBible.Theseareonlysuggestions,
andonlytentativeonesatthat.Hopefullytherewillbeenoughlatitudeso
anyoneinterestedintryingtodothiswillbeabletoadapt/adoptthismate-
rialinwayscompatibletohisorherownpurposes.FUilhermore,although
frequentreferenceswillbemadetothebiblicaltext,myperspectivewill
bethatoftheexcavator,notthatoftheexegete.Obviouslythechamcterof
thebiblicaltextmustbedeterminedindependentlyofthearchaeological
record.Arethetwosubjectsevenspeakingaboutthesamereality?Mostof
theexegesis Imustleaveuptothereader. Mycentralquestionis: Can
whatisknownarchaeologicallyaboutIsrael(Iusethistermsimplytorefer
toa pal1iculargeographicallocation,nota politicalone)aswellassur-
roundingMiddleEasternsitesbeusedina positivewayifone'sprimary
goalistounderstandtheHebrewScriptures?

ASSUMPTIONSUNDERLYING1i\'1CGRAnNGARCHAEOLOGYANDTHEHEUREWBIBLE

Whileit is tostatetheobvioustosaythat all thinkingisbasedon

assumptions,oftentimesone'sassumptionsstayhidden,particularlyfromthe

oneholdingthem.ThusI wishroexpressmineasclearlyaspossible.The

issuesinvolvedinthisbriefessaycanbeintimidatingandoverwhelming,

9 Dever.l\'lhatDidtheBiblical\Vrite,~Know,89-90.