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

162 BE"IWEENTEh'TANDARTIFACl"

In suggesting how deeply HellenizedJerusalem \Vas in the Early
Homanperiod,Idonotmean(0suggestthattheprevailingethoswasnot
Jewish.Therecentexcavationoflargehousesandvillasthereleavesno
doubtas 10 thedegreetowhichJewsobservedthelawsofpurity,notonly
reflectedintheritualbathsthathavebeenrevealedbUIalsothroughthe
stonevesselsassociatedwiththem.Inlcachingstudentsaboutthiseraitis
importanttostressthatjustasmostoftheliterarytextsthatsurviveare
productsofelitegroups,sotoOthearchaeologyofJerusalempresenlsa
pictureofelitegroups.Inordertogetamorereliabledatabaseonehas to
examinetombremains,includinginscnptions,ossuaries,andsarcophagi
andthefinds associatedwiththem.^38 Whenoneturnstoothercitiesand
regionsfromthesameer-.l,oneshouldexpecttofindimportantdifferences.
TheGalilee,forexample,isnotasHellenizedasjerusalemandpartsof
judeaandthecoastalplainuntilmuchlater,thatis, inthesecondcentury
C.E.,afterthedemographicshiftfromsouthtonorththatbeganwiththe
fallofjenlsalemin 70 C.E.39
IndiscussingtheriseofPalestinianChristianitypre-70C.L, itisquite
importanttoemphasizetheabsenceofidentifiable"Christian"remains.In
partbecausetheredidnotexista symbolicvocabularyforthefirstChris-
tiansbutmainlybecausetheoverwhelmingmaterialis eitherjewishor
pagan,thematerialevidencecontextuallyconsideredpointstothebold
factthattheearliestChristiansinPalestinewereobviouslyathomeinthe
jewishmatrixinwhichtheyemerged.Keepinginmindthattherewasnot
yeta fixed"canon"ofscriptureandthattheKcrubimorHagiographawas
stillverymuchinflux,thekindofpicturethatderivesfrommaterialcul-
tureisgreatlysimilar,namely,that Palestinewasa muhicultumllandin
whichjewishculturethrivedamidstgreatdiversity.I believethispowerful
messagecanonlybeproperlyconveyedwhentakingarchaeologyfully
intoaccount.

CONCLUSION

Themainpointofthisessayhasbeen 10 demonstmtethatarchaeology
is an essentialtool for studying biblical historyand, in particular, the
SecondTempleperiod.IndividingupIhisperiod(515B.C.E.-70C.E.)into
itsthreemainunits,Persian(515-332B.C.E.),Hellenistic032-63B.C.E.),and
EarlyRoman(63B.C.E.-70C.E.), Ihavehopefullybeenabletoillustratein

38 TIlematerialonthissubjec1isvast.Onehas 10 besomewh;useJeaiveindealingwith
thematerial~andconsultthevarioushandlXXlks.OnJenls;llem.seeLevin,JudaiSmand
HelleniSminAntiquity,61-67.
39 Meyers,"JewishCultureinGreco-RomanP;lJestine,-IS5--62.