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

24 UE1WEENTEXTANDARTIFACT

initsintegrJtionofhistoricalgeogmphy,Bible,andarchaeologyandisstill
occasionallyusedinclassroomstoday.Hisbroadgeographicalapproachto
biblicalarchaeologysetsthestagefortheestablishmentofthe''Tel Aviv
School"thatpioneeredthepotentialofsystematicregionalarchaeological
survey<JoelthatbecamethehallmarkofAharoniandseveralgenerationsof
hisstudents.Aharoni'ssecondbook,'iheArchaeologyoftheLandofIsrael,
wasa standardinnumerousbiblicalarchaeologyclassesinthe19805,34
AlthoughMiriamAllaroni,writinginthepreface,comparesittoAlbright's
lbeArcbaeologyofPalestilw,[contenditismoresimilarinstructureand
archaeologicalfoclistoKenyon'sArchaeologyof'heHolyLand,thoughit
offersdifferentinterpretationsofthearchaeologicalevidence.
Duringthe1990sseveralprominentarchaeologistspublishedupdated
versionsofKenyon'sclassic archaeology textbooklhal focusedon the
materialculturefromtheNeolithicthroughtheIronAges.AmihaiMazar's
Archaeologyof'he/.Lmdof'heBible: /0,000-586B.C.£.firstappearedin
1990 andimmediatelybecamethefavoredtextbookformanycoursesin
biblicalarchaeology.Mazardescribesthepurposeofhisbookanditssig-
nificanceforbiblicalhistol)'asfollows:"Althoughthisbookiswrinenasa
straightforwardintroductiontothearchaeologyofPalestine,whereverpos-
sible I discuss the implications ofthe discoveries for biblical histol)'.
Hopefullythisworkwillservetonarrowtheevergrowingfissurebetween
~rrh;h"olngists~ndotherscholar<;ofdisciplinesrehltingtobiblicalstudies"35
TwoyearslaterAmnonBen-Tor,acolleagueofMazar'sattheHebrew
UniversityofJerusalem,publishedhiseditedtextbook,nJeArchaeologyof
Ancien'Israel.Thisbookcontainsninechaptersauthoredbysomeofthe
mostprominentIsraeliarchaeologistsinthefield.ItistheEnglishversion
ofaHebrewtextbookpreparedforanintroductoryarchaeologycourse,
"TheArchaeologyoftheLandofIsraelinBiblicalTimes,"offeredatthe
OpenUniversityofIsrael.36Althoughthesetwobooksdifferindetails,
bothsharea generalmalerial-culrureandarchaeologicalperspective.For
introductoryarchaeologycoursesin Israel that tend toconcentrate on
material-culturestudies,bothofthesebooksareideallysuitedforthetask.
However,inanAmericancontextwherelowerandmidlevelcoursesin
archaeologyarebroaderinfocusandaregearedtoamoregeneralstudent

3~ Yohan:m Aharoni, nJeArchaeologyofthel.lImlofIsraelfrom tbl!Prvhistoric

Begilll/ing.~totheEndoftheFirstTemptePeriod(tJ:lns.A.F.RHincy;I'hibdciphi:l'WC~111linsteT,

1982).

35 Alllihai)\'I;IZ;IT.Arcbaeologyojfhet.audojtbeBible:10,000-586B.C.£.(ABRL;New

YorkDoubleday.1990),xvi.

36 AmnonBcn-ToT.<.-d.. tbeArcbaoologyofAncielllIsrael(lr;ms.R.Grecnberg;New

Il:Ivcn:Y:llcUniversityPress;'I'dAviv:OpenUniversityof[ST"JcJ,1992).