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

KILLEBHEW:Bl:.'WEENHEAVENANDEAWlll 29

theHolyLand(citedabove),selvesasa helpfulandappropriateresource

formoreanthropologicallyorientedcourses.

Perhapsthemostfertilegroundtoincreasestudentinterestinthetopic

isthroughtheintroduclOrycoreorgeneral-educationcoursesthattypify

manyofthelarge publicuniversities.All ofuswhoworkinthefieldof

archaeologyareawareofthefascinationarchaeologyholdsforthegeneral

publicandits potentialappeal tostudems. Thesecoursescould bean

effectivemeansofintroducingbiblicalarchaeologyin itswiderregional

contexttolargenumbersofslUdents.Atextbooksuitableforthistypeof

courseislacking.

Thusfar I haveaddressed undergraduateeducation.Graduate-level

studiesinbiblicalarchaeologycannotbesufficientlyaddressedsolelyina

UnitedStatescontext.Mostoftheleadinggraduateprogramswherebibli-

calarchaeologycanbestudiedincludeonlyonefacultymemberwhocan

beconsidereda professionalbiblicalarchaeologist. Gener-illy,gr-tduate

studiesintheUnitedStatesarea combinationofhistorical,biblical,and

philologicalstudieswithadoseofarchaeology.Ata fewAmericangradu-

ateprogramsitispossibletostudySyro-Palestinianarchaeologywithinthe

frameworkofanthropology;however,thesestudentstend 10 fOCllS more

onprehistoricperiods.Propertf:.lininginthisfieldrequireslong-termresi-

denceintheCOlln\lyofspeci~tliz~ttion,andfluencyinthelocallanguageis

advisable,Manyyearsofactive"insitu" fieldexperienceandanindepth

knowledgeofmaterialculturearenecessaryinordertogainthelevelof

expertiserequiredtohea "professionalbiblicalarchaeologist."

Themostencouragingrecentlrendsinbiblicalarchaeologyincludea

revivalofinterestin a dialoguebetweentext andartifact.This canbe

observedintheincreasednumberofcross-disciplinarysessionsatprofes-

sional meetings, both American and international, such as those

sponsoredbytheSocietyforBiblicalLiterature,theAmericanSchoolsof

OrientalStudies,andtheEuropeanAssociationofBiblicalStudies.^44 The

trucchallenge 10 LIS asacademicsandprofessorsisthesuccessfuland

innovativeintegrationofthisongoingdialoguebetweentextandartifact

intoourresearchandintheclassroomsetting.Wemustbeawarethatin

44 Noteworthyistherecentinneaseinthenumherofcross-disciplinarysessions,uthe
SocietyofBiblicalLiler:lturlOannualmel·tin~sth:ltencouf:lg'"di:llo~uebetweentherdaK'd
field:>ofhiblicliarch,ll~ology,Llibk,tbsyriolo,gy,andEgyptology.Thesesessionstend 10
besomeofthebest;Illended,often:lnraclin~uptothreehundredpeople.Thepapersfrom
oneofthesesessions,"Jenls:t1eminBibleanJArdl;,coluKY,"h:lvCbeenpubli:;hcdinavol-
umecoeditedbyAndrewG.V:llIghn ,lnd Ann E. Killebrew:JemsalemillBible(lnd
An::hlll'f)fogy:1heFinlTelllfJil'Period(SIjLSymSItI,Atlanta;SocietyofllibliGlll.iteratur\::;
J.cidcn:Brill,ZOO3).