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

ARCHAEOLOGYIN EWTESTAMENTCOURSES

Millo"C.More/ami

RhodesCollege

INTI{ODlICllON:WHYI""TEGKATEAKCIIAEOI.OGY11\'1'0NEWTESTAMENTCOURSE,.'i?

Inthepastdecadetherehaveheensomanysignificamdevelopments
inthereconstructionoftheEarlyRomanperiodinG,lIitceandJudea-
primarilybasedonrecentarchaeologicalexcavations-thatitshouldbe
self-eVidenthowimport~lnlitistointroducestudentstothematerialcul-
lUreoftheregion.Yettextbooksandkeysecondaryreadingforclassroom
useoftendonotreflecttheadvancesinourknowledgeofthesettingof
Jesusandhisfirstfollowers.Studentsoftenonlyhearreferencesto~archae­
ologicalmalcrial-....henitisrclcg:noototheroleofaclassroomvisualaid
thaiisusedlOillustrateaIilcrnry(exLForexample,a pictureoftheextant
IleroclianSlOnesintheTemple~lountoranarchitect'sdrdwingofRobin-
son'sArchmightbeshowna~a waytoillustratethestoryofjesusentering
thetemple.AphotooftheextantC~\pernaumsyn~lgogue.JX)stdatingjesus
byhundredsofyears,mightbeshownduringa discussionofa passage
fromtheGospelsinwhichjesusissaidtohaveprC<lChedinGalileansyna-
gogues. While it is common to leach courses on the Gospels orthe
historicalJesusthatonlyreferencearchaeologyasillustrations,thereare
great rewardsinLlsingarchaeologytounlocknewaspectsoftheprivate
andpubliclifeofEarlyHomanPalestine.InIhisessayIexplorethebene-
fitsofusingstudiestlunincorponnerecentarchaeologicaldiscoveries,as
well assuggest sevenilpraCliGl1 waysofintegratingthis material into
coursesthattypicallyarealreadyoverburdened.
111e needformoreemph~lsi.sonnonlitcr.:lI)'evidenceinNewTesta-
mentcoursesarisesaneweachtimeI teachaninlrcxluctorycourseonthe
subject.Overthepastfewyear.-.inmyIntroductiontotheNewTestamenl
courses,Jhavebegunthesemesterwitha renectionpaperontheGospel
ofMark. I askthestudentstorC<ld theGospelanddiscu~thesocioeco-
nUIlIit:am"!pulilic-dl~t:ltingsIIMI .Ireren~aledinthenarrative.Ialsoask
themtorenectonhowjesusfilsinlothenarrdtiveseuings.Theresponses

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