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

DESSEI.:INSEARCIIOFTHEGOODBOOK 85

FormationoftheBiblicalWorld"coverstheEarlyBronzeIVthroughthe[ron
Age I, withspecificchaptersonthePhilistinesandthe riseofterritorial
states.Part5,"Local KingdomsandWorldEmpires,"coverstheIronAgeII
throughtheRomanperiod,withspecializedchaptersdevotedtoIsraeland
Judahfrom 1000 to 750 IJ.C.E.,theTransjordanianst<l1esfromtheLateBronze
Agetothe[ronAgeIll,andIronAgedestnlCtionsintheregion.Part6,"The
RiseofChristianityandIslamintheHolyLand,"coverstheByz:mtine,Early
Islamic,Crusader,medieval andOttomanperlexls,alongwitha chapteron
technologyinnineteenth-andtwentieth-centuryPalestine.
ItisimportanttonoticehowLevyisclearlyinterestedincreatingnew
chronologicalframeworksbased,presumably,onmoremeaningfulsocio-
politicalcategories.However,aswithanyattemptatgivinggre<ltermeaning
tochronologicaldivisions,Levy'sdivisionisnolessal1ificialthantheoneit
replaces.So,forinstance,shouldtheEarlyBronzeIVbedecoupledfrom
theEarlyBronzeAgeandconnectedtoa section(pal14)dedic<ltedtothe
formationofthebiblical worldfromtheMiddleBronzeAge 10 theIron
AgeI?IstheEarlyBronzeIVpal1ofthebiblicalworld?ItwasforAlbright,
butshould wecontinueto link thepatriarchal narratives tothe Early
BronzeIV,aformofhistoricalreductionismusuallyaVOidedbyanthropo-
logicalarchaeologists?Ordothe IronAgesI andII belongin different
sections(parts4 and5),andshouldPalestineinthePersian,Hellenistic,
andRomanperiodsbeconceptualizedinthesamewayastheIronAgeII?
Lastly,shouldpan6,whichconSiderstheriseofChristianity,beginwilha
chapter thatstarts in the fourth century C.E.? While Levy's attempt to
reorderthechronological unitsisnovel, it isnotnecessarily anymore
meaningfulthanthepreexistingsystem.
EvenwiththesekindoforganizationalqUirks,Levy'svolumepacksa
wallop.Itisfilledwitha tremendousamountofinformation,CUlling,asmen-
tioned, a wide temporal swath. Each period chapter has an excellent
topographicmap withthe majorsites indicated. Additionally,the shear
volumeofgraphics, overtwohundredinall,isextraordiml1l';thereare
countlessblackandwhitepholOgr.lphs,maps,linedrawings,architectural
plansandreconstructions.andevenafewcolorplates.Unfol1unately,there
isnoindexorlistoftheillustl<ltivematerial,makingithardtoaccess.There
are also"windows"at theendofeachchapter:self-contained,one-page
unitsilluminatinga particularpointraisedinthechapter.Thistechniqueis
regularlyemployed inmost universitytextbooks. Thebook includesan
excellent,comprehensive,andup-to-clatebibliography,amlllgedbychapter.
WhileLevy'svolumeisweighty,itisprobablyLOadenseandoverspe-
cializedformostundergraduatecourses.Additionally,quiteafewofthe
aniclesare not welleditedandareriddled withjargon.Thatsaid,it is
reallytheonlytextavailablethatincludesperiodsbeforetheChakolithic
~lOdaftertheendoftheIronAge,andinthatwayit fillsa realniche.