BBBW5300 8/28/08

Exploring Biblical World
I. 8-Isreal / Palestine In The Ancient Near East
A. Geography Overview
1. Why Study?
Ancient Authors assume we know the land, but we don't
Spatial Dynamics - 3D Perspective lay of the Land, Geopoloitics, Housing & Travel
Longitude coming west from Jerusalem would almost hit the LA AR border
Climate and Agricultural Influences: Water Supply and Arable (farmable) land
Flora and Fauna
Toponymy - Place names / Meaning and Origins
In the hand out on Geography
How Do places get their names
How do we gather data to identify
There is a Continuity of Occupation
Tel - Central business district of an ancient site
Why Settle Here (Location/Origins)
Water Supply
River (nahal, wadi), Spring(En-gedi), Well(Beer-sheba), Cisterns
Trade Routes
Subtopic
Strategic Location - Defensible
Arable / Agricultural Land
Religious Tradition
Origins of Place names (Bethlehem means house of food)
Divine Names
Family / Clan Names
Region / Agricultural Features
Building or Cultic Installation
General / Qualitative Characteristics
Animal or Plant names
Uncertain Origins - Meggido
Site Identification
Biblical Geography
Ancient Historical Records
Arabic Place Names
Recent Historical Records
Geopraphical or Archaeological Surveys
Archeological Excavations
Site Shift / Occupational Transfers
2. Point of Convergence = Groups coming into Canaan from all areas. To control Canaan was to control what was going on internationally
3. Regions of Israel Palestine
Coastal Plane
Plain of Acco/Asher to the north of Sharon Plane
Sharon Plane to the North of Philistine Plane
Philistine Plane
Elevations from great see to 300+ feet
North several low, narrow kurkar, sandstone ridges
South sand dunes
Cool pictures in presentation
Shephelah - Foot Hills
Elevation 100-300 Meters
Broken by Transverse Valleys of Ayalon on North Sorek Elah Lachish
Limestone formation, caves
Valleys - Breadbasket of Judahite Kingdom
4. Annual Rainfall
Early Rains (Best time during spring break to see isreal)
5 miles to the east of mount of olives 26" rain, five miles east 15", five miles East 5" rain. Like having two totally different climates between NO and Laplace
5. E/W Cross Section of Land
Dead Sea -1300m to +1200
II. Egypt = Pictographic Writings
III. 5From Grave Robbing to Research
A. Biblical Explorations of the Holy Land
1. Jerusalem
2. Edward Robinson, George Adam Smith, PEW
B. Sir Flinders Petrie
1. Stonehenge
2. Pyramids and Giza
3. Credited with coming to Palestine and excavating Tl el-hesi 1890
First scientific excavation of Holy Land
4. Utilized scientific disciplines in analysis
Chemist
Botanist
C. Heinrich Schlieman
1. Excavated Troy(Huyuk Hissarlick)
Had no technical process for excavating
2. German Pastor
3. Contributions
Tel - mound composed of successive layers of occupation through various periods of history
Stratigrophy -discernment and study of the interrelationship between layers of occupation of ancient site
Typology what an object should look like and how it should be used. Categorize types. relationship to form and function
4. Picked up one clue from Paul
D. Developments in Excavation Methodology
1. Early 1900s
Locus to Architecture (Samaria)
2. Mid 1900s
M Wheeler K Kenyon Method
Grid System
Jericho and Jerusalem
Locus to Baulk /Debris Layer
3. The science of digging a hole
E. Monuments confront Higher Criticism
F. “Treasure Hunting becomes science
G.
IV. 6Birth of Biblical Archeology
A. Albright v Alt
B. National Schools
1. American Schools of Oriental Research
2. Protestant German School
3. Protestant German School
4. Ecole Biblique (French)
5. Israeli Institutions
6. Lots of interaction between the works
C. Albright and Yadin Method of Archeology
1. Ceramic Chronology -Systematic Typology of Pottery
D. Current Debates in Biblical Archaeology
1. Israel's emergence in Canaan -Military Conquest, Canaanite Peasant Revolt, of the 80s and 90s, Nomadic warriors, Symbiosis
What do we call nation
Traditional accepted model was Jashua comes in conquers the land and was the big dog
Some early excavations (jericho excetera) cast some doubt on the traditional
Emerge a highly modified conquest model. Unfortunately models are often way too simplistic.
2. Davidic Solomonic Kingdom
What was its nature and extent
What Model of Kingship tod they evidence
What are the theological implications of kingdom and kingship
What was Isrealite historiography
Questions arose about this being the great kingdom on the order of Egypt, or just a small chiefton kingdom of a small area
Broad excavations of AI show nothing on the site from Jashua's time frame
Relatively little at Jericho later than the bronze age. however, there is some new work that maybe Jericho is larger than the original dig.
3. Historiography
Revisionsinst
Traditionalist;nature of israelite history
4. Philistines
Originally, the people group were only found in the Bible. Hittites were a similar debate
There is now a wealth of data that supports the Biblical account
E. Solomonic Gates
1. Megiddo
2. Gezer
Opening up a larger horizon of the 9 and 10th century
3. Hazor
4. Consistent archeological pattern
F. New Archeology
1. Bill Deaver Impact
Pushed for anthropology approach: impact of the natural and social sciences
Argued for a segregation of biblical and archeological studies
Saw some evangelical archeologist exaggerating their finds and was revolting against this activity.
2. Issues Today: Revisionist Trend
Copenhagen School
Jesus Seminar
Basically everything being looked at from current trends
Bible as a Myth by Thomas L Thompson - Argues that we can't have a true history before the persian period
3. Future
Evangelical Scholarship
V. Key thoughts
A. Scholarship often generates theories that have a lifetime more than the theories are worth. Often you don't hav to be up to date or right to get an audience.
VI. Rediscovery of Great Civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia in 19th Century
A. Ancient Languages showed Semitic Language family document
1. Multilingual Texts Discovered
2. Jean Francois Champollion opened up hieroglyphics
3. Rosetta Stone unlocked Egyptian hyrogliphic
4. Cuneiform
Tablets that have wedges
hundreds of symbols
5. Bohisten Inscription unlocked many semitic languages
6. Phoenicians are credited with inventing the alphabet
B. Behistun Inscription of Darious I
1. Old Persian
2. Subtopic
C. Henry Rawlinson (1835-51)
D. Subtopic
E. Subtopic
VII. 1Ottoman Empire 1600 to WWI owned the middle east
VIII. 5Early Christian Beginnings
A. Helena
B. Origen
C. Eusebius
D. Jerome
E. Crusades
F. See ppt for details
IX. Eteology? SP = creation of a story in an effort to explain a reality
X. Archeology and Biblical Studies (See Blackboard Handout)
A. History is relative chronology and there are some issues with co-reign of father and son
B. Where there are incongruencies in data there is additional work to be done