MORELAND:ARCHAEOLOGYINNEWTESTAMENTCOURSf_'i 141universalizetheChristianmovement;it wasatleastpartiallysofromthe
beginning."17As scholarsofChristianoriginshaveincreasinglybecomc
awareoftheculturalshiftsthatoccurinaregionwhenanurbansiteis
established,theneed 10 underst:mdtherelationshipbetweentheinhabi-
tantsofthencwcitiesandthesurroundingvillageshasbeenmorcacute.
Oneofthekeyelementsinthcdiscllssionoftherelationshipbetween
thesenewurbancentersanclthetraclitionalvillagecOn!cxthasbeenthe
potential increaseinpeasant hardshipanclexploitationduetothenew
adminislnHivestructures. Heed, DouglasEdwards,HicharclHorsley, and
WilliamArnalhaveprovidedintereMinganalysesregardingvariousaspects
ofthepotentialincreasesintaxation,administrativestructures,absentee
landlordism,monetizationoftheeconomy, andshifts inthetraclitional
formsofpeasantfarming(introductionofnewcropsandtechnology)that
typicallyoccurwhen acolonial powerestablishes an urbansite inan
agrarianseHing.Eachauthorprovidesa reconstructionofaspectsoflifein
ancientGalileeandconsidershowthissettingmayhavedirectlyaffected
Jesusorhisearlyfollowers.Ihaveusedselectedre::ldingsfromthefollow-
ingpublicationsinundergraduatecoursesonthehistoricalJesusinorder
toillustratethekeysocioeconomicconditionsduringthctimeofJesus.
Whilethesescholarsdisagrecabolltthedegreetowhichthetrdditionallife
ofthevillageinhabitantswaschangedbythenewurbancenters,theyall
agreethatarchaeologyprovidesam:ljorkeyin:lI1Yplausiblereconstruc-
tionofEarlyHomanGalilee.
Heed'sanalySISofthesizeandcultural impactofboththeHerodian
citiesandseveralGalileanvillagesisaccessibleforlmdergraduate.'1tudents.^1 1'I
Hecombinesanexpertiseinarchaeology(currentlytheCo-Directorofthe
SepphorisAcropolisExcavations)andNewTest~lTnentliteratureinorderto
provideawell-arguedreconstructionofthesocioeconomicconditionsof
Galilceandadetailcdconsiderationoftheimplicationsforstudyingthe
historicalJesus.ReedconcludesthattheHerodianbuildingprojects"plac(.->(I
aneconomicstrainonGalileanpeasants,addedstresstofamiliesandchal-
lenged current values, and creatednewrural-urban dynamics Each of
thesefactorsisreflectedintheGoSpcIS.'·19Hcalsoprovidescarefulanaly-
sesofthepopul,ltionnumbersforthevillagesandcitiesinGalileethat
havebecomestandardfiguresusedbyhistoriansofancientGalilee.
Fllrthermore,byobservingthat manyofthesayingsofJesusreflect
uneasewiththeissuesofdebt,hlnddivision,tenancy,andthemonetiza-
tionoftheeconomy,Heedillustrateshowrecentarchaeologicalstudiesof
17 Ibid..47.
lRReed.Arcba('(OflJ!{1'amltbeCali/callJesus.62-99.
19 Ibid..'Xl.