Content
- Example list
- Introduction
- Part I: Evolution of the Field
- Nineteenth century: first explorers
- Before the Great War: From Theology to Stratigraphy
- Time period: square holes are equal
- After 1948: Biblical Truth and Patriotism
- Beyond the Six-Day War: Research and New Strategies
- 1990 and Beyond: Transitioning from Nihilism to the Present
- Part II: Archaeology and the Bible
- From Noah and the Flood to Joshua and the Israelites
- From David and Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians
- The journey began with the silver amulet scroll and ended with the Dead Sea Scroll.
- From Herod the Great to Jesus of Nazareth
- From the Boat of Galilee to the Mosaic Prison of Megiddo
- Funny fake or genuine fake?
- Epilogue
- Description
- Continue reading
- Phone book
Preface
The beginning of Bible studies is where we are today, and public interest is high. Millions of people watch television for the Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant, and the so-called Lost Tomb of Jesus. Major publishers published competing Bible books, and the popular journal Biblical Archeology Review gained a wide readership. And every year at Passover, Charlton Heston appears on television as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s classic film The Ten Commandments, raising his hands to part the waters of the Red Sea so the Hebrews can cross safely.
One of the most significant archaeological sites in Syria and Palestine, biblical archaeology encompasses the entire region encircling modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. In concrete terms, it describes the stories, commentaries, and dialogues found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, which date back to the beginning of the 2nd century, the time of Abraham and the Patriarchs, and the first century BC.
Although biblical archaeologists began excavating the Holy Land more than a century ago (with the Bible in one hand and the Bible in the other), big questions remain.
The question of whether the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and the reigns of David and Solomon actually occurred remains unanswered. Other outstanding questions include the details of daily life in the divided kingdom after Solomon’s time and the distinction between Canaanite culture and Israelite material culture in the early Iron Age.
Most biblical archaeologists do not attempt to prove or disprove the contents of the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament through excavations. Instead, they study the culture of the country and the times mentioned in the Bible, as well as the people, places, and events mentioned in those ancient texts, to experience and reconstruct the culture and history of the region. This is especially evident in the excavations of the New Testament; excavations of cities such as Caesarea, Capernaum, and Sephora’s shed light on the social, religious, and geographical conditions before, during, and after the time of Jesus. However, biblical archaeology has generally uncovered valuable information that can be associated with stories in the Hebrew Bible rather than the New Testament. There are many reasons for this difference. The events described in the Hebrew Bible took place over a much longer period of time than those described in the New Testament, centuries rather than nearly two hundred years. Moreover, the stories and events described in the Hebrew Bible took place over a period of years, much larger than the New Testament. While the Middle East and North Africa all offer interpretations of the Hebrew stories, early Christian drama took place mainly in Syria-Palestine and, to a lesser extent, in Greece and Italy.
Due to these spatial and temporal factors, the Old Testament contains more archaeological sites than the New Testament. Perhaps equally important, the Hebrew Bible frequently depicts events such as war, destruction, and the construction of strong structures from stone and scripture. While New Testament stories frequently feature profoundly meaningful phrases and ideas, they often leave minimal tangible artifacts for excavation and discovery. However, ancient Bible history has provided excellent information about both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the relationship between the two (see Table 1, page 6). For many scholars, the Bible is an important source of information that helps explain ancient life and events. Leaving aside the evidence of religion and the issue of historical accuracy, there is no doubt that the Bible is a significant historical document. It is an ancient source, often containing numerous descriptions of the Holy Land during ancient times. Egyptian, Neo-Assyrian, or Neo-Assyrian archaeologists can carefully use Syro-Palestine as a resource to shed light on the ancient world. The Neo-Babylonian text covers the same period. I compare the use of ancient sources by biblical archaeologists with the work of ancient archaeologists who studied the writings of people living in ancient Greece and Italy.
New World archaeologists can now read records of pre-Columbian people in the Americas. While archaeologists occasionally compare the writings of the first book with Greek and Roman texts to discuss issues such as the nature of Pericles’ building program or the plague that struck Athens in 430 BC, Bronze Age scholars tend to exercise caution. Use Homeric texts. Similarly, archaeologists often refer to the Bible to discuss issues related to David, Solomon, the Divided Kingdom, and so on, and carefully compare their own history with the biblical account.
But what was previously unknown, whether in the Bible, Egypt, Neo-Assyria, or Neo-Babylonia, is the truth of the story. This topic is not unique to biblical scholarship, as there are many differences in ancient Greek and Roman interpretations found in the writings of Homer, Herod, Thucydides, Greek playwrights, and Roman writers. As ancient scholars would readily admit, some texts are more accurate than others. Excavations in the Aegean and Western Mediterranean yielded information, but not all of it was reliable.
Professional biblical archaeologists and the informed public are primarily interested in the history of the text, as the Bible primarily promotes the birth of the elder. Did Joshua conquer Jericho? Was a man named Abraham lost in Mesopotamia on his way to Canaan? Aren’t David and Solomon two people?
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