Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Archaeology Articles

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: HarryJ_Harm AT kastanet.org
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Archaeology Articles
  • Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 14:33:41 -0500 (EST)


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 :{)



  • Archaeology Articles, HarryJ_Harm, 01/24/1999

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page