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

ZANGENBEHG:REALIZINGDIVERSITY 183

simpleshoworpoliticalstatemenLSbutshouldbeexaminedwiththesame
criticalsympathyas, for example,a written personal prayer. We must
acknowledgethatforthepeoplewhoperformedthesepractices,theyall
hada religioussignificance.
Second, paganism should not bedefinedalongethnic boundaries
either.Thisisanall toocommonpicture.Becauseinbiblical languages
pagansinPalestineareoftencalled"nations"or"Greeks,"manypeople
thinkthattheywereGreeksinanethnicsense,implyingthatpaganism
wassomethingalien tothe regionofbiblical Palestine, importedfrom
elsewherealongwithgoodsbroughtin byshipstothethrivingcoastal
cities.Inaddition,whereverwehavetemplesintheclassicalstyle,many
peopleassumethatonlyGreeksworshipedinthem.Thatisnotentirely
true.Paganswerenotnecessarilyforeigners.Assumingthatwouldmeanto
repeattheoldideologicallyconstrudedconceptofdisinheritingPalestinian
pagansandrenderingthem·'ouLSiders."
In antiquity, the relationship between erhnos(which should not
simplybeequatedwithwhatwecall"ethnic"identity)andreligiousaffili-
ationneverwasascle~lr-Ctllasweassumetoelay,withoneexception:in
jewish(andlateralsoChristian)self-definition,ajewbyreligionwasat
the same time a member ofthejewish people. "Pagans," however,
belongedtomanypeoples,races,andethnicgroups.Onedidnothaveto
beanethnicCelttoworshipthehealinggoddessSironaatasacredwell.
IsiswasIhesaviorofmorepeoplethanjust Egyptians.Religiousaffilia~
tionsdid not necessarily overlapwith ethnicentities, norcould they
alwaysbeaffixedtoa specificplaceonamapordefinedbymeansof
materialcultureorlanguage.
'nlird,paganismprovideda nearlyindefiniteIJ.ngeofreligiousoptions.
Interestingly,it is exactly this perplexingrangeofpossibilities, choice,
trends,affiliations,anddevotionsthatmakespaganisma veryindividual
thing.Boththebewilderingarrayofchoicesandthecloseemotionalaffil-
iationwithonepaniculardeilyareunsurpassinglyexpressedinApuleius's
novelMetamorphoses.Paganismentailedawidevarietyofreligiousmeans
topracticallyexpressone'sreligionorWeltanschauuNg.Ofcourse,Illany
peoplemaysimplyhavefollowedthetrJ.ditionsandpracticesprevalentin
theirimmediatesocietyorregion;thesignificantfact isthattheydidnot
haveto.
Finally,paganswerenotnecessarilypolytheists.Ofcourse,therewas
abroadvarietyofnames,images,andculticsitesinthepaganworld,but
therealsowasagrowingfeelingamongtheeducated,andperhapsalso
thelessliterate,thatthesedifferentnameswerejustmanifestationsofthe
onegreatpower,beitmale,female,or"neulral,'·thaIruledovertheworld
andthatcouldbeinvokedforhelpinallworrisomeandhappycontingen-
ciesoflife.Firstpropagatedbyphilosophers,thisconvictioncanalsobe