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

1I10HELAND:AI{CllAEOLOGYINNEWTESTA/llENTCOUKSES 149

Forexample,onemightsuspectthatif individualsorgroupswereorten
going 10 jerusalemtherewouldhea quantityofJudean numismaticevi-
dence(coins)orpotteryremainsfoundinGalilee.However,thetradefrom
GalileetothenOllhwesl,ratherthantoward./udea,isbetterattested.There
isnoreasontodoubtthattheideasofthetempleandthecityofJerusalem
wereinfluentialinGalilec, butthecontentionthat peopleoftenmoved
backandforthbetweentheregionsappearstobedifficulttosupportin
thearchaeologicalrecord.
ThelackofcvidencefordirectcontactberweentheregionsofJudea
andGalileesuggeststhatjerusalem-basedgroupssuchasthePharisees
andSadduceeswerenotasinfluentialinGalileeastheGospelnarratives
envision.Whilethedebateoverthisissuewillcontinue,it issafetosay
thatourarchaeologicalevidenceismixed.Thereis noclearevidenceof
jerusalem'sdirectimpactontheregion,outsideoftheabove-mentioned
signsofaJudeanheritageforsomeoftheresidenls.SincetheGalileans
hadtheirownadministrativecenters,theirownnalllr..llresourcesandman-
ufacturingcenters.andwereconnectedtotheGreco-Homanworldthrough
a roadsystemth:lt passcdthroughtheregion, whatcanbesaidofthe
actualroleoftheJerusalemauthoritiesintheregion?Todate,thesilenceof
thearchaeological remainsappe~lrstobe in agreementwiththe literary
sourcesoutsidetheNewTestament:therewerefcwclosecontactsbetween
GalileeandJerusalemintheEarlyHomanperiod.

CONCI.UStON

Thedialoguebetwecntheinterpretationsofthearchaeologicaldata

andthelitcraryremainsfromtheEarlyRomanperiodhasthepotentialto

bea greatstimulantforeveryonewhoteachescoursesontheNewTesta-

ment.I havebrieflyoutlinedsomeofthetopicsthatarepromisingareasof

research,panicularlywherethearchaeologicalmaterialinformslherecon-

struction of life in ancient Galilee. While archaeological research is

restrictedbyseveralfactors(e.g.,lhelackofuseablepublishedresources

andtherelmivelyfewsitesthathavebeenexcavated),thegrowingbodyof

Iiterarurethatletsarchaeologyhavea righttohehe~lrd,encouraginga sep-

aratereconstructionfromtlutwhichisdcrivcdfromtheliteralY~ources,is

a hopefulsignoflifeinNewTestamentstudies.In theclassroom,I have

fOlllldthatthemoreI~l1nabletointegratethiSmaterialintomyteaching,

lhemoresilldentsareablefullytograspthesettingsandmeaningsofthe

NewTestamenttexts,and,nodoubttheinlerdisciplinaryapproachthatis

necessitaledbytheintegrationofthearchaeologicaldataprovidesstudents

withmoreofanabilitytoformreasonablehistoricalreconstruc(ionsofthe

riseofearliestChristianity.