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Archaeology~!.hatmakesscantifanyreferencetothebiblicaltext.Manyof
ushavebothtakenandtaughtsuchcourses,andwhenwedowerightly
congratulateourselvesongivingthedisciplineofarchaeologytheauton-
omythatithasalwaysdeserved.Goodforus--bUlinsodoinghavewe
melthechallengeofintegratingbiblicalstudiesandarchaeology?Cel1ainly
acourseonthearchaeologyoftheAmericansoutheastorMayacivilization
may not needto makemuch referencetoliterary sources,but in the
archaeologyoftheancien!NearEastitishardertomakethecasemalwe
donotneedtointeradcriticallywiththebiblicaltext,fortheBibleil.Selfis
partoftheevidenceforthehumanpastinOUfregionandperiod.Indeed,
ifwearehonestwewillhave(0admitthaltheBibleisofsuchimportance
thatwithoLltithardlyanyonewouldbeveryinterestedinthearchaeology
ofSyro-Palestine.Intht::efforttointegratearchaeologyandbiblicalstudies,
then,thebiblicaltextshouldhavea roletoplayeveninacoursedevoted
toarchaeology.
However,thereisstillanothermoreseriousproblemwithclassroom
coursesonarchaeology.Itcanbestatedintheformofa question:Where's
thebeef?Morespecifk.....lly,where'stheexcavation?Isn'ttheresomethinga
littleoddaboutacourseonarchaeologythatneverinvolvesanyexcava~
tion?Takingarchaeologywithoutexcavatingisratherlikelakingdriver's
educationwithoutgettingbehindthewheel.Herewehavecomecloseto
the rootofthedifficultyiniIllt:gratingtht:::.t:twuuociplint::~,furwt::can
now makeexplicit oneofthedeepestand most importantdifferences
betweenthem.Biblicalstudiescanbedoneina classroom,withbooks
anda blackboardandatC3cher-butarchaeologyc...nnot.Acourseabout
archaeologyisonlythatandnothingmore:acourseaboutarchaeology.
Unlikebiblicalstudies,archaeologyisnotanindoorsport.
Atthispoin!ilmayseemasif thisessayistakingontheauraofthe
oldstoryaboutGoldilocksandthethreebears:thefirstporridgewastoo
hot,andthesecondporridgewastoocold,sowemustbecoming 10 Ihe
porridgethaiisjustright.Indeedweare,forIwouldliketoputforward
nowthefairlymodestproposalthatwecanbestintegratearchaeologyancl
biblicalstudiesbyinvolvingourstudentsintheexperienceoffieldexcava-
tion.Thefieldschool,first pioneeredbyAmericanarchaeologistsduring
the 1960s. offerstheoptimumeducational environmentfor leaching a
hC'AhhyrelationshipbetweenarchaeologyandtheBible,forwhenastu~
denlparticipatesinaseasonofexcavation,heorsheis unlikely 10 fall
preytothedifficultiesthatc...n bedevilsludentsincoursesoneilherbibli·
calstudiesorarchaeology.Six weeks in !.hefield-sixweeksofmHng
gufas,siftingdirt.taggingbuckets.drawingbaulksandtopplans,washing
pouery,registeringsherds-willeffectivelyundermineanypresumptionof
prioritythaImayhaveadhered 10 thebiblicaltexl.Studentswillbeableto
perceivejust how muchofIhestorytheBible hasleft oul.Thesheer