KILl.EBREW:BE1WEENI-lEAVENANDEARn-l 23considereda lessessentialelementofcoursecurriculainsomeseminaries,
colleges,anduniversities.Thisgradualpartingofthewaysbetweentext
andartifactinthelaterdecadesofthetwentiethcenturyisperhapsbest
representedsymbolicallybythebreakawayoftheAmericanSchoolsof
Oriental Research fromtheSocietyofBiblical Literatureand American
AcademyofReligion'sannualmeetingsin1997,resultingintwoseparate,
back-to-backconferenceseachNovember.
Whenarchaeologywasretainedonthecourselistings,biblicalarchae-
ologygenerally remainedintellectuallyin NearEastern,biblical,ancient
history, theology,religion,orJudaicstudiesprogramsordepartments.
Biblicalarchaeologyseldomenteredmainstreamprogramssuchasanthro-
pologyorarchaeologydepartmentsthataregenerallyresponsibleforthe
training ofprofessionalarchaeologists. Thus in theAmericancontext,
althoughmanycoursesinbiblicalarchaeologyaremoreconcernedwith
materialcultureandarchaeologyproper(ratherthansimplyasa toolto
illustrate and illuminate biblical history as conceived byAlbright and
Wright),itisstillconsideredtobepartofa largerworldofculturehistory
rather thana topicorsubfieldin archaeologyoranthropologydepart-
ments.Syro-Palestinianarchaeologyinanacademiccurriculumtaughtasa
competitiveprofessionalfield,asenvisionedbyDeverandasitappearsin
curriculaat most Israeliuniversities,hasnottranspired intheAmerican
context.WhencomparedtothehighlyspecializedIsraeliapproachtothe
professionaltrainingofarchaeologystudents,whereeachdepartmentof
archaeologyincludestentofifteenfacultymemberswhoareallarchaeolo-
gists, it is understandablethat thisdegreeofconcentratedexpertiseis
simplynotpossibleinAmericanseminaries,colleges,anduniversities.
Inspiteofthefact thatbiblicalarchaeologyremainssituatedin Near
Eastern,Judaic,orbiblicalstudies,overthepastthirtyyearsthecoursesyl-
labushaschanged.111isisbestillustratedbythemanytextbooksdevotedto
biblicalarchaeologythathaveappearedinthepost-Wrightperiod.Several
ofthesetextbooks followtheapproachfirst exploredbyKenyonin her
ArchaeologyintheHolyLalld,wherearchaeologyisthefocusandtheBible
illustratesthehistoricalsettingforarchaeologicaldiscoveries.Inothertext-
booksarchaeology is integrated intoa historical-geographic orbiblical
context.Onetextbookincorporatesananthropologicalperspective.
YohananAharoni,founderoftheInstituteofArchaeologyatTelAviv
University in 1969 and Yadin's nemesis during the 1960s anel 1970s,
aUlhoredtwotextbooksthatbecamestandardsduringthe 19705 and19805.
Hisfirst, tbeLtmdoftbeBible,initiallypublishedin1967,33isa masterpiece
33 YohananAharoni,nJeumdoftheBibteA/-tistoricalGeography(tr:lns.A.f.R:liney:
I.ondon:Burns&O:ucs,19(7).