KIl.l.EBHEW:1II,IWFF'JIIEAVENANnEAwnl 13governments,faith-basedorganizations.aC::ldemicinstitutions,andprivate
philanthropists,Itisa pursuitth;.lthasattracteda large;.Inddiverseaudi-
ence ofadventurers, scholars, theologians, and collectors, and it has
alwayshelda special appealtothepublic. ManyIXloksandarticlesare
devotedtothehistoryof:lrchaeologicalexplorationinthemodernMiddle
Eastanditsdevelopmentintoa scholarlydisciplineusuallytermed"biblical
archaeology,"} Equally numerous publicationsdiscuss and deconstruct
"biblicalarchaeology"anditscontemporarypoliticalimplications,4
Duringthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,Americanarchaeological
activitiesinthemodernMiddleEastwereconductedunderthebannerof
"biblicalarchaeologyM;.ISenvisionedbyAlbright)andfUriherdeveloped
inacademiccirclesbymore thana fewofhisstudents, mostnotably
j ForaclaS-'>icworkdcalin~wilhIhL'e:lrlyyear~of:lrchal'ologicaleXplOf:llioninthL'
"Ilolyl.;lnd,~S(."CNeilA~hcrSilbL'rm:m,IJIf.!)..:illRjvrGo!1(11/(1COlllltrTE.'1)lomtiml,Arcb{'l"J{oRI'.
(llIrIthe&'(..'r('/StmMlejiJr/heH(JlyIAmd,1799-1917(NewYork;Knopf,19l{2).Fora J.:ener·
alhi~toryofarchacoloj.:iC:lleXplOf:llioninbiblicall:Ind~,seePeterItS.Moorey,ACelltllry
ofBiblicalArd)(l(}o!ogr(lollbville,\X'e~tmin~terJohnKnox,1991);for;1reviewofAmeric;m
archaeologic:.11actIVityinthe,\tlddleEa~t.~ePhilipJ.King,Amerialll,Irchm'OloRVillthe
Mideast:A/-listOI)'ofIbeAmerical/&-bonlsofOrielll(liK{'S<,.'(lll.hO'hil;tddphi;l:Americ:m
SdltX,lsofOrien(;ll1(c."C;lrch,19l{j).
l&e.e.J.:..NeilA.sherSilberman,!Jt'lIH'('1II'astalldPI1~elllArdJ(/{'l"JloRI'.Ideology,(/Ild
Nallon(/16111IIIIbeMIKlernMiddleI:inl(NewYork:Holt,t9&);AmyDock~erM~rclJs,'I1Je
Ifieu'FrolllNe/Jn:/-101/'Archaen/oKI'IsRell'nllllgt/J('/JIMe(/luiKesl)(/pillgtbe"'uldleEasl(New
York:Little,Llrown&..omp;ln~',2000),Nadi;1AhuEI-II:lj,FlIct~OIllb.'Groulld:Archll('%Rica{
"mcliceallliTelTlton'alSelj-F{/.sbi{JIIill~IIIIsmdiSodt'~I'(ChiclgO:UniversilyofChicago
l'ress,2(01).
SIn,IllYdbcu~sionof"hiblic"l,lrch;Jeolo~y"andthert:l:llionshipbetweentext~nd
arti(;lCt,lhe~t;lrtingpointmll~thethele~el1daryWilliamF.AlbriJ.:hl,"orient:llbt"andardlae-
ologisl.Underhi,sefk~fiveJ.:llid;lncealldin~pif:ltiun,bihli{~ll;lrch;leolo)o(ybecameanintL'j.:f:t1
ekml,'ntofmainstreamaL~ldellliccurricui;]andM:hol:crlyattempts 10 write;1hi~toryofancient
braelhascdontheHibleandrdatl,dtCXh.AhhnUj.:hAlbti~htviewedarchal"olo~iC'.J1fieldwork
;1,;a~ciClllifk andempiricilendeavor,hisinterpret:llionoflheevidenceandmess.:IJ.:...
appeak'(le,~p'--'(;i;tllytoeV;lnJ.:<:!ictlcommunities,scminarit,s,:llldIheologian~.inadtlitionto
moretraditionalbihlicalstudent"andschol;lrs.There:lrenUnlerou~artidesandI>nok.~that
documentAlbrighl'~l>aL'kwound,carL"Cr,sdlOlarlywork,andleg;":y;see,e.g.,leonaGlitlden
RlinninJ.::mdJ);l\'idNoelFreedman,\fIil/iam"'nnl'e!lA/brigbl,II'liIICJl/ietb-Oml/lI)'Gel/illS
(NewYorkTwoCOtl1inenL~,1975);Gll,~W,V;1l1Beck.eel..nJ{'Sdml(/n;/)ipofWillialllHWlI'efl
Albrigbl:AllAppraisal(JISS35:"I'ap<::r~DdiveredattheSymlx"ium'HomuJ.:l:toWilliam
FoxwellAlhright,'TheAmeriGlnFriend~ofthehr.:ldExplof:llionSodety,Hoch'ille,Marybnd,
1<)84;Atlanta,SchobrsI'I'I..'SS,19w,lJ;;l~erie~ofarticle.sthatappearintheIJlblicalArd)(/l'Olo-
gis/56(]993):Jack/1,1.Sas.son,"AlhrightAsanOril'nt;lli~t:3-7;Neilf.Silberman,·Vision~of
thefuture:AlbriJ.:htin JCll.I.S:llclll,1919-1'J29:~16:Willi;lmW.lIallo,",\lhriJ.tllf;IndtheGod~
of1'>'lcsopotamia:lf~--24,Wil!i;ullG.Dever,·WhatHem,lIn~oftlteHouseth,JlAlbri~htBuilt?"
2')-35,BurkeO.l.onJ.:,"r,lythkTropeintheAutobio).tr.:lphyofWilli:mlFoxwell,\lbriJ.:ht:
36--4';:idelll,r'1(lJltill~(ll/dR{'api,,~AIIJri,g/)r·POlilics,h/c-'O!0RY.alldhl/erprl'1illgIbemble(Uni-
versity1>;lrkPennsylvaniaSt;l\eIInive",ityI're"~,1')97)