KIl.I.EBREW;1lE'IWEENIIEAVEN,0,,','1)EARnI 25enrollment,allofthebooksdiscussedabovetendtoheoverlytechnical
fortheaveragenonmajorundcrgraduate.
[n 1992 TrinityPressInternationalpublishedoneofthefcwtextbooks
writtenbyanAmericanbiblicalarchaeologist.Thisslimandhighlyread-
ablevolumebyWalterE. Rast, titled ThroughtheAgesinPalestinian
Archaeology,lacksthetechnicaldetailofthetwoabove-mentionedbooks
butcoversalongerchronologicalrange(prehistoricthroughtheIslamic
periods)}?Itsstyleandgeneralapproachareappropriateformoregeneral
undergraduatesurveycoursesinbiblicalarchaeologythatdealwithan
overviewofprehistoricthroughIslamicperiodsoftime.Asecondrecently
publishedgeneralhandbook,DoillgArchaeologyi/1theLand0/theBible
byJohnD.Currid,itl\roducesthebasicfundamentalsofarchacologyto
novicestudents,thelargestpotentialstudentaudienceatmostuniversities
thatincludebiblicalarchaeologyintheircourselistings.3f1
InThomasE.Levy'seditedinterdisciplinarytextbook,TheArchaeol-
ogyo/Socie/yill/he/-IolyLall(l,theauthorsundertakethedauntingtask
oflinkingethnohistory,anthropology, andarchaeology ineach ofits
thirty-twochupters. Thisisundoubtedlythe mostambitiousofallthe
textbooksand includessectionsdealingwith appro:tchestothe past,
coveringthePaleolithicthroughtheendoftheOttomanperiod)?Itis
themostanthropologicallyorientedofallthepublishedvolumesandis
best suited formoreadvanced-level Syro-PalestiniancoursesIXlsed in
anthropologydepartments.
Othertextbooksthaihaveappearedduring thepast ten yearsare
directedtoamoretraditionallydefinedandbiblicallyorientedarchaeol-
ogy.Onetextbookrepresenlingthisgenre,targetingamoreevangelical
approachtobiblicalarch:icology,isAlfredj.Hoerth'sArchaeologyand
the Old Testament. Hoerth, the formcr director of archaeology at
WheatonCollege,describes therelationshipbetweenarchaeologyand
theBibleasfollows:"Themostirnporlantcontributionsofarchaeologyto
biblicalstudiesarcthevariouswaysitilluminatestheculturalandhistor-
icalsettingofthe Bible;addstoourknowledgeofthepeople, places,
things,andeventsintheBible;andaidsintranslationandexegesisof
biblicalpassuges.'·'l0Iloenh'swell-illustratedbookfollowsinthef()()tsteps
37 \XI:lhcr E. R:l~l. "l1)rY)l/p,hIheARt's il/PalestilliallIlrchat"ology:AllIlitrodllcfo')'
I Icmdhook(l'hil:1dclphia:Trinity1'n..·S$Inlcrn:Lliol1:LI.t992).
3!lJohnD.Curritl.Doillp,Arch(/('(){ngyil/Ihe/.(lIIdoftlJct3ibll'.A{J(/sicGllidt'(Grand
Rapids:Baker,t999).
.1~Thol1l:l~E.I.cvy.cd..11)('Arc!)(/('o/(Jgl"(ifSoc;elyillthe1/01)'/.(11/(1(NewYorkFactson
File,t995).
40 Alfred.l Ilocrth.Arch(len/op,,)'(ll/(ltb('Oldres/til/Wilt(GrandRapid."B:lkcr.1m).
frontn:lp.