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

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CAsESnrolESFOR11''TEGRATINGARCHAEOlOGYANDTIlEHEBREWBUllE

It is impossiblehere 10 preseminanydetail thepossibilitiesthat
one might be interested in for using archaeologyin Hebrew Bible
courses.Thefollowingexamplesareintendedasillustrationsonlyand
havebeenchosenbecause,forme,theyrepresentsomeofthe more
excitingandchallengingquestionsnowbeingfacedbyarchaeologists
andbiblicalhistoriansalike.Theseissuesalsoafforda realopportunity
fortheteachertoalertstudentstothefactthatfinalanswerstomanyof
these questions have not been forthcoming. To live with a certain
amountofambigui[}'isnotonlyhumblingbutalsonecessaryifoneisto
thinkcritically.andhonestlyinthisfield. Iwilllimitmyselftothefollow-
ingquesllons:

1. Whatdoweknowabouttheplacethatwouldbecalled"Israel~
   in theBible from thearchaeologicaldata dating to theLate
   BronzeAge/IronAgeI?Dothesedata shedanylightonthe
   origin/cultureofa peopletheBiblecalls"Israelites~?Canthe
   archaeologicalandbiblicaldatatellusanythinghistoricallycon·
   cerningtheoriginofIsraelanditsappearancein thelandof
   Canaan?(Amongotherquestions,Iaminterestedhereinwhat
   inthepasthasbeenreferred 10 as"conquest"storiesfoundpri-
   marilyinthebooksofjoshuaandjudges.)


2. IsthereanyhistoryinthestoriesinSamuelandKingsconcerning
   a Davidanda Solomonandthecreationofa Hebrewmonarchy?


3. Cantheknownarchaeologicaldataelucidateatallthebiblical
   textsdescribinga splitmonarchy(Israelandjudah)beginning
   aroundtheninthcentUlYU.C.E.?


4. Howdoesarchaeologicaldatacompareand/orcontrastwith
   thebiblicaldawconcerningtheriseandnatureofIsraelitereli-
   gionduringthe[ronII(ca.1000-587H.C.E.)?

Averygoodtestcaseforwhatarchaeologycanorcannotdoforbibli-
calhistoricalstudyisthestory(orstories)regardingtheway in which
"Israel"occupiedthelandthatwouldlaterbearitsname.Ifthereisany
historytothesestoriesofviolentconquest,surelytherewouldbetracesof
suchdestructionsleftinthearchaeologic.1!record,providedarchaeologis/s
cande/erminewhenandwheresuchsupposedviolencelookplace.Formy
purposesIamgoingtoassumethat,ifthereisanyhistoricitytothese
Stories,ithappenedsometimeduringtheendoftheLateBronzeAge(thir-
teenthcentury U.C.E.). What is known archaeologicallyfrom this time
vis-a-visthesitesthathavebeenidentifiedandexcavatedshouldproVide
someindicationofwhatdidordidnottakeplace-atleastatthisorthat