"THESEAREYo RGODS, 0 ISRAEL":
TilECHALLENGE OFRECONSTRUcnNG ISRAELITE
RELIGIONUSING BonlTEXTANDARCIIAEOLOGY
BethLaHocca~Pi/ts
Unil'Crsitya/Georgia
INTHODlTCl10N
Bcc.llI5eweliveinaculturethatconstantlyhasitsmythiccorpusas
wellasitsreligioushislOryn~lrratcdbacktoitthroughthemediaoftelevi-
sionandfilm.Icachingeachsuccc~i\'egenerationofstudentsaboutthe
religiouslifeofancientIsmelonenneccs..,itatesclearingtheairofimages
gainedfromexposure(0IndianaJones.'tbeRelicHunter.andHercules:
7belRgell(/aryjourueys.Nothingbmorefascinating(0thecitizensofour
modernagethanthe-actuallac(s~behindancientritualobjectsfabledto
containsupernaturalpower.Whetheroneisdealingwiththearkofthe
covenant,thetempleofSolomon,theIlalyGr::lil,orthewoodofthetrue
cross,ritualobjectsdescrilx"{lin~llldentreligioustextsstirtheimagination
ofprofessionalsandlayreadersalike.f\luchiswriucn~lholltthem,and
mostofit is1::lrgelyfanciful.
Thisdoesnot mean, however.that weshouldcease toinvestigate
ancient cultlifeordismissdiscussion ofreligiousartifactsas somuch
hokum.Contemplationofreligiousissuesandthepracticeofculticritual
arckeycomponentsofvirtuallyallancient<lndtraditionalcultures.Aswdy
ofancientIsrael,therefore,cannothopetobecompletewithoutanalysisof
ancient ISl<lelitereligion. Althoughtheprocessofrediscoveringandcor-
rectly labeling religious structures :lnd artifacts known from the
archaeological record is frauglH with difficulties, noreconstruction of
ancient IsraelilereligionGillhopetobeaccuratewithoutaccountingfor
andincludingcertainarchaeologicalremains.
TilESrG"IFlCA'CEOFARCHAEOLOGICALDATAFORTEACIIl'GTIlEIIEUKEWBnu.E
Oneoffhemainthingsthaihihlic.J1scholarswantarch~leolob')tfObe
abletodoforthemistomalchphysic.llobjectsrecoveredfromexcavations
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