196 lIl~IWEENTEXTANDARTIFAcrWilliamFAlbright::Indthe"biblicalarchaeology"movement,materialcul-
ture was viewed through such a thick lens of biblical content that
distortionwasinevitableandsometimesprofound."Solomon'sstables"at
Megiddowillforeverstandasamonument 10 thewrongkindofintegra-
lionbetweenarchaeologyandtheBiblc.Thesecondhalfofthecentury,
by contrast, saw the rise oftheso-called "New Archaeology," which
encouragedstudentstotreatmaterialcultureandtheBibleasseparatebut
equalsourcesofinformationaboutthepast.Almostallofthecontributors
tothisvolumeweretrainedinthismethod,anditsagendaofsegregating
theBiblefromarchaeologyhasunquestionablybeenproductiveandposi-
tive,a necessarycorrectiontotheexcessesofanearliergeneration.
There areincreasing indications, however, that the pendulum has
swungbacktoofar.Dis/integrationhasbeguntoproducedis/information.
Recentdebatesaboutthe historyofIsrael, forexample,aswellasthe
recentsensationoftheJamesossuarymightwellbetakenasindications
thatinourdayarchaeologyandtheBiblearebecomingtoosegregated.
Oneneednotwishfora returntothedaysofbiblicalarchaeologyinorder
tofeelthatwehaveapparentlygonea littletoofarintherightdirection.
Todaythetaskoffindinga productiveintegrationofbiblicalstudiesand
archaeologyisatthetopoftheagendaforthosewhoworkinbothfields.
Sincethenextgenerationofarchaeologistsandbiblicalscholarswillcome
fromstudentsinourclasses,itis essentialthatweintroducethemtothese
issuesintelligently,soastopreparethemfortheproblemsandpossibilities
thatlieahead.
OnewaytopreparestudentstointegratetheBibleandarchaeologyis
byincorporatingarchaeologicalcontentintobiblicalstudiescourses.Cer-
tainly many professors includearchaeologyeven in a beginning Bible
course.TheintroductorycourseontheHebrewBible,forexample,willtyp-
ically devoteat least oneor(wO entire classsessions to the topicof
Near-Easternarchaeology,coveringthehistoryofthedisciplineanddescrib-
ingthe steady progressthat has beenmadein methodsofeXGlVation.
Severalintroductorytextbooksincludechaptersonarchaeology.Manypro--
fessorssupplementthesetextsbyshOWingslidesandVideos,andsomego
sofarastopassrepresentativesherdsofpotteryaroundtheroom.Lateron,
asthesemesterprogresses,therearefrequentreferencestomaterialculture,
introducingourstudentstofour-roomedhouses,leadfigurines,fortifiedcity
gates,andtheTelDan inscription.Ourstudentsareveryimpressed,so
muchsothatonfinalexamstheywriteimpassionedessayseXfollingthe
inestimablevalueofarchaeologyforunderst<mdingthetruemeaningofthe
Bible.Allofthatisgood,asfarasitgoes.
However,thefactisthatifdoesnotgonearlyfarenough.Perhapsat
yourschoolaswellasmine, theseintroductoryBiblecoursesarequile
popular, regularlyfilling upwith maximumenrollments. In the thirteen