Biblical Archaeology

[Finder]

This is a topic brought up in another thread that deserves its own.IMO

For the sake of focus let's concentrate on the Old Testament.

This field is part of Near Eastern Archaeology. It does not set out to "prove" the bible in religious terms although in the past only religiously ordained archaeologists were allowed to be part of the research. That has changed since the era of enlightenment. At times, finds that disagreed with the text have been been dismissed and hidden at times.

Most archaeologists see the OT as a guide rather than a blueprint.

Many of the legends or stories in the OT have been found in other cultures although they ascribe different deities or characters according to their personal mythologies or interpretations. Many were written well before the time of the biblical characters.

Think of today's historical novels. Although the characters are fictional, many novelists use real places and historical events as settings.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are an important find for scholarship rather than archaeology since the earliest hebrew texts available were the Masoretic texts from the 9th century CE. The oldest Septuagint(greek) texts were from the 4th century CE. Some of the DS scrolls found dated back to the 2nd century BCE. It was a great find for textual criticism. Although some of the texts disagree with the masoretic text and septuagint(or LXX), most agree. 30 percent of the scrolls are biblical.

[LARED]

1. The book "Walking the Bible" gives some

great insight into the history of bible stories.

http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Bible-Journey-Through-Moses/dp/0380977753

[Finder]

2. Some fundies were not too happy...

but I agree it is an interesting book and was a good documentary on pbs.

here is an article from Baptist Press regarding the series...

http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22396

[okasha]

3. I'm not sure what you mean by

"that has changed with the era of enlightenment." Archaeology itself is post-enlightenment--what went before is more honestly described as a trade in antiquities, many of them questionable. My understanding is that it's only within the past 40-50 years that archaeology in Israel and the surrounding area has become a matter of secular scholarship. Many of the "founders" of the discipline at the beginning of the 20th century were principally Biblical scholars who took up the trowel as a secondary career, and many of the early Israeli archaeologists (Moshe Dayan, Yigal Yadin, eg.) were initially preoccupied with "proving" the historicity of the OT, and with it the validity of modern Israel's claim to the land.

Excellent book on the subject: The Bible Unearthed, by Finkelstein and Silverman. They're minimalists and should probably be read in conjunction with someone like William Deaver for balance.

[Finder]

4. I agree that is an excellent book...

I assume you meant William Dever--"What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?"

[okasha]

5. Among others.

I wish Deaver would get over the scholarly monograph habit of bashing the competition for three or four opening chapters before getting down to the good stuff, but he's an eloquent champion of the united monarchy.