This is a good summary of the epigraphic evidence supporting the argument that Ancient Israel (Israel and Judah) had a literate elite since the 9th ceThis is a good summary of the epigraphic evidence supporting the argument that Ancient Israel (Israel and Judah) had a literate elite since the 9th century. It catalogs the major epigraphic finds, the historical development of scripts used in the Southern Levant, and the development of dialects of hebrew in the monarchic period. Its would be an excellent resource for an advanced upper division course in epigraphy or a graduate seminar and can replace a reader built from copies of about 20 seminal articles on the subject. It's format is a handbook-style, and is short (under 200 pages) with numerous illustrations and is well footnoted with a good bibliography....more
This book gets a bum rap. Many reviewers are disappointed that it is not a field manual that teaches you how to do archaeology. The textbook takes a hThis book gets a bum rap. Many reviewers are disappointed that it is not a field manual that teaches you how to do archaeology. The textbook takes a historical approach to the field of archaeology and covers the evolution of methods. It is well footnoted and there are further reading recommendations to the field manuals, lab manuals, and theoretical works that would fill the education in archaeology. It is appropriate for use at the undergraduate lower division level in an introductory course. The book is written for a British audience with most examples pulled from the archaeology of Roman Britain, but does also reference continental and American contributions to the field. The final chapter does effectively deal with the current 21st Century theoretical debates in the field laying out current controversies, so that someone considering working in the field can figure out in which camp they fit (which will be of extreme importance in choosing a PhD program in the future)....more
This is a nice little book, not particularly important in the history of the field, but it does a nice job of framing the debate within the "middle grThis is a nice little book, not particularly important in the history of the field, but it does a nice job of framing the debate within the "middle ground" of the archaeology of the Southern Levant. The main debate is around chronology and whether there was a united monarchy in Iron IIA.
Specialists will already be familiar with the issues and there is no new information here, however, the readers of the middle-brow journals, BAR and NEA, who don't work in the field will find it stimulating....more
This is probably the most standard text of the archaeology of Syria-Palestine in English. It is outdated in some respects, but constitutes the middle This is probably the most standard text of the archaeology of Syria-Palestine in English. It is outdated in some respects, but constitutes the middle of the road interpretation of the archaeology of the region. It is out of date and does not confront recent controversies such as Finkelstein's low chronology. This is a good foundation to start your study of archaeology of the region. From here you will need to move on to other more recent studies and wade into the minimalist-maximalist debate on the interpretation of Israel's origins, the reliability of various discoveries as they relate to biblical archaeology, etc. Moore and Kelle, Biblical History and Israel's Past is a good place to get a crash course on the various debates....more
This is a masterful book on the archaeology of ancient Israel in the Iron I period. Faust applies anthropological models to the archaeological data toThis is a masterful book on the archaeology of ancient Israel in the Iron I period. Faust applies anthropological models to the archaeological data to support hypotheses about Israel's origins, ethnic identity, and weltanschauung. The book will not please all readers because it relies on analogs to modern primitive societies and is therefore speculative, hence 4 stars. ...more
This is one of those books you have to read to be literate in the history of a discipline, even though it has next to no utility in current scholarshiThis is one of those books you have to read to be literate in the history of a discipline, even though it has next to no utility in current scholarship. It is an attempt to write a history of the emergence of ancient Israel in Iron 1A-1B applying Marxist anthropological models, that today are obsolete in the face of further archaeological discoveries. Mendenhall and Gottwald are famous for the "peasant revolt" model of the emergence of ancient Israel, which had its brief glory in the sun, but has now been largely discarded. You still need to know about it, when discussing the intellectual history of the scholarship on the emergence of the Israelites: Albright, Kaufmann, Alt, Mendenhall, Gottwald, Mazar, Stager, Ahlstrom, Dever, Finkelstein and Faust....more
Loading...
