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

26 llElWEENn;rrANDAR1WACf

ofWrightandcanbeconsideredasanupdatedversionofhis Biblical
Archaeology.
Oneofthemostrecenttextbookstointegratearchaeologywiththe
HebrewBibleandtheNewTeslamentisTheOxfordHistoryojtheBibli-
calWorld,editedbyMichaelD.Coogan.^41 Thisbook,althoughamore
traditionalapproachtoarchaeologyaspartofalargerworldofbiblical
studies,isuniqueinitsreconstructionofa socialandpoliticalhistoryof
thebiblical world within its largerancientNear East context. It isa
scholarlyandwell-writtentomethatis suitabletoundergraduatecourses
in NearEasternorbiblicalstudiesdepartmentsthatintegratearchaeol·
ogywith biblicalandNear EasterntexiS, witha focus onthe textual
evidence.
Thelastexampleofthevarietyofpublicationsthatcouldbeusedasa
textbookisIsraelFinkelsteinandNeilSilberman'shighlypopularandbest-
selling'!beBibleU1/earthed.^42 Although\vriuenforapopularaudienceand
somewhatcontroversialinitspresentation,itsentertainingstyleandread-
ableoverviewofthecurrentissuesandproblemsinbiblicalarchaeology
makeitapopulartextbookingeneralnonspecialistintroductorycourses.It
canbe usedasbasicbackgroundreadingtomorespecificanddetailed
assignmentsanddiscussionsorasasupplementtoseveralofthemore
conventionaltextbooks.
Thisbriefoverviewofthevarieryoftcxtbooksdcmonstmtcsbiblical
archaeology'Sdiversityandcross-disciplinaryappealineducationalcon-
texts.Stilllackingisa basictextbookthatgivesequaltimeandanentionto
textandartifactinanacademicbutreadableandinterestingformal.The
needforsucha textbookisdoubtlessthemainchallengefacingusasedu-
catorsandscholarsinthe{wenty-firstcentury.

THEFlITUREOFBIBLICALARCHAEOLOGYINEDUCAll0NALCURRiCULA:

Bf,.lWEENHEAVENANDEARnl

Theredefinitionandsubsequentfragmentationofbiblicalarchaeology
describedabovecloselyparallelsdevelopmentsinbiblicalstudies.In an
insightful article entitled"On Listening to the Text-andthe Artifacts,"
WilliamG.Deverconvincinglyproposesthatthehistoryofscholarlyinter~
pretationofbotharchaeologyandtheBiblesharesa similarandparallel

41 Mich:lelD.Coogan,cd.,tbeOxfordHistoryof/heBiblicalWorld(NewYork:Oxford
UniversityPress,1998).
42 IsraelFinkelstein:mdNeilAsherSilberman.l1JeBibleUnearlbed:Arcbaeofogy's
NewVisionofAncientIsrael(HIdTheOrigil/ofItsSacredTexts(NewYork:FreePress,
2001).