The Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present.

• Author: Gandullo, Bernards
• Position: Review

The Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present. Edited by N. A. SILBERMAN and DAVID SMALL. JSOT Supplement Series, vol. 237. Sheffield: SHEFFIELD ACADEMIC PRESS, 1997.

This volume is a collection of fifteen papers presented to a conference held at the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies at Lehigh University in May, 1994. Many of the contributions are characterized by sharp criticism of the political and ideological use and abuse of archaeology and history in the reconstruction of the past of Israel. The essays are presented in five thematic units.

Archaeology, Contemporary Culture and Ideological Discourse. Amos Elon ("Politics and Archaeology") and Yaakov Shavit ("Archaeology, Political Culture, and Culture in Israel") analyze the contemporary problems of archaeology, culture, and ideological discourse from within Israeli society today. They differentiate between the period of the colonization of Palestine (up to 1948), in which archaeology was employed by an immigrant population in search of historical roots in the land, and the years following the establishment of the Israeli state, when archaeology found a political use in the legitimization of territorial rights.

Neil Asher Silberman ("Structuring the Past: Israelis, Palestinians and the Symbolic Authority of Archaeological Monuments") considers the political use of archaeological research, focusing on the ideological-religious justification by Catholics and Protestants of European penetration and imperial rule over Palestine, as well as on the contemporary manipulation of territorial claims by Israelis and Palestinians. Silberman also alerts us to the distortion for touristic purposes of the historical landscape in Israel. The archaeologist is then faced with the alternative of becoming complicitous in projects with purely economic aims or being considered an obstacle to the progress and development of his country.

The work of W. F. Albright is used by Burke O. Long ("Historical Imaginings, Ideological Gestures: W. F Albright and the 'Reasoning Faculties of Man'") to show that the adoption of an ideological perspective is unavoidable in reconstructing the facts of the past. According to Long, Albright's theorizing about mankind's intellectual evolution concealed a religious and cultural apology which set up the Judeo-Christian tradition as a rampart against fascism and communism. This opinion well fit the political situation of his time. Understanding ideology as an instrument for the maintenance and reproduction of social power, Long carries out a sharp analysis of Albright's work to show-- without denying the great value of his contributions--the negative influence that its subordination to a theological-political outlook exercised on the scientific practice of archaeology.

Peoples and Cultures of Ancient Israel: Recent Archaeological Discoveries. Trude Dothan ("Tel Mikne-Ekron: An Iron Age I Philistine Settlement in Canaan") and Ephraim Stem ("Discoveries at Tel Dor") present excavation reports that share, in my opinion, an excessive faith in the reliability of the data of Joshua and Judges, data whose historicity is widely questioned today. Here we' find examples of the circular process of thought commented on by Baruch Halpern in the final communication of the volume.

Amnon Ben-Tor ("The Yigael Yadin Memorial Excavations at Hazor, 1990-93: Aims and Preliminary Results") sketches the renewed fieldwork at this site, highlighting its main objectives: to reexamine the chronology and stratigraphy of Yadin's expedition, to confront problems left unsolved by the earlier expedition, and to transform Hazor into an attractive site for visitors. This final purpose is a good...