Pondering the Spade

Discussing Important Convergences between Archaeology and Old Testament Studies

David B. Schreiner

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781498294034
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Ancient Religion

The close relationship between the Old Testament and archaeology goes without saying. However, the methodological nuances involved are often either underappreciated or ignored. Using William Dever's idea of convergence, this work attempts to flesh out details on how archaeology and Old Testament studies merge. It examines some of the most important archaeological finds to date and determines that, whether through a broad or narrow convergence, the history of research has shown that these two separate disciplines exhibit a tendency to inform one another. In the case of Old Testament studies, these convergences may even be paradigm-shifting. In every case, the convergences are historically and culturally informative, and therefore illuminate the depth of the biblical text.

1

Introduction

It was the hottest part of the day, and I was sitting in the shade at Nir David, a qibbutz near Tel Reḥov in the Jordan Valley. My friends and I were washing pottery, a daily and critical chore when on an excavation.1 As I shot the breeze with Jason Jackson, I noticed something odd about the potsherd that I was washing. Set against the grayish background, there appeared to be red markings. I paused for a moment and then nudged Jason.

“What do you make of this, Jason?”

He was initially quiet, but then quickly responded, “I don’t know.”

We called one of the supervisors over, and as we waited in relative silence, we continued to ponder what we were looking at. Looking back on those initial moments, I know I realized what it was. I just kept quiet out of fear that my thoughts or words would somehow institute a jinx. My fears, however, were swept away and my initial impressions verified after about a second of my supervisor looking at the markings.

He squealed, “An inscription!”

Immediately, everyone else at the dig was clamoring for a look at the find. Pictures were taken, and after about five minutes, that ostracon was taken to the dig directors so that it could be catalogued, analyzed, and secured.

At that time, in 2008, I had just started my doctoral work at Asbury Theological Seminary, and one of my courses was in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions. Consequently, I recognized all the letters there were completely visible. And with a few moments of looking at one of the photographs, and after some discussion with my professors and colleagues, I was able to formulate what I thought it read. I would later find out that Director Amihai Mazar, along with Samuel Aḥituv, read the name “Elisha.”2 Of course, this produced several interesting responses, including a rather sensational one that was broadcast on the CBN website (see below).

Ostraca, or potsherds with writing on them, are one of the most important finds for an archaeological dig. Indeed, the idea of potsherds with writing on them may seem mundane to many, but they can potentially provide a range of information that illuminates an ancient culture. For example, the Meṣad Ḥashavyahu ostraca give insight into how legal disputes were presented and, possibly, the place of biblical legislation in resolving them. Alternatively, ostraca may provide insight into the dynamics of literacy. In fact, in recent memory, the place of ostraca in assessing literacy rates within ancient Israelite culture moved to the front of scholarly discourse with the publication of a complex study in the National Academies of Sciences (abbr. NAS).

In “Algorithmic Handwriting Analysis of Judah’s Military Correspondence Sheds Light on Composition of Biblical Texts,”3 a team of scholars and scientists subjected the Arad Ostraca, one of the most famous corpora of ostraca, to a sophisticated scheme of image processing and machine learning algorithms. Sampling sixteen sherds, the team found evidence for at least six different authors within the sample set. Thus, they concluded that there was a high degree of literacy within in certain circles of Judean society during the latter portion of Iron II. Furthermore, they projected that the composition of the Old Testament may have begun in earnest during this period.

The implications of this study are extraordinary, but not solely for reasons of dating the possible context of biblical composition. Indeed, it is interesting that this study openly entertains the possibility that the Old Testament’s composition may have been an Iron Age phenomenon and not, say, a Persian one. Although, people like William Schniedewind and Christopher Rollston previously argued for such ideas.4 No, the extraordinariness of the study exists in the nature of the investigation. It utilized innovative technologies, putting computers and computer programs front and center. Naturally then, one wonders is this study is indicative of a larger movement—the increasing importance of innovative technologies in analyzing material culture. This certainly seems to be the case, particularly since a few months after the publication of this article the directors of the Eli Levy Expedition at Ashkelon announced that they would subject the human remains of a Philistine cemetery to DNA profiling.5 In another example, a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky were able to read the content of a miniature scroll that was essentially burnt to a crisp . . . they did it without even unrolling it!6

Of course, studies like the one published by the NAS also have popular appeal. So, sensationalistic headlines followed. For example, “The Bible was Written Way Earlier Than We Thought, Mathematicians Suggest.”7 Or, “Ancient Sticky Notes Shift Secular Scholars Closer to Evangelicals on Bible’s Age.”8 Yet there were more reserved headlines, such as “Does this Ancient Handwriting Prove the Bible’s Age?”9 In the end, however, it is critical that one must respond to such a study, and studies like them, responsibly and within the confines of their intentions. As I said in my response to the NAS study, the results imply that it is “more and more difficult not to put the composition of the majority of the Old Testament in the era of the monarchy, united or divided.”10 Iron Age Israel exhibited the socio-political requirements necessary for literary production in antiquity, and this study by the NAS supports the claim.

Regardless of your position on the context of composition for the Old Testament, one cannot deny the increasing sophistication associated with archaeological research in general. As the study from the NAS shows, paleographic analysis, or the study of ancient systems of writing, is no longer solely a human endeavor. Consequently, this raises the question, “With its increasing sophistication, how will archaeology continue to inform Biblical Studies?” To answer, it is prudent to take a step back and consider how archaeology within Syria-Palestine developed as a discipline. It is within that framework that one can understand archaeology’s relationship within Biblical Studies and the nature of its increasing sophistication.

The Contours of Development

There have been many attempts to describe the historical contours of how archaeology relates to Biblical Studies. For example, John Currid divides the history into six phases,11 but Ralph Hawkins divides the history into five.12 Eric Cline describes the development around important figures in the field.13 Indeed the history of the discipline is fascinating and worthy of comprehensive treatment.14 Yet for the purposes here, only a basic description is necessary. Thus, I will harness the most important points made by those who have gone before me to describe a basic three-phase description. The first phase describes the development of archaeology in Syria-Palestine from its inception until the arrival of Sir Flinders Petrie. The second phase encompasses the pioneering work of Petrie and others through the heyday of “Biblical Archaeology.” The final phase is also the present phase, which can be characterized by the rapid specialization and methodological development of the discipline. As one navigates the contours of the discipline, it will become clear that archaeology in Syria-Palesti...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Illustrations
• Historical Ages
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Broad Convergences
• Narrow Convergences
• Conclusion
• Bibliography