Biblical Hebrew Forum

[HarryJ_Harm AT kastanet.org]

Dear B-Hebrew Listers,

Greetings from Mississippi.

I have been traveling and then came back with much work to do at the 
office here so I have not kept up with reading my e-mail.

I was speaking to a group at the U. of Alabama last week and then 
speaking again in Tuscaloosa.  In the hours between I spent time in the 
U of A periodicals section.  I found an ethnology magazine and the 
Journal of Near Eastern Archaeology (vol. 61, No. 1, March 1998) to 
read.  Unfortunately, for my anthropology interests I didn't get to read 
much ethnology.

There was an interesting article on two examples of stone age writing.  
One was from a widow who was writing to prevent all of her husband's 
inheritance from going to his brother.  The other was from a worker who 
wanted his cloak back.  There was a bibliography at the end of the 
article on writing from that period.

There was also an interesting article by William Dever, a professor of 
archaeology from the University of Arizona, who specializes in Near 
Eastern archaeology.  I have been following Dever's writings for a 
number of years now.  Years ago he was in the forefront of changing from 
Biblical archaeology to Near Eastern archaeology, of removing the Bible 
from the central position and treating it like any other ancient 
document.  It is interesting that now he has found himself in the 
postion of defending the data found in the Bible from those he terms 
"deconstructionists".

Below are some quotes from the article, taken out of context but jotted 
down because I found them to be interesting.  All I had to take notes on 
was the outside of an envelope and my handwriting is atrocious so I may 
have not quoted the article accurately.

The title of the article is "Archaeology, Ideology and the Quest for an 
"Ancient" of "Biblical"  Israel", pages 39-52.

      We all create our own ancient and Biblical "Israels" to suit 
      the demands of our modern situation.  That is because there 
      is no such thing as "objectivity" in archaeological, 
      historical, or biblical studies. (p. 40)

In the article he discusses authors such as Philip Davies, Thomas L. 
Thompson, Niels Pieter Lemeche and Keith W. Whitelam and explains why he 
disagrees with them.

      I have been consistent over 30 years in calling for 
      "secular, professional Syro-Palestinian archaeology" that is 
      separate, and entirely free from issues of Biblical 
      interpretations as "objective" as possible, but fully aware 
      of its limitations. (p. 46)

I found the article interesting and think it might have a bearing on 
some of the discussions the past couple of weeks.

Sincerely,

Harry J. Harm  :{)