Old Testament 1 Essay
Do you agree with this claim, "Archaeology does not provide any significant help in the history of Israel"? Support your answer with at least three archaeological examples.
The history of Israel is one in which gives the nation of Israel its uniqueness and its people an identity, similar to how the history of every other nation serves to give them their distinctiveness; yet, unlike many of such national histories, the history of Israel is intricately tied to religious beliefs ? namely, Christianity and Judaism ? that about 1/3 of the global population profess faith in. The Christian and Hebrew Bibles, in contrast to many other religious texts, are not just collections of ?instructional' writings on theological and ethical teachings but they also include large portions detailing accounts of how God interacted with the people of Israel in its ?ancient history' ; and for many belonging to the Christian and Jewish faiths, it is through this ?history' that reveals not only much of the nature of their God but also how they should respond to this God. Thus it is not surprising to find that when modern archaeology in the land of Israel started in earnest in mid-to-late 19th century, many attempts have been made to link archaeological findings as evidences that verify the historicity of the Christian and Hebrew Bibles.
Archaeology, as a related discipline to history, can be simply defined as "the study of the past by finding the remains left behind by people who lived in the past" and archaeologists are involved in the twofold work of "the discovery and reclamation of the ancient remains" which typically comprises working on the excavated site (or ?field work'), as well as, the "analysis, interpretation and publication"&nb ...