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

lAUGHLIN:ONnlECONVERGENCEOFTEXT~ANDAllTIFACTS 125

READINGSUGGE';;nONSANDTOPIcs:

ISRAELINnlEIIl.ONAGE[ (CA. 1200-1000U.C.E.)

InwhatlollowsIoutlinethekeyprimaryandsecondaryliteraturefor
classroomdiscussionsofthearchaeologyoftheIronAgeI. Textsfromthe
BiblethatshouldberequiredreadingpriortothediscussionofIsraelin
theIronAgeI arcNum13-36;)osh1-23;anclJudg1:1-2:6.
Thebestsecondalyliteratureavailableforstudentsonthetopicofthe
IronIislistedbelow,

'I. ElizabethBlock-SmithandBethAlpertNakhai's,"ALandscape

Comes to Life: The Iron [ Pcriod,"IM provides an excellent

overviewoftheperiodandisessentialreadingthatshouldbe

required.LiketheworkofIsraelFinkelstein(seebelow),the

authorsconsidersettlementpatternsinCanaanfromtheendof

LBAthroughIronAgeI,includingregionaldifferencesandthe

naTureandcomplexityoftheIronAgesites,

2, ThefirstTwOchaptersofArchaeologyandBiblicallntelpreta-

tion,onebyJohnBartlettandtheotherbyDever,areespecially

usefulforprovidingbackgroundperspectivesforbeginningstu-

dents.Bothessaysalsocontainusefulbibliographiesofearlier

sources.I?

3. Inmyopinion,Deverrepresentsthebesteffortbyacontempo-
   ralY American archaeologisttoarguecriticallyandpositively
   whatarchaeologycandoforbiblicalstudies.Studentsshould
   certainlybeintroduced(0himandhispublications,ofwhich
   therearemany.HisRecentArcbaeologicalDiscoveriestmdBib-
   licalResearchcontainsseverallecturesgivenbytheauthorat
   the UniversityofWashington in 1985 and is highlyrecom-
   mended. Shorter articles that have been published in the
   AnchorBibleDictionaryand OEANEarcalsogood starting
   pointsforclassroomdiscussions.^20


4. IsraelFinkelsteinisaleadingIsraeliarchaeologistwhoprovides
   acritical alternative to Dever's perspectives onSOIllt' basic
   questions,Studentsshouldalsobemadeawareofhimandhis
   manypublications.A sectionfromFinkelstein's'!beArchaeology

1MElizabethtil<xk-Smithandl3eth-AlpcnN:lkh:li."At~tndscap.~COlll~Sto[jk,Th~Iron

IP~Ji(xJ,"NEA 62 (19-)9),62-92.tOI-27.

19 JohnB:U1Idl,ed.,Archa(!%gYlllldBibfim/tlllt"1m'/(i/ioll(London:Routledg~.t997).

20 WilliamG.I:)(:ver,"Archaeology.Syro-l'alcSlini:lll:tndLlihlic;ll":idem.-lsr:H.:I,lliMory

of(Archa<."Ologyandthe'Collquc~l")"':idem."Lliblk:llAn.:h:u.:ology,"OHANH 1 :3t5-19.