"HERE I AM AT KHIRBETCANA":INTEGRATING BIBLICAL STUDIESANDARCHAEOLOGYByronR.McCane
WoffordCollegeArecentcommercialforacruiselineprovidesagoodstartingpoint
forthetopicofteachingarchaeologyandtheBible.Amida rapidseriesof
slrikingimagesfromexoticplacesallaroundtheworld,andtotheaccom-
panimentofadrivingrhythmsection, thevoice-overdeclares: "Atlast
reporttheAcropolisofAthenshadnotyetbeencapturedinadownload-
ablefile,anda virtualtourofthegreatAlaskanicefield was,well,slill
virtual.Theworldmaybegettingsmaller,butitstillcan',cometoyou.
Getoutthere."
That,ina word,isthe pointofmycontributiontothisvolumeof
essaysonthetopicofintegr~Hingbiblicalstudiesandarchaeology:"Gelout
there."InthisessayJintendtoarguethatifwewanttoimegrmebiblical
studiesandarchaeology,weneedto"getoutthere"withstudents.Imake
thecasethatthebest-indeed,theDilly-waytoteachstudentstheappro-
priaterelationshipbetweenbiblicalstudiesandarchaeologyistogetthem
;'outthere"foraseasonofdigging.Itismyview,andIhopetopersuade
thereaderofits merit, thatonlystudentswhohaveparticipated inlhe
actualworkofexcavalionwillhavehadtheexperiencetheyneedinorder
adequatelytointegratearchaeologyandbiblicalstudies.
TIlisessayislhusa discussionofpedagogy.Althoughacademicpapers
onteachingarealltoooftennO[especiallystimulatingintellectually,Imake
noapologyforchoosingthistopiCformyessay.Unlikesomediscussionsof
pedagogy,thisonedoestouchdirectlyuponanintellectualissueofsub-
stantialimponforallofuswhoworkinandcareaboutthefieldsofbiblical
studiesandarchaeology.Forus,theproblemofintegratingbiblicalstudies
andarchaeologyisaquestionofconsiderableintellectualweight.Indeed,
muchofthehistoryoftherelationshipbetweenthesedisciplinesduringthe
twentiethcenturycanbeaptlysummarizedasa largelyunsuccessfulstrug-
gletodefineandcreatea healthyinter.Klionbetweenthem.
Throughthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,forexample,archaeol-
ogy and biblical studies were 100 illtegraled. Under the influence of
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