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

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHYFOR INTEGRATING

ARCHAEOLOGYINTOBIBLICALSTUDIES

l\ife/issCiAubill

SepphorisRegionalProject

Forthosewho wouldlike 10 read further on the manyquestions
addressed inthisvolume,thefollowingbibliographyprovidesa starting
point.Strictlyintroductory,thishibliographyislimitedinscopeoftopics
coveredandextentofannotation.Thegoalis{Qprovidea listofmaterials
thatarc(1)definitional.providingtheoreticalapproachesandexamplesof
worksthatintegrateknowledgefromSyro-Palestini::lllvisual/materialcul-
(Urewithbiblicaltexts;(2)practical,introducingpossibletooLsofvarious
mediaforclassroomuse;and(3)introductory,allowingthereadertocor-
relate morc general works with particular studies mentionecl in the
contributionstothisvolume.
Severalissuescomplicatethetaskofcollectingresources forinte-
gratingmaterialcultureandbiblicalstudies. Whilearchaeological:lnd
literaryknowledgeofbiblicalculturesisasripeformutualrecognition
as it haseverbeen,thesecondarysourcesoftenevidencetendencies
rowardeithertheabsoluteselXlrationofarchaeolog}'andbiblicalstud-
ies, sothat thereaderis leftto peruseoneor theotherand create
reconstructionsthHtdrawfrombothfields,oroverlyfacileharmonizing
ofarchaeologicalandliterarydata.Instructorswillrealizethatmanyof
thebooksandotherresourceslisted,whichcontain usefulimagesor
otherarchaeological informationforthecollege student,mayrequire
criticalanalysis.
Particularissuesthat mightwarrantan instructor'sattention include
·'popularizing" presentations that view archaeological discoveries with
somedegreeofsensationalism;apresumptioninfavorofthehistoriciryof
biblicileventsandalinearn:mativefollowingthebiblicalbooks;method-
ological simplicity in identifying cultural groups or making social
distinctionsfromarchaeologicaldata;andChristianbiases,revealingten-
dencies(0emphasizesiteS namedintheNewTestamentbutexhibiting
onlyremainsfromlatererasortopresentatriumphalistviewpointonnon-
Christianmaterial.

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