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

!.AROCCA-i'nTS:"THESEAREYOURGODS, 0 ISRAEL" 55

religionoftheaverageIsraelite.Withoutthisdata,however,onewouldbe
missinga veryimportantpieceofthepuzzleofIsmelitereligion,namely,
thatmanyIsraelites,independentoftheirbeliefinorbeliefsaboutIsrael's
highGod,viewedthepossessionofsmallcharms,st::ttuetles,andamulets
asa normalanddesirablething.
Challengestothedoctn'neofczi/ticcentralization.Archaeologyalso
makesclearthat,althoughthecentralizationofworshipintheJerusalem
templeispresentedbythetextasa hardandfastdoctrine(particularlyby
theDeuteronomist,asin 1 Kgs12:25-33),othershrinescontinuedtoexist
andwereusedbothinpreexilicandpostexilicIsrael,a factalsoimpliedin
the text (l Kgs 14:21-24). The most famous preexilic shrine outside
Jerusalemis foundatArad(seediscussionbelow).Inthepostexilicera
therewasa famousIsraeliteshrineontheislandofElephantinethatexisted
contemporaneouslywiththerestoredtempleinJerusalem.]
Inshort,archaeologicalevidencecanpresentanimportantdiachronic
witnesstothepracticeofIsraelitereligionthatwemostfrequentlyseesyn-
chronicallythroughthetext.Thefactthatthetexttookshapeovermany
generations,witheachsuccessivegenerationframingtheissuesathandin
keepingwithitsownperspectives,makesitdifficultforustoknowifwhat
wearereadinginthetextisanaccuratedescriptionofthewayIsraelite
religionwaspracticedormerelya vagueculturalmemoryrecordedbysuc-
cessivegenerationslongaftertheoriginalpractitionershadturnedtodust.
Archaeologycanhelprecapturewhatwasrealfora givengenerationof
Israelites.Unfortunately,wedonotalwaysunderstandcompletelywhatwe
areseeinginthoseslicesofIsraelitelifethathavebeenfrozenintimefor
us.Belowaresomesuggestionsforhowtoviewthismaterialthatcanhelp
onemakethemostoftheevidencethatwedohaveandtobringittobear
onthetextaswehaveitaswell.

MI:.'lIODOLOGICALSUGGESTIONS

When selecting archaeological examples to illustrate lectures on

Israelitereligion,itisbesttobecircumspectwithregardtocertainissues,

includingwhetherornotsomethingthatisfoundinthefieldisactually

cultic.Withtheexceptionofoneexceedinglysmallivorypomegranateand

onevery largebutlargelyemptystonestructure,wehavevirtually no

remainsfromthenationalculticinstallationssaidtohaveexistedinthe

biblicalperiod,namelytheFirstTempleinJerusalem,andthestateshrines

at DanandBethel.Whatwedohavearesmallobjects,smallshrines,

] WernerK;li~r."Eleplmlllinc."OFAN1:'Z:Z35.