Archaeological Views: The Necessary Partnership of the Bible and Archaeology

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Recently I returned from a two-week trip to Israel. I joined 16 other participants for an exceptional tour of Biblical and archaeological places. Our “25th Anniversary Book and the Spade Tour” marked a quarter-century of “The Book and the Spade,” a weekly 15-minute radio broadcast on the interplay of the Bible and archaeology, hosted by Gordon Govier and cohosted by me. Often these were recorded interviews by Govier with archaeologists about their recent work and discoveries. Our listeners have been able, thereby, to have voice contact with field archaeologists as well as Biblical scholars, providing up-to-date information on the latest discoveries and their possible illumination of Biblical events, personalities and places.¹

This trip could very well have been my last to Israel, not because I have lost interest in the interplay of archaeology and the Bible, but because I observed my 80th birthday on that trip. I doubt the Almighty will allow me to reach Moses’ extraordinary 120 years. Nevertheless, my interest in all things archaeological abides, and that is why I have been a subscriber to BAR since the first issue.

My first trip to Israel was in the summer of 1965, with a group led by my mentor, Professor Menahem Mansoor. He had established the department of Hebrew and Semitic studies at the University of Wisconsin in 1956, in the exciting early years of the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries. He opened the eyes of his graduate students to the value of archaeology for textual studies.

One of Mansoor’s innovations in the newly established graduate program was to bring distinguished archaeologists and scholars to UW—Madison for public lectures and interactions with his students. As a member of the faculty and later chair of the department, I continued that practice. Over the years I had the privilege to know and interact with archaeologists such as Yigael Yadin, Nahman Avigad, Binyamin Mazar, Eric and Carol Meyers, Jim Strange, Yigal Shiloh, Vassilios Tzaferis, Avraham Biran, Yohanan Aharoni, Anson Rainey, Kathleen Kenyon, Joe Seger, and the list could go on and on. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Biran for several years at Tel Dan. David Ussishkin and Gabi Barkay were my mentors in the excavations at Tel Lachish.

Through the years, my interest in Bible and archaeology and their interrelatedness has continued. That is true today in my 13th year of retirement. My recent trip to Israel provided new perspectives on the more recent discoveries. A visit to Sepphoris—a city within walking distance of Nazareth—provided views of the synagogue and its mosaics, the now-revealed lower city and the remarkable water system. We visited the ongoing excavations at Hazor, the restoration work at the famous Middle Bronze and Iron Age Tel Dan gates, the ruins of Philistine Gath, Tell Gezer and the recently discovered true Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem.^a

I have witnessed the debates over the (non)publication of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments from Cave 4, the downgrading of “Biblical archaeology” and its recovery, the minimalist/maximalist controversy, the unending arguments over the City of David and whether or not we have evidence of a Davidic era.

So what have I learned?

Archaeology is a strange mix of science and art. The revolution in archaeological method that began with Flinders Petrie at Tel el-Hesi in 1890 continues today. It is the ongoing effort on the part of field archaeologists to apply the scientific method to the enterprise of controlled excavation methodology, which cannot be separated from increasingly refined dating techniques. The thrill of discovery of both the mundane and the magnificent is really a minor aspect of the primary effort to establish chronological and, when possible, historical connections. Because the Bible is the major source of historical information on the Biblical era, what it says cannot be ignored by the conscientious archaeologist. I fear that the intimate knowledge of the Biblical accounts that informed earlier generations of excavators has faded somewhat in the experience of younger archaeologists. That is, unfortunately, the result of the growing Biblical illiteracy of our times.^b

Since archaeological interpretation is in part art, and the interpreter is the artist, what that interpreter 074brings to his or her task has a bearing on the interpretive outcome. The moderating effect on this or that interpretation of a discovery is the general consensus that the archaeologist’s colleagues reach. However, even the consensus view may not remain unchanged. A case in point is the inscribed ivory pomegranate, ascribed to the Solomonic era, which was authenticated by no less than Nahman Avigad. Yet today it sits under a cloud of suspicion that the inscription “(Belonging) to the priests, the Temple of [Yahwe]h” is not authentic; it is now deemed a forgery.

Through it all, the Bible stands as a given. Although it, too, is subject to an ongoing assault of changing interpretations, it still remains the major source of historical information for comparison with archaeological data as it is recovered. In the archaeological enterprise, the Bible cannot—nor should it—be ignored.

Although I have worked on excavations, I have never considered myself a field archaeologist; let appropriate honor be to those who are. Rather I prefer to think of myself as a “Biblical archaeologist.” And I look forward to the discoveries that will be made in the field this year and their possible connections to some incident, person or event written on the pages of the Bible. Gordon Govier and I look forward to reading about them in BAR and discussing them on “The Book and the Spade.”

Recently I returned from a two-week trip to Israel. I joined 16 other participants for an exceptional tour of Biblical and archaeological places. Our “25th Anniversary Book and the Spade Tour” marked a quarter-century of “The Book and the Spade,” a weekly 15-minute radio broadcast on the interplay of the Bible and archaeology, hosted by Gordon Govier and cohosted by me. Often these were recorded interviews by Govier with archaeologists about their recent work and discoveries. Our listeners have been able, thereby, to have voice contact with field archaeologists as well as Biblical scholars, providing up-to-date information on the […]