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

56

pre-Israeliteshrines,anda fewinscriptions.Thisisnotmuchwithwhichto
reconstructareligion;however,ifoneiscarefulabotHmethodonecan
greatlyenrichthematerialgainedfromthetextualrecordwithoutdissemi-
nalingmisinformation.
Several methodological pitfallsarcdescribedbelow,andfollowing
eachdescriptionaresuggestedwaystoavoidthem.l3yofferingsomemorc
cautiousmodelsofinterpretingthismatcrial,{heremainderofthisessay
seeks to help the reader discover the ways in which archaeological
remainscanmakethestudyofancientIsmclitereligionmoreaccessible
andmorccriticallygroundedforstudents.Althoughitremainstruethat~X
never,evermarksthespot,"thereareways(Qbetruetothetextandstill
uncoverthetreasuresofIsrael'sreligiouspast.

PITFALL1:READINGTIlEOIU:.TICALRECONSTRUCl10NS

OFANCIENTRELIGION1i\'TOTHEARllFAcrs

Itwasacommonmethodologicalfailingofpreviousgenerationsof
scholarsfirsttomakeuptheirmindsaboutthetheoreticalnatureofancient
religionandthentopointouthowartifactsuncoveredin thefieldillus-
tratedsuchtheories.Justonecaseinpointisthewaystandingstoneswere
characteristicallylabeledasevidencethatancientpre-Israelitereligionwas
animistic.Countlessscholarshavearglledth,lIancient peopleworshiped
standingstonesbec~luseindoingsotheyworshipedthegodwholived
insidethestone.InthecaseofIsraelite/Canaaniteremains,Baalwastypi-
callysuggestedasthedeityinquestion,2
Whileitistructhatcertainstandingstones,suchastheoneinstalled
onanelevatedplatformbythegateofBethsaida,doappeartorepresent
a deityresident ina shrine,3the presumptionthatall standingstones
wereviewedanimistiGlllyblindsonetothepossibilitythatotherrecon-
structionsofancientreligiouspracticearcequallylikelywithregardto
somestones.Forexample,a smallshrineinAreaC atHazor,inwhicha
statueofa se:Hedgodwasuncoveredsilting next toa rowofsmall
stelae,oneofwhichbearsa carvingofhandsraisedasif inworship,4is
morelikelytorepresentascenesuchastheonedescribedinExod24:4,
inwhichstandingstonesrepresentworshipers,notdeIties.Suchstones

2 For;1summ,lryof:ouchopinions,secElizabethC.L:IRocca-l'itlS,"OfII"-ood(II/(/Stol/e":
"beSigllijiulI/ceoffsraelileCli/fic{(emsilltbeBib/e(///(/itsAllciell!Illterpreters(J-1SM61:
WinonaLake,Ind.:Eisenbr:lUns.2001).5-12.
$MonikaUcrncllandOthmarKt:d,MOlld,Slle"/ll/dKIIll(/mS/(Idllor:DieStele1'011
lktS(lida(el-Tefl)(0130161;GOllingcn:Vandcnhocck&Ruprecht,t~)
~AillilwiMa7.ar,Arc;Jmeofog)'of/beUII/doftbelJibfe:/0,fXX)- 586 U.CJ:'.(AI3RL:New
York:Doublt.-d:ly.1990),254,fig.7.10.